back me up on tiller... patch installed.

[echatham]

hmmm.... ok.  i hit it with a few sweeps of 100 grit just to see if it was just on the surface and its not.... it does catch a razor blade... but not my finger nail.  don't you think i should patch it anyway with a Torges patch just because that wood is already damaged?  i can stick it in my drying box for a couple weeks no problem,  but its already fractured so i have to deal with that right?

[echatham]

i don't have a moisture meter, but the stave sat over a year as a pretty well worked down stave, then as a floor tiller ready, roughed out bow for two weeks at 100 degrees in the hotbox,  i thought it should be dry, but guess im still learning.

[PEARL DRUMS]

It may come out later, or it may not. Depends on how much it stiffens up after drying and a temper job. Those two things alone may require a fair amount of wood removal. Or, you can try a patch job now. Your call. 

Sounds like it should be dry enough to me to. Did you work right after taking it out of your bow? Has it been kept in the box between work sessions? Ive never known osage to be hyper sensitive. Its either too green or its not. 

[echatham]

always waited for it to cool to room temperature before bending it, and once i started bending it it didn't go back in the hotbox.  i just can't understand it,  my other two osage bows were probably not as dry, and definitely weren't as well tillered as i felt this one was becoming.   i think i will patch it... and while the glue is drying... might as well rough out another stave 

[SLIMBOB]

I've been following this from the beginning.  Great advise all the way through and the tiller looks really good.  I thought it was finished.  I'm with PD, Bodark just doesn't fret in my experience even when grossly out of tiller and this one is not.  Something else at play.  That dowel patch that Archer1 showed would be my thoughts.

[artcher1]

I must be doing something wrong also or you guys are sending me your junk wood ! I bet I've had to repair a dozen or so Osage bows with frets. But I do tend to max out my design for my short draw .

MC had nothing to do with your problem Eric. That whoop-de-doo was either from (around) a tree scar or knot. Wood around such areas are much harder/stronger that the surrounding wood. With the wood being that hard, and where it was placed, didn't want to bend as readily as the rest of the limb. So, I reckon if there's such a thing as a "good fret", you got one. That area needed to relieve a little pressure, that's all. Any type of patch job will work just fine..........Art

[hedgeapple]

etch, I would sand it down pass the fret.  Then sand/scrape the rest of that limb and the other limb to match the taper as well as you can visually and by feel.  The fret area CAN NOT be the thinnest section of the bow limbs. You're looking for 50# at 29", so you have 4 more inches to go.  You might get lucky and still hit that draw weight.  But, I think there's a good possibility at getting at least 40# from.

Once you have the fret sanded and the rest of the limbs scraped some, weigh the bow, put it in the dry box with humidity meter.  Using a conversion table of ambient humidity to wood moister content, I would try to achieve between 8.5 and 9.5 consistently.  Weigh the bow every day.  When the bow stops loosing weight for 2 or 3 days, it should be good to work.

Now, since you have a weak spot where you sanded the fret out, go slowly with tillering.  I would not pull it to 25" and I would not pull it to 50#, probably just 40#.  Start over from brace to make sure the rest of that limb and the other limb is "spot on" since you've removed some wood without actually tillering the limbs. If you see ANY problems, stop and fix those areas.  Slowly work back up to 25".

Once you get to 25" ( might go to 26" just to get over the previous hurled), then I would consider working it slowly to 50#.  Again watch for problems and fix them before continuing any further. 

There are others with more experience that might have better ideas.  This is just what I would do.

[echatham]

haha i got enough 40# bows.  im goin all or nothing baby!  gonna put in a patch about an inch and a half long, and leave it a little proud.  its going in the hotbox at 80 degrees for the glue to cure, cause it stays about 60 in my basement and unibond needs at least 70.  will leave it in there a few days to suck out any moisture.  will keep you all posted. thanks for all the advice so far.

[artcher1]

Let me ask you this. Is that area where the fret is thinner than the surrounding area?  Did you do any heat tempering/setting back in that area?

[echatham]

artcher, no and yes.  not thinner, but i did apply considerable heat to that spot when adding reflex... not toasted... but hot.

[echatham]

Matt, chime in buddy... i see ya creepin over there lol!

[WhitefeatherFout]

Hey Eric, you had her looking pretty good there I thought.  I'm not sure which stave you had there, but it should have been plenty dry, especially if you had it in your hotbox.  I can't remember, did we test those with the moisture meter? 
As far as your fret.  I've only had Osage do that when I had heated the wood to add in reflex. I suspect I got the wood too dry.  It also happened near a little knot.  Remember the bow I was shooting when you were here?  Thats the one.  I was fortunate enough that I was able to work out of the fret.  The reflex I was able to put in it kept it at or near my desired weight after retillering. 

[artcher1]

As I stated earlier, wood in that area is probably more compression resistant then the rest of the limb. Would also be tension resistant even with heat. That may not be a fret but rather a crack from heating/setting back. Frets are more razor-cut looking.

[echatham]

This is one of the ones that you already had worked down to a ring leaning on the wall of your big shop.  The one that was real clean. 
 


Hows that?  Deep enough?

[artcher1]

Looks more than deep enough to me Eric. Did you check and see just how deep that "crack" went as you were removing wood?