2021 1st Newbie build along challenge

[Fox]

Russel, I’d think that might be a bit of a beast to string if you added another 3 inches to the other limb... maybe just take some reflex out and level them up ...

[Allyn T]

It is nice having a bunch of others sharing their journey, it feels like the pressure you put on yourself is lessened seeing what others go through at the same time.

[Deerhunter21]

It is nice having a bunch of others sharing their journey, it feels like the pressure you put on yourself is lessened seeing what others go through at the same time.

I think your right. The times I haven’t felt a ton of pressure to make a bow have been when I’m doing a group build together or I’m building with others.

[Allyn T]

Narrowed my tips and cut in new temp nocks. Got my bow to 50@ 24 on the long string so I braced it about 3 inch, looks even. Also narrowed my handle and set my handle depth to 1.5" now today I'll just keep tillering

[Black Moshannon]

Sweet looking bow Whistling Badger. I'm back with the hickory. Ill be monitoring moisture content although its a dense piece and Ive never had to worry with hickory. That elm was not dense and felt very spongy. Some wood is like that ive noticed. Anyway, here is the new stave. I cut it and put it on form to dry about four months ago maybe. That induced 2 inches of reflex to it. Got it off form, roughly cut narrower tips and took off bark layer. 1 1/2 inch wide by 3/4 thick by 64" long, bend through handle. Width will be reduced today or tomorrow.

[Allyn T]

Let me see the growth rings, I feel like mine isn't the best ratio and I'm wondering what yours looks like

[WhistlingBadger]

Kenneth, are you going for an ELB style profile with that?

[gutpile]

on hickory your growth rings shouldn't really matter.. at least here in Ga. they are real close and we have a good growing season... chasing a hickory ring is not for the faint at heart.I wouldnt even attempt it.. just remove bark clean off cambium .. you can leave some in dippy areas no biggie and there is your back.. gut

[Zugul]

In this days I could not work on my BL bow, but I continued thinking about it. It has some bumps and dips along the limbs, so I can't use the tillering gizmo in the normal way... Would it be effective to show which areas are bending more if I just lay it on a particular spot of the limb, start drawing the bow and watch how the gap between the gizmo and the limb changes? just to get a general idea of where I need to scrap more.

[Fox]

I’m not sure exactly zugul... for that kind of thing I use the edge of my scraper to judge for that kind of thing... but with a wiggly limb I usually just have to eyeball it...

[Deerhunter21]

yes you can do that to see how much a specific part of the limb is bending, but really you should probably eyeball it like fox said.

[Digital Caveman]

It sometimes helps to draw a straight line on the side of the bow in a wiggly spot to judge bend better.  I did this several times with WWIII.

[gutpile]

Well i got some bad news got excited and hit my erc pile .. bugs have ruined most of my prestige stave but not all is lost ..they only hit right where I cannot avoid either a splice or flatten ..  i wanted to boo back one anyway so im going to use that stave for the boo backed bow .. wanted heartwood on boo back too ... my other stave which wasn’t as clean will be my first spliced stave for my static sinew backed recurve .. gonna remove the bark see what i got make a plan then match the billets and bring them inside  .. lots more work than i was anticipating.. kinda looking forward to doing a splice which i have never done before i can ad my reflex in splice or deflex not sure Yet how i will proceed .. looks like i will finish this shorty osage then attack the erc .. either way im looking forward to the challenge .. gut

[Zugul]

Fox:
 yeah I think any flat surface should help to see how a spot is bending.

Tradcraftsman:
This could work too, I'm going to try it!

[Allyn T]

Gut I'm excited to see your erc attempts