Eastern Woodlands build Part 1

[M2A]

Hey Folks. Had a rough second half of this year. Missed the whole apple harvest as i was laid up. lots of time to think. Been able to do some knapping and working on arrows the last few weeks but sure have missed working on staves. Wasn't sure for a while I'd be able to do that again. looking at all the staves i collected in the last 10 years and all the work involved in cutting and splitting and all the potential bows i have not made yet was pretty depressing. Lucky for me everything worked out well in the long run and got the green light from the doc about 2 weeks ago to do whatever. Still some slight issues but much better than things could have been. Time to move on and not look back. Started back to shooting but 50 lbs is a bit much so been shooting a 35 lb test bow i made a few years ago, tool marks, no finish but it was perfect and so glad i had it. That all said time to try and move up in weight. Plan is 3 bows this winter moving up in weight with each one. I always have been so greatful for all the information I have taken from this forum. All the knowledge shared and all the amazing bows i have seen. Always have enjoyed following along with the build a longs. So figured why not give it a shot my self. So make suggestion, be critical, or just follow along and enjoy its all good. If part 1 works ok and i can do timely there will be 2 more. So lets get started.....

One style i dont have is a good simple "D" bow from locust complete with diamond nocks. Made a few over the years but never kept any of them. So a good place to start. I like the idea of how efficent this style is with resources. Got this log from the cordwood processing pile. Looked nice and straight with average rings and few knots. Split it a few weeks after they dropped it off last August so its been under cover for the last year plus.
IMG_5062 by Mike Allridge, on Flickr

I got lucky and the piece i am using is a belly split. Split almost perfect down one early growth ring. no knots but 2 swirled grain places that i hope to remove roughing out. Could be straighter but hope to take care of that later on the caul with the heat gun. It split a bit funny on one end and have some grain run out but should be able to over come that with the width I have. Here's what I have to work with.
IMG_5797 by Mike Allridge, on Flickr

IMG_5798 by Mike Allridge, on Flickr

Average for weight. But I think locust like this has a better tension/compression ratio and does not fret as easy as denser material, just a theory I have from my own experience. Plus I am only looking for 42ish lbs out of this bow it should work well. Youll notice the growth rings in the center of the stave are too tight and have too much early wood but I should have enough thinkness with the outer 3-4 rings so that i hope is not an issue. 
IMG_5799 by Mike Allridge, on Flickr
     
I chased a ring last weekend, 1 above the one that will be the back of the bow.
IMG_5801 by Mike Allridge, on Flickr

and ended up with it like so.
IMG_5802 by Mike Allridge, on Flickr

back is sealed up with shellac until I remove that ring then I will Shellac it up again to prevent any chance of drying checks.

So this weekend I be reducing and finding the best way to lay out the bow. Maybe even get the last ring removed. I'll be starting at 1.5" wide and if I can will reduce that during the tillering. Planning on 60-62 for ntn lenght, I need to see how things lay out on the stave before i make that call.

Anyways, Thats where things stand now. looking forward to more shop time this weekend.
Mike               

[superdav95]

Lookin great.  Following this!

[Muskyman]

Glad you are feeling better. I’ll be following along as well. Never built a locus bow myself but like the look of the wood. Looks like a nice piece to start with.

[Zugul]

lovely stave and very nice dark colour of the late wood!

[Kidder]

Glad you’re on the mend. I wish my black locust around here looked that good! Interesting theory about ring ratio and frets - I need to ponder that a bit. Either way looking forward to following your build.

[Will B]

Good luck with it, Mike.  Glad you are feeling better. Learned a lot from your previous builds.   I’ll be watching. I love black locust bows!

[M2A]

Thanks fellas!
I'd suggest to keep your eye out for some Muskyman. Easier for me to find nice straighter pieces of locust than anything else.
Kidder maybe I explained it wrong. Its not so much the ratio as it is locust with a little lighter mass in general, faster growing stuff so wider early wood and late wood. 1st stave i have tried on this tree so fingers crossed. But similar staves have worked out well for me. I think it less tension force.  Have staves from a tree with late wood hard as glass and it works good too so maybe i need need a bit more research in that.

Got a good bit done over the weekend. Used a draw knife to take the grain run out a little bit at a time until i was close to my 1.5" width, then a rasp to to complete. Not how i like to do it but didnt want any of that run out left in the stave if i could help it then a rasp to get the final width.   
IMG_5808 by Mike Allridge, on Flickr

Not much room to spare with the width but think it will be fine. I was able to get this out tho. not sure what they call these but its not a knot. Not sure how it would affect things if it was on the back but had a bow break on me when i had one on the edge. But its all gone now.
IMG_5811 by Mike Allridge, on Flickr

Here the stave is after getting it to 1.5"
IMG_5812 by Mike Allridge, on Flickr

Plans are to leave the middle 50% at 1.5" and taper each outer limb from there so laid that out and cut down to the line. Hope to leave the nocks at 7/8 but may have to take them down some yet.
IMG_5818 by Mike Allridge, on Flickr

I got more done but short on time so hope to that in the next day or 2. Might be a few days before I am back in he shop.
Have a great new Year folks.
Mike         

[superdav95]

Very cool.  I don’t think we have much of it up here but I’m interested in how this build goes.  Watching eagerly

[M2A]

Thanks Dave, I am pretty close to its northern native region according to a USAD Forestry map. My best guess is that it move up the Ohio river valley and stayed close to the banks as its range expanded. I have seen original land surveys from the late 1700's of the area and a few property markers along the banks of the Monongahela river were marked by locust trees. Not sure how far its range has expanded with the help of people but think its pretty vast.

With the front profile complete I figured good of time as any to remove a thin ring i was using to protect the back of the potential bow and get down to the ring I want to use for the back.  I could have done this before, but its nice to do that last ring and take my time to do it well. so back to it with the draw knife and a scraper.
IMG_5825 by Mike Allridge, on Flickr

That completed I moved on to rough out the thickness. Figured I would start with 3/4" across the whole piece. I suppose the  middle of the bow(handle) will finish up around 1/2"+ and the tips being about 3/8"at the nocks, so plenty think but easier for me to use a rasp and card scraper to get it to start bending. Cant put wood back on if you get to thin roughing out

IMG_5827 by Mike Allridge, on Flickr
Back of the bow is on the left and have my thickness line down both sides.

Pretty basic to remove the extra wood on the belly but just in case someone is new.
I remove corners first. Down to the line or close to it.
IMG_5828 by Mike Allridge, on Flickr

Then remove the center.
IMG_5829 by Mike Allridge, on Flickr

It could be easier if you mark those angled surfaces with a pencil or marker so that when the ink is gone you are down to your line.
IMG_5830 by Mike Allridge, on Flickr

 
       

[M2A]

Finished side profile roughed out.
IMG_5831 by Mike Allridge, on Flickr

Hope to get some time today to start getting it floor tillered. And think i forgot to mention the plan is for 62" ntn. so i did cut the length leaving 1" for lower nock and 1.5" for the upper nock. so its 64.5" long.
Thanks, Mike   

[superdav95]

I like it.  That’s a good technique

[M2A]

Thanks Dave, pretty straight forward simple and I like simple.

After getting the stave 3/4" end to end I need to try and thin the stave down. I will leave a 4" handle area go for now and work out from there. Marking the limbs half way between the "handle" and tips I mark up the outer half with a pencil.
IMG_5832 by Mike Allridge, on Flickr

Then proceed to remove the lines with my farrier rasp. Then file out the tool marks until its rather smooth again. Next I mark out the entire limb and repeat the process.
IMG_5833 by Mike Allridge, on Flickr

I do change the the mid point each time so I do not get a step in the center of the limb. I picked this tip up here and wish i could remember from who. But works well for me giving me a  good limb taper.

IMG_5834 by Mike Allridge, on Flickr

5 cycles of doing this on each limb has got them bending just a little but getting limb thickness down enough I think its time to put the farrier rasp down and use a less aggressive rasp to continue. It dont take much wood removal at this point to change things. It would be nice to have it floor tillered before the weekend but not sure Ill have that much time. So far so good
Mike             

[superdav95]

Looks good.  Will be nice to see it bending. 

[wooddamon1]

Following, I like your taper technique. Glad to hear you're doing better health-wise.

[M2A]

Got a bit side tracked Dave but do hope to start tillering next.
Thanks Wooddamon. Done it that way on the last several bows and has been working well for me.

Got the things pretty evened up and the floor tillered pretty good. I still have some mass to remove from the handle area and plan to slowly work at that but would rather not get that area bending too fast too soon. Also I do not like to try and heat in reflex after working the limbs too much. I dont think the belly wood takes well to tension after it has been worked in compression and pull the fibers on the belly apart. so I figured was a good time for heating in some better profiles. but starting off like so.
IMG_5838 by Mike Allridge, on Flickr
IMG_5837 by Mike Allridge, on Flickr

The biggest offense is that dog leg on the one limb.....But after looking at my options I figured I would be best served with a new form to heat treat and straighten this piece out with. After some time trying to work the math or just plan freehand the arc I wanted I went back to a string tied to a fixed point to get my 3" reflex over about 14" of the outter limb.
IMG_5839 by Mike Allridge, on Flickr

worked down to the line with hand tools then and checked for it being square
IMG_5841 by Mike Allridge, on Flickr

IMG_5842 by Mike Allridge, on Flickr

Simple project and all part of the bigger picture as I hope to make good use of this form.

That done time to heat treat and try and even profiles up. I use 850 degrees on my gun as a constant and time is variable for heat treating. Working one limb at at time. I mark of 6" lengths. Locust is quick and on average takes 5 min for each 6" to get the color I want, white wood can take much longer(12-18 min/6").

One limb all clamped up and sorry for all the background clutter but space is pretty tight in the shop.
IMG_5843 by Mike Allridge, on Flickr

I am pretty happy with the reflex added but didnt enough of the dog leg out yet. Will be heat treating again at around 22" and hope to get it better at that point. but hes where I stand now.
IMG_5846 by Mike Allridge, on Flickr
IMG_5845 by Mike Allridge, on Flickr

Should be able to get a string on it and see how things look very soon.
Thnaks. Mike