picked it up again

[Ranasp]

So with the help of this forum years ago, I started up on my first self bow.  I got to the point where I had roughly shaped it, started in on the handle...And then I put it down to sit for years. 

   I think I just didn't have the eye yet to see what was right with it, only what was wrong, and I was too worried about screwing it up.  Well when this forum was revived, I took a look at it and...I think it's not too bad!  It definitely needs thinning out, untwisting, and tillering, but I can see a bow instead of just a heap of mistakes. 

   I'm working on the handle now, removing material with a farrier's rasp and smoothing it with a flat file.  I'll update the pic once I get the handle done.

[sleek]

Glad to see you are picking it back up. What type wood is that?

[Ranasp]

Osage, I think?  I have the back down to one ring, and only been taking material away from the sides and belly.

[bjrogg]

Glad to see you got the courage up to pick it up again.

I know it can be scary and hard to see anything but the problems, but it is just a piece of wood waiting for you to bring it back to life. Give it a chance. Good luck

Bjrogg

[Eric Krewson]

Best to put up that farrier's rasp, things might go too quickly with it. Make yourself a tillering gizmo as well, the instructions are in the how to section on this site.

I put this sentence in the Gizmo instructions; "when you get the urge to reach for something that cuts faster, put down your tools, go have a cup of coffee and wait until these feelings have passed".

I ran into a guy in the late 80s at the tournaments, like me he was shooting a traditional bow which was rare at the time. We became good friends; he was a pretty good flintknapper and overall craftsman. When I started making selfbows he told me he had tried to make selfbows and broken about 50 of them and never got a shooter.

After I made a few shooters I invited him over to make bows with me, I gave him a good osage bow blank. I was working with my back to him while he was cutting the basic shape of the bow on a belt sander with a 36 grit belt. I heard him cuss, turned around and saw that he had tried to floor tiller the bow with the sander, he slipped up, went too deep at the fade and cut through almost to the back rendering the stave useless.

He said "I wanted to shoot it today", I told him it didn't work that way and showed him how to slow down. Turns out that he has tried to make all of his failure bows in one day and they all broke.

I limited him to slow cutting tools, nothing aggressive and he made his first shooter bow. After that, he made dozens of shooter bows before he died of some rare lung disease.  Old Buzzy, a one of a kind guy.

[PaulN/KS]

That's good advice there Eric. Those farrier's rasps can take a lot off faster than most folks realize.
"Patience", for me, has been an important part of making a bow.

Bow making, like other wood working I've done, is one of those things where the further along in the project the closer you get to ruining it. 

[Pat B]

Welcome back to the madness.  Lots of good info above and like PaulN, said, patience is an important tool in wood bow making.
 Just a suggestion, save shaping the handle until the end. You don't need a shaped handle to tiller a bow and it gives you a place to clamp the bow while tillering.

[JW_Halverson]

Hey buddy, I remember you. Glad to see ya back! Post pics as you go and let the community walk you through.

[Pappy]

Glad to see you back, look forward to seeing the bow come along.
 Pappy

[Ranasp]

Bjrogg, yep I chickened out years ago, I do think it helped to walk away from it and develop my eye a bit before leaping back in.

Eric, I saw the word "belt sander" and went "Oh, so we're telling horror stories now!". Lol.

   As it is, noted on taking things slow, but I actually am adept at using a farrier's rasp since I actually use it for it's intended purpose quite often (I trim my friend's horse between farrier visits). As it is, when I get close to the pencil line I switch to the finer-tppth rasp.  Maybe it's due to it being a familiar tool, but I have a LOT more control over it than I do with a draw knife.  Guess I gotta be weird about things. 

Paul, very true, they're also great at stripping skin.  Cheese graters come to mind.

Pat, thanks for the tip!  I'll put the handle on hold, fortunately the belly is still flat.

JW, yeah I'm seeing a lot of familiar names, everyone here has a great memory because I didn't post all that much!

Pappy, hopefully I'll have something worthy of the forums!  Everyone here posts such amazing stuff!

[Ranasp]

Minor update: tweaked it a bit with rasping off a bit of the belly and did my first try at floor tillering.  I have a lot more material to take off, it barely bent lol.  (It's been pouring here after a drought so I had to hide in my garage to work on it)

It does have a twist going through it, part of which is I need to even out the thickness, but I think once that's done I'll have to hear treat it and leverage it straight.  From what I read, Osage does well with any kind of her, but should be oiled if using a dry heat.  This stave is quite dry now, so should I stick with dry, or try steaming?