Trying a Chinkapin oak bow

[Poggins]

I cut this stave a few weeks ago , I cut it down to a little over two inches wide and clamped it to a 4x4 to get it lined up srtaight .
I cut I down to 67" long and 2" wide out to 12" from the tip and tapered down to 1/2" .
I'm going to leave the tips stiff .
I got it close enough for a short string but it needs to dry some more so I clamped it back to the 4x4 and putting some curves in it , I'll let it set a few more days in the house then add another curve in it .
I just hope what I have pictured in my head works out .

[PEARL DRUMS]

Ill be curious to read your results. We have a pipe straight 8 incher growing behind the dog house.

[Badly Bent]

I like the back profile on that one. Are you planning on adding a little reflex into the limbs to get the tips out ahead of the handle a bit? Just curious. Looks like it's gonna make a nice bow.

[Poggins]

PD , this one was about six inches at th stump and a little over four at the top , this tree wasn't round but oval so I split it to have two staves from the wide sides .
BB , yes I plan on adding reflex to it , it's still green so I will wait a couple days to let tips dry enough to stay then I will put the reflex in it , may have to toast the belly a little to help hold the shape but I want to be sure the moisture is down before I do , I'd hate to have it split when I heat it because of moisture .

[Poggins]

Ok I moved my clamps this evening , bends easy while its green , this I kinda what I had in mind when I started .
Tips are 3" forward of the handle now and they move a little more when I unclamp it ( they will move one way or the other ) , I'll leave it clamped longer because the handle is thicker than the tips and may take longer to dry out more and hold the shape.
I know there may be some that will tell me this may not work but you never know without trying , if everything goes as planed it will look nice , clean the back up and add some dye to it and rub the back down to lighten up the high places .

[PEARL DRUMS]

You have a good recipe for that wood, no reason it wont work. Ive never tried green shaping, but my money bets it holds better than heat manipulation does.

[Poggins]

Thanks PD , this I the first time I've tryed shaping green wood , fallowing the TBB vol 1 on this .
Most of the wood I work with is osage but I want to work with a verity of woods not just one , I did a Kentucky coffee tree bow last winter and a chittam wood bow also ( gave a stave of the chittam wood to the man that taught me and his broke when he started to tiller it and I broke one also , changed my aproach on it and made a shootable bow with it ), after this I have some walnut to play with .

[Badly Bent]

Looks like the bends towards the tip held well, was that just three days with the clamps on the tips? Cool project.
I did that once a few year back with a black walnut green sapling and left it clamped about 5 weeks to get it to hold
about that same amount or reflex. Could be the difference in the two different woods or maybe because I bent/clamped it the day I cut the tree and it needed that long to dry enough to hold.
Keep posting as you progress, this is interesting.

[bradsmith2010]

looks like a very nice bow coming

[Poggins]

BB , I let it dry a couple weeks and had it cut down close to where it is now , when I I clamped it I went slow and watched how much it moved , onlyoved a little over 1/4" , I did use a little heat on it but just on the bends about an hour or so before I took the clamps off , the wood I heated will come off when I get ready to tiller it , thought it might help to hold the curves .
I wan to hurry but I know better than that , I've got plenty I osage to play with while this dries .

[Badly Bent]

Sounds like a good method you employed. I love that there is always something to learn from post like this.

[Poggins]

I pulled the clamps off and it held its shape , tips are 3 3/4" forward of the handle .
I may work on it some at the Oklahoma wildlife expo this weekend , mainly shaping the tips up and cleaning it up a little , may still be too green to do much flexing yet .