100# self ash, complete with whopping chrysals....!

[WillS]

So my first attempt at doing a bloom was... Reasonably unsuccessful, shall we say.  Lots learned however, which was the secondary goal!

Here's the bloom fitted. 


The result was a complete failure, the bow exploded right in that area.

Lesson learned - making a very small patch in a weak area doesn't work, as the bow moves too much around it, and there's not enough solid wood to take that stress.  Essentially I removed the chrysal, but created two more in its place.

I did get recommended by Jeremy to use a 12" long bloom, but by then I'd already glued the thing down!

[Del the cat]

IMO patches need to be long and gently curved, same way as you would blend in any other feature.
Del

[WillS]

Yep, definitely agree! The smaller and more abrupt things are, the more stress they take. 

Trouble I have is that I've never had any sort of power tool - just a few rasps and drawknives.  This makes long sweeping smooth curves very difficult to create, whereas with a belt sander or disc sander you could achieve that in seconds.

[Del the cat]

Yep, definitely agree! The smaller and more abrupt things are, the more stress they take. 

Trouble I have is that I've never had any sort of power tool - just a few rasps and drawknives.  This makes long sweeping smooth curves very difficult to create, whereas with a belt sander or disc sander you could achieve that in seconds.

Yeah, I dithered for ages about should I get a cheapo belt sander (about £75)... eventually did.
It wasn't great, but with a bit of fettling and a good coarse belt (40 grit) it has been V useful.
Del

[Marc St Louis]

I don't  recall Jaroslav's Ash Bow but you all have to remember that it's not density that matters when making any bow, it's how elastic the wood is.  I wouldn't bother making a warbow out of any Ash we have around here regardless of how dense it was because it's just not elastic enough.  If it was all I had to work with I would definitely make the bow long.  Heat-treating does not improve a wood's elasticity

[WillS]

Good info as always Marc, thanks!

What's a reliable method for testing elasticity in bow woods? Is it as described in TBB - a simple bend test - or are there other, preferred methods?

[mikekeswick]

Yes just do some bend tests, check set.
Our ash must be significantly different because English ash can make some fantastic bows. I've had some of my test ash bows almost tied in knots - it's plenty 'elastic' 

[Ian.]

Yes just do some bend tests, check set.
Our ash must be significantly different because English ash can make some fantastic bows. I've had some of my test ash bows almost tied in knots - it's plenty 'elastic' 

What are we calling fantastic?

[PatM]

   Surely you are all talking about the same species of Ash and it's just individual variation of the tree that's giving the different results.

[Badger]

  If that bow were made from yew or elm it would have chrysaled, I see a slight problem in the tiller shape where it chrysaled but you should have been able to get by with it. Overall the bow is nicely tillered.

[Badger]

  what are the demension of that bow, length, width and thickness at the handle?

[WillS]

It's been resigned to firewood now, so I'll have to go by memory,  but I usually make all of my ash warbows using similar dimensions - 40mm x 35mm in the handle, and 82" long to start with, then piked once tillered.  This one would have ended up being about 28mm thick at the handle I imagine.

As Jeremy said in this thread, it's quite possible to shoot them even with big chrysals, but I was more interested in learning how to make a bloom patch, so was quite willing to sacrifice a badly made ash bow if it meant learning something (which I think I did... make blooms longer!)