Advice for Elm stave Picture included

[Bmed390]

Greetings,

I went into the forest the other day to harvest a stave for my new bow. I harvested an elm stave and have taken the bark off.  I read that one should take the bark off while its still green because it is much harder if you wait. With that said I am now waiting and letting the wood dry before I shape the bow.

I am seeking advice on where to go from here and to confirm I am on the right track. I have read various sources saying to let he wood dry for a year.

Can I begin to shape the bow and let it dry after it has been shaped?

Also, I see a lot of talk about splitting the stave. Is this necessary I was hoping to just carve the bow out of the whole stave. I fear that the split could go wrong and destroy all progress.


BM

[Bmed390]

P.S

I was not able to attach the picture because the file is too large.

[ajooter]

[ajooter]

[TacticalFate]

if the sapling is small like that you don't have to split it, but take a hatchet or a drawknife to the belly side and hog off enough wood to make it effectively split. If kept in the round like that, any piece of wood will check if you take off the bark

[ssgtchad]

If it was me I'd go ahead and start shaping.  Since you already took the bark off you stand a good chance of the stave checking.  Shape the profile,  seal the back, and wait a week,  then take some more off.  Keep track of the weight when it stops loosing weight,  getting it to a good floor tiller then heat treat, then tiller as needed. Oh you might want to strap it to a  board prevent twisting. ...I know from experience. Good luck. 

[Pat B]

BM, you can reduce the stave to floor tiller stage now. I would seal the back once the bark is off and seal the ends. Leave the belly side without sealer so the moisture has a place to escape. Once you've reduced the stave keep an eye on it so it doesn't twist as it dries. You could also clamp it to a form while it dries. You can add reflex this way ad it will help prevent twisting.
  I did a build along on a 60" elm static recurve from a pole stave to the finished bow. You might get some ideas from that. It is in the "Archives" thread. Have a look.

[Bmed390]

Thanks for the replies, so just to be sure...Do you all agree that now is a good time to shape the bow? What tool do you all recommend for doing this? And how can I prevent checking? Can anyone tell me what it means for the wood to check?

[bradsmith2010]

it means the wood will start to split or crack

[bubbles]

For roughing out, hatchet and drawknife and rasp when you get close to the lines.

[Bmed390]

Well, I know I will not be able to shape this out in one day. I'm currently using a Kabar knife and wooden mallet as kind of a hammer and chisel technique.

What is the best way to prevent checking or at what point does this usually start to happen? In other words how long should I expect before checking begins and how can I prevent or minimize the chances of this happening?

[PatM]

I wouldn't put anything on it to prevent checking. Elm isn't really prone to that anyway. Just hatchet off the belly side of each limb so that it is flat and then stick the bow in a couple of garbage bags with a few holes ripped in them to let some moisture out.
 You just need to control moisture loss for a week or so and then you can speed things up.

[bushboy]

I cut a bunch this spring,put it in my shed for almost a week,letting it bleed moisture out of the ends.once it started to be not wet,but still damp I peeled the bark and sealed the ends with good wood glue.left them in the round for about 45days,kerf cut them with a circular saw and split into staves.went on to sawing them into near bow dims that weighed about 2lbs each.been inside for a while now and no checking at all.