Recurve Question

[bowhntineverythingnh03743]

Hello everyone-
   It has been quite some time since I have been on this site. Lately I have been playing with modern glass bows and recently have gained interest once again to attempt at making a self bow. I have yet to be successful with this endeavor. I am in aw with the weapons that are created on this site. Most of all I have been inspired by Gordon and Pearls to attempt a recurved sinew backed bow. Earlier this past June I went out and harvested my first tree and split the logs into staves. The type of tree harvested was white ash that an elderly friend assisted me with that we were able to take off his property in Charlestown, New Hampshire. It is my goal to make a recurve with one of these staves. I plan on following both their build-a-longs and seeing what sort of bow I can produce from a native wood from the Northeast woods.

My question though is in regards to the recurves I want to produce. Is there some sort of set bend that I should follow in making a jig or is it something that all of you just craft up until you find something that works. I would like some guidance with this step. I plan on dedicating all my time this winter to craft a fine wood bow. I will document my steps along the way and as always look for advice from all.

Thank you guys for getting the juices flowing once again...

Respectfully,
Justin

[blackhawk]

Ash isn't a very great choice for your current skill level and that type of bow...my experiences with ash isn't that great...ive found its either junk or halfway decent bow wood,and if I was attempting to put that much work into a bow not knowing if I had good ash or bad ash I wouldn't be investing that much work and time into the first stave of the batch...I'd want to make a more basic simple flat bow first and see how good the wood is and if its worthy of such a design...even if its decent ash everything needs to be done right and no room for error....I'd trap the back,tiller to low brace,temper the belly,then apply your sinew...can't give ya dimensions unless ya show us your piece of wood and give us your intended stats for it...good luck

[bowhntineverythingnh03743]

Well that's kinda a bummer lol... I wanted to try and make a solid bow from local grown wood and I thought I read that white ash was good. Well here is a picture of the staves... All really straight and equal growth rings.




I will definitely try a flat bow at first. I would like to be at 50-55# at 28 inch draw.

[Slackbunny]

I imagine you could hit those stats with ash without too much trouble. My experience with ash is that it is very prone to taking set. So be cautious of overstressing during tillering, and what Blackhawk said about tempering the belly is good advice.

I also agree that you should make a regular flatbow first, to get a feel for the wood and how it behaves.

[Pappy]

I have made some might good bows from White Ash,but have also had several fail  for seemingly no reason.Don't use it much anymore, Had lots of bows fail over the years but usually can figure out why. :)Never tried a recurve with it so will let some that have chime in that has.I have seen some nice ones on here. :)That's some good looking ash by the way.
 Pappy

[PEARL DRUMS]

Ive never steamed ash myself. Im sure it can happen, anything can. Build a 2 1/4" wide x 66" ntn flat bow and boil the last 10" for 45 minutes and see what happens when you bend them, leave the tips 3/4" square that your bending. If you REALLY want your first shootable self bow? Skip the statics and learn to tiller a straight limbed straight bow.

[bushboy]

From what I've seen ,ash doesn't like to bend readily and is more apt to fail than other white woods in regards to recurving the tips.in your region ,elm and hop horn beam would be much better candicates for what you have in mind imho!like stated trees of the same species can show very different characteristics so there is nothing really etched in stone! Nothing to lose but a bit of time and knowledge gained.

[Joec123able]

Don't let anyone here bum you out, I guarantee you can get a few nice bows from those staves just take your time it's not a race

[Badger]

  Ash is one of those woods that tends to have a very wide variance in density. Some ash might go as high as .80 sg and others as low as .50 sg. You have a nice stash of wood there so I would not hesitate to take one and call it your sacrificial experimental piece. Pyramid bows are very straighforward and will tell you a little bit about your wood. For the first bow I would rough it out at about 68" long 2" wide at the fade and taper it to 1/2" tips. I would keep the thickness pretty much equal throughout the limb until you get it bending a bit at floor tiller with some effort.
  Your wood is still wet so once you get it to floor tiller put in a nice warm dry place for about a month and it should be ready to tiller. Your thicness at this point will probably be about 9/16 thick. While that piece of wood is drying maybe you could take another piece and cut in a 1" cube, bake it in the oven and then weigh it to find out how dense your wood is. I would expect it to be about .62 or so and if this is the case the above dememsions should be pretty good.

[artcher1]

What's your draw length? Art

[blackhawk]

He said his draw lengths 28" Art....

[artcher1]

My hearing isn't that good anymore Chris . Thanks for the heads-up.

[kevinsmith5]

That pile of wood is out and out screaming "arrows" at me....

[JW_Halverson]

From what I've seen ,ash doesn't like to bend readily and is more apt to fail than other white woods in regards to recurving the tips.in your region ,elm and hop horn beam would be much better candicates for what you have in mind imho!like stated trees of the same species can show very different characteristics so there is nothing really etched in stone! Nothing to lose but a bit of time and knowledge gained.

Wanna chance to re-think that?  After all, the First Canadians made some right nice toboggans from ash!   

Ash is a more advanced wood to work with, like Badger says, it really can vary from one tree to the next and you might want to try some other woods first.

Kevinsmith has a great point.  I personally love ash for arrow shafting.  It's tough as nails!

[VicNova]

That ash looks really good. It should make a top-notch recurve.