2024 Bow Trade - build in progress

[Muskyman]

Bummer Dave. That’s one of the things with yew staves that will make you crazy. You’re right about Del though. Lots of good stuff on his site.
Good luck.

[superdav95]

Thats yew i guess....  most of these knots were not clearly visible until i got tearing into it.  I think i can make it work.  first step is to get the tips and limb alignment good with the heat persuasion.  Heres my crude set up.  its an old bucket of worn drill bits i kept on hand from my knife forging days and it makes for a great way to hang weight.  I can add more weight as needed to the bucket or remove as needed.  for this bend correction through the hand i clamped it down on a form with an indicator string as shown from tip to tip.  you cna see how much it was off.  I heat up the handle and fade area really well but not to scorch hot with heat gun then hand my weight and adjust.  I get the string to the point where its just past where i want it and then stop adding weight.  you could also just move the bucket or weight further down or up the limb for more or less leverage too.  I will then let this thourougly cool and then remove to see what i got.  for this type of correction one good session is often all thats needed.  Once I get this sorted out I will heat and clamp out any twist in the limbs.  Once all my heat corections are done and i want to move past the floor tiller stage and start bending it more working towards low brace i will fill in some of these knot holes and punky wood knots with matching heart wood plugs.  Ive seen others do this with some success and i feel that with this bow 50lbs flat pyramid style bow should be more then fine.  once i get it to brace and bending well ill flip the tips and go from there.  Im still deciding on whether or not to sinew back yet but i see how it goes. 

[superdav95]

update. all my heat corrections done and tips flipped.  looking fairly straight now and tips aligned.  now onto the plugs for those knot holes!   

[Muskyman]

I’m going to be interested in how you address these knots. Don’t do much with yew, well I’ve done one. But I do have a yew stave that my son bought me for my birthday last year. It looks good and straight and doesn’t seem to have any obvious knots, but like you discovered with this one, you just don’t know till you know.
Bow is looking good so far but I’ve kinda come to take that for granted when watching your builds.

[Will B]

I like how you used that caul to heat bend the handle section. I have had a hard time moving my bow handles when needed. I will definitely try that in the future. Looks really good, Dave.

[superdav95]

Thanks guys.  The biggest issue will be the knot plugs and how well they hold up.  More to come. 

[superdav95]

here are the three major ones im concerned with.  digging them out a little here and still got to clean them up more yet. basically want to get down to good wood and rid the crumbly stuff.

[superdav95]

ive cleaned up the knot holes little more here and put in my plugs.  the plugs are end cut of yew similar color with grain running the length of the plugs. im hoping this will add some strength to these areas.  the glue is ea40 smooth on epoxy.  we shall see if this works fingers crossed.

[Selfbowman]

Cool Dave. What Wood are you using for plugs. I want know how Long this holds up. 

[superdav95]

heres the big plug.  little more glue line the wanted but not too bad.  hopefully its at least functional.  These plugs are all made from heartwood of yew grain running somewhat perpendicular to the grain of the bow.  time will tell if this was a good idea or not.  you can see here that the plug is mostly filling a heartwood void and that the sapwood is mostly unaffected.

[superdav95]

here you can see the other 2 smaller plugs.  similar results here.  also pictured here is a cluster of pin knots that i soaked in thin ca glue.  im hoping these work and do not become an issue as i proceed. 

[Mafort]

Send me a stave and I’m in.

I have a nice bumpy Osage one I’ll send ya if you join in 

[Selfbowman]

Ok in I got a hickory stave from Dave it’s a dandy. But that sounds like a fun stave.

[Kidder]

That’s looking great Dave. I’m confident in your fix. I’ve finally cleared the decks a little and can start my trade bow shortly. Was wrapping up my wife’s birthday present in the shop.

[superdav95]

nicely done!  looks great