Author Topic: Natural bend  (Read 1531 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline sapling bowyer

  • Member
  • Posts: 88
Natural bend
« on: February 11, 2016, 02:01:14 pm »
if my stave has a natural bend, can I use this bend for reflex or will it break?? And also If my stave is very knotty should I keep the knots on the belly or on the back?
Time is short

Offline half eye

  • Member
  • Posts: 3,300
Re: Natural bend
« Reply #1 on: February 11, 2016, 02:14:26 pm »
Hey sapling,
     Your questions are sort of "loaded". natural reflex or deflex is a good thing if you can work it into your design for that particular stick......UNLESS it is extreme. If you make a say 60" bow and it has 6-10 inches of reflex that could be very problematic for tillering, bracing etc etc
     Personally I believe that knots (especially if they need work (like glue fill etc) do a whole lot better in compression (belly side) than they do in tension (back).
    Any of my examples can be done just opposite to what I said, but the entire situation will become a lot tougher to get results with. Just one old guy's opinion, wait till get some more responses....more feedback the better.
rich

Offline Del the cat

  • Member
  • Posts: 8,322
    • Derek Hutchison Native Wood Self Bows
Re: Natural bend
« Reply #2 on: February 11, 2016, 03:16:49 pm »
+1. Knots are far better on the belly than the back.
Del
Health warning, these posts may contain traces of nut.

Offline Springbuck

  • Member
  • Posts: 1,545
Re: Natural bend
« Reply #3 on: February 15, 2016, 12:42:15 pm »
  Natural reflex is desirable, as long as you have a plan, and it's not too extreme. A lot of split staves dry into reflex, too.  Knots on the back are fine, but you have to work them right, and same with the belly, but it's a little easier to work them right.  Remember, though, that all-important intact growth ring on the back.  If you are trying to use the natural bend AND place the knots where you want, sometimes you can't have both.

  So, lets say I find a great 4" dia elm sapling that only has a few knots and is "clean" despite a long slow curve to it, no twist, even curve, etc..... let's say I can get a 68" section out of it, and over that length the curve is 2.5" at the middle, if you stretch a string tip to tip.  In a perfect world, I would split it into two staves, one deflexed, and one reflexed.

From the reflexed stave, I would make a reflexed flatbow or Molle and temper the belly, expecting that I'd have 1 or 2" of set with either, style, and end up with basically a setback handle and maybe just a little reflex in the limbs.  I would take the deflexed stave, shorten to 64" and recurve the tips until they end up maybe 1.5-2" ahead of the handle, heat treat, and expect enough set to put the tips just level with the front.

But, knowing sapling staves, even if you split the two perfectly, since it's a sapling they will try to twist, warp, etc, and the reflexed stave will try to curl into even more reflex, etc... so pick the best one, decide what you want it to do, and make it do that while it dries on the form, and then cook it there if you have to.