osage staves

[Will H]

Those look like some great billets! I'm with pearl and George, definatley chase a ring. It's true that it's common to pull up and tear some wood when chasing a ring. But I only do that when I'm hogging off wood somewhat haphazardly on the way down to a desired ring. I would never leave that on a back of a selfbow.
As for squaring up easily without a bandsaw... That's gonna require you layout some square lines on the ends and get after it with your hand tools. I would either start with a drAwknife or ferriers rasp then swap to a 49 or 50 rasp as you get close to the lines.

Good luck! Looks like you have some great potential bow wood!

[Eric Krewson]

The best way to lay out splices is to draw them on a piece of paper, lay out a center line on your billets and glue the splice pattern to your billet matching the pattern to the center line.

[bobbykelley]

OK so I got my billets together (not the best splice job but I think it will do). But I had a few ?'s. They ended up with about 2 7/8" reflex, the top has a little more then the bottom, I kept the back of the bow as close to level as I could. Will this be OK? And there was a few knots/pin's on the back I left extra rings around them, should I sand them down some? On the belly of the bow there are some checks and a knot any hints on how to take care of these? And one last thing the limbs twist a little but they do it opposite of eachother, should I wait until I rough out the bow before trying to bend then back? Thanks for any help. Here's some pic's.

[Fred Arnold]

I recognize the staves and he does have some nice osage but he's a little careless when taking off the bark and sapwood. I would definitely take the time to chase a ring on this one or else at least fill in the voids and back it.

[bobbykelley]

Well my splice didn't hold up. Any suggestions? I used a 2 part epoxy, but the side of the of the z splice came unglued.

[PEARL DRUMS]

Never used epoxy for a splice. I use URAC or its new replacement. Its an actual wood bonding 2 part glue that doesnt let go for anybody.

[gstoneberg]

I've only used epoxy and have never had a splice fail.  Sometimes on the edges it helps to run a piece of tape to hold the glue where you want it.  Never use 5min epoxy on a splice, too brittle.  I've always used smooth-on.  Pricey, but it always works.

George

[bobbykelley]

The smooth-on is what I used. Don't know maybe my splices didn't match up good. I've matched them up better now and will let it set for a week or 2. Thanks for the help.