Thoughts on my second bow so far? (Elm pyramid) done tillering

[Ricardovanleeuwen]

Hmmm now. I cant make a decision, i kind of trust the nocks with this bow because of 1: what pat m says, its elm.
And 2: i have quite thick tips with as in my opinion shallow groves so that the string Just fills it, i also burnished the groves . Oh and the growth ring of the back is really thick, i didn't go past the first ring.

But on the other hand, if It Do fail i Will really blame myself for not maling overlays.

The point is... I Just wanna shoot😅

[PatM]

You can always put a spline in  instead of an overlay.  But a v or just a wider slot  and fit in a piece of horn, bone  or hardwood.

[Eric Garza]

You can also wrap the tips just under the nocks with thread or sinew, then impregnate the wrapping with a waterproof glue like Titebond III. That will give you extra security, though I do not think you would need it with an elm bow of this design.

[Ricardovanleeuwen]

Decided to do overlays because of you nevver try anything, you wil nevver learn something. So i sawed Both tips at a light angle Just until the groves and rasped,scraped It Just past It. The flattened surface is maybe a bit long but i dont trust the small tear drop sized overlays yet. I did made some overlays before i cut the tips, but those were a bit too thin in my opinion. I made An other one and liked the rounded recurves like curve that i gave It by accident. So i think il make the other one Just like that if It isnt a bad Idea. Here are a few pictures. By the way sorry for all the mess that is always in the pictures but i have to live and work on bows (mostly work on bows 😂) in this 4x4 meter room

[PEARL DRUMS]

Perfect.

[DC]

Yup

[Ricardovanleeuwen]

I glued the first overlay on, now doing second one. While i took the clamp off the first tip i Saw that there is a Tiny edge not glued.
Should i remove this tip and re do It, fill with watery hide glue or sand the limb smaller till past the gap

[DC]

OK take this with a grain of salt because my experience with Osage is very limited. I think the wood should have been oriented so the grain/ring lines are vertical. I've always been suspicious of early wood and I'm afraid it might split off. I always try to make the grain vertical no matter what kind of wood I use but I think it matters more with some woods than others.

[Ricardovanleeuwen]

Ah, i hope It Will Stay, its black locust by the way, not sure If its the same with the growth ring stuff.but we will find out

[DC]

Locust is similar to Osage as far as the early wood/late wood thing is concerned. I'm hoping someone else will comment on the ring orientation.

[George Tsoukalas]

Ricardo, mighty fine. Looks like you are enjoying the bow making process. Jawge

[Ricardovanleeuwen]

Yes, It is basically all i do in my sparen time.. i did throw my tv away because It took in too much work space

[Ricardovanleeuwen]

This morning i cut my hand where my indexfinger connects to my hand and It had to be stitched, so even if i Will finish my bow today i wont be able to shoot It... . I Am planning to taken the overlays off because the grain should be on vertical as above is told so i would like to make some better looking overlays because il have  time for that. I have a question about Woods to use. Would hawthorn be good because i find that the Burls of It can have some Nice looking pieces. N other question is if i find a trunk of hardwood, but the trunk is decayed for A big part, would the inside, where its still hard be suitsble for overlays?

[DC]

Look for wood that doesn't split easily. I would think that burls would be great but I've never done anything with a burl. As I said before contrasting colour makes glue lines disappear . One to avoid is Peruvian Walnut or Brazilian Walnut(they are sold interchangeably in some stores). I've had two failures with it. I use thick CA to glue them on and haven't had a failure. Some swear by epoxy.

[Ricardovanleeuwen]

Soo i went on a walk with my dog and had my mind set on hunting Burls, i searched the internet if locust had Burls, they sayd they had and the Wood would be one of the most dense Woods u could find.  So i went to a small forest full of black locust and found a death tree withmultiple Burls on It. And hard is was... The Saw i had with me was sawing like im trying to cut bricks with It, and it is, or was a verry Sharp Saw. I Will cut one of the Burls into roughed overlay shape, seal It and Will boil It to speed up drying, the other ones i will seal  and let normal dry for future overlays or handles for bows or knives. I also found a death tree with verry thick growth ring ,as far as i have seen yet 1 Will pick It up in a few hours.