Bow journal?

[cool_98_555]

Hey guys,

I just thought of something that would have been a great idea a long time ago.  I wonder how beneficial it would be to have a bow journal where you write all the exact dimensions, positives and negatives of every bow you make or have made before.  I imagine this would be an amazing learning experience.  Im talking all bows you make, whether they fail and break or last for years along with a little note or two on personal reflection of the bow, like why you thought it broke or why you thought it performed so well.  You could also include how long you seasoned the stave, if you heat-treated, piked, came in under weight, etc...

What do you think? Anyone already doing this?

[penderbender]

Defiantly a good idea. I have thought about doing it haha. I should start. Cheers- Brendan

[BowEd]

I have bow making friends here that keep a journal on things making glass bows.Could be done with natural material bows like laminated ones etc.Self bows seem to be individuals though with knots/whooptee doos/longitudal grain snakes.Might be harder to print a general criteria for them.

[cool_98_555]

I disagree.  I think you can do it with selfbows too.  You can write down the length and width for every bow, and write down how thick the rings are, and how much set it took and when you noticed the set starting to occur...

[Del the cat]

Self evidently it can be done.... but
Time ... it takes a lot of time.
As soon as you start trying to characterise something accurately, your measurement methods have to become meaningful and that takes more time.
Ever tried to get an accurate chrono' reading?
Even just a depth & width measurement at mid limb is tricky, metric vs imperial, to what accuracy? To do a whole limb you have to decide at what intervals. Every 2", 6"? Both limbs?
I started my Bowyers Diary as an aide memoir and I do put down some figures, I do measure some key dimensions of some bows.
Yes it's a good idea, yes it's useful, but it is hard to maintain the momentum and do all the work on all the bows.
If it ain't fun, it don't get done ! 
Sorry I'm sounding like a grumpy old git
Del
(voice from stage left... "That's because you are a grumpy old git!)

[BowEd]

I did'nt say it could'nt be done but that it would be harder to replicate.Density and characteristics of the wood determines profile dimensions.Wood base data charts help with that too.Since some species of trees can differ within it's own greatly.A good example is with elm.Thickness of rings many times are'nt a determining factor either.The rule of starting out wide enough and long enough makes it safe here.When a person makes enough bows from a certain species certain concrete dimensions emerge.
Making self bows sometimes is like waiting on christmas day from christmas night yet and like christmas gifts sometimes a bow will not be what we want it to be.Many bow makers expectations are different also.

[Eric Krewson]

I have a journal I keep for all the selfbows I have made. It is more to keep track of who got what bow, when, and a description of the bow than anything else, it also has the addresses of who I sent bows to.

To date there are 155 entries in my log book/journal.

[BowEd]

I did'nt used to but do more so now and that is to identify/sign/and date these bows.

[Marc St Louis]

I disagree.  I think you can do it with selfbows too.  You can write down the length and width for every bow, and write down how thick the rings are, and how much set it took and when you noticed the set starting to occur...

Sounds to me like you would be doing more writing than making bows

[leonwood]

I kinda keep a journal, not as detailed as you specify though. I keep a list of all the bows I made including wood species, bow model, draw weight, bow length and some specifics that stood out during the build like limb twisting and how I fixed that etc.

[Pappy]

Yep thought about it years ago, but then though again and never started. Not a bad idea , just more trouble than I care to go to.
 Pappy

[Badger]

  When we try to gather actual data on wood bows we have to interpret everything. This is where the problem lies. We don't interpret the same from day to day, subtle differences we don't recognize, problems we may have created without even realizing it. I think a little diary would be a good idea with opinion comments added. But the actual data I doubt would ever be of any real value. I often thought about doing this but the smallest difference just throws things off too much.

  Even rating wood as good or bad based on success rates is useless. If we use the wrong design for one wood and the right design for another wood the wood with the best design will always show as better even though it might be inferior.

   I came to the conclusion that the best i could do was attempt to develop monitoring techniques that would tell me more about the condition of the wood as the build progressed. I am working with some wood right now, massaranduba. There are things I like about the wood and things I don't like. I am on my 5th bow in about 2 weeks and am starting to get a feel for the wood.  I would describe the characteristics up to this point as flexable in compression, not prone to chrysal but prone to taking set if not exercised properly and brought along slowly. Some of this is my interpretation and might be wrong. A few more bows and I will have a more accurate opinion on the wood I think. I spent some time heat treating it to put in some relfex, I had to get it a lot hotter than osage just to get it slightly soft. I  bent it 7" and when I took it out of the forms it kept 3". After I pulled it to about to about 20" I was down to 1". I would have no idea how to write this up. I don't know the exact temp I heated it to, I just know real hot. Would it have worked better if I got it just a little hotter? maybe. It might take me 5 more bows before I really would feel qualified to write anything about this wood.

[Del the cat]

Nice post Badger ... nailed it 
Del

[cool_98_555]

Ok...well then at the very least I think it would be great to write down every bow you make just to have a record.  Just to see what you've done you could write draw weight, length, wood and that's it.  Just 3 points to enter in the book for every bow just so you have a record.

[bjrogg]

Ok...well then at the very least I think it would be great to write down every bow you make just to have a record.  Just to see what you've done you could write draw weight, length, wood and that's it.  Just 3 points to enter in the book for every bow just so you have a record.

I had every intention of doing this when I first started. I've completed bow #21 and the only documentation I have is what I posted on this web site. That was hard enough for me to find the time to do and Photobucket probably will screw that up on me to.
      I think it's a great idea, but like Pappy said I just never got around to it. I do think it would make a interesting heirloom. If my grandpa had done this I would very much enjoy reading about the bows he made.
Bjrogg