Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: beetlebailey1977 on November 27, 2010, 11:00:06 pm
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Ok I have a large osage stave. I know I can get two bows out of it. It has wide rings and is very clear. It is around 7" wide at the back now. I plan to spilt it again but before I do I am wondering if I can bandsaw the bottom third off and make a bamboo backed bend through the handle bow....a basic d style? I have a pc. of bamboo that I am wanting to use. It is around 1 3/8" width. Thanks for any help.
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Is the stave deep enough to take an "inside" split (a split from the top of the vee) ? Just another option. Bob
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follow the rings down the sides of the stave, if they roller coaster very you you will need thickness for the top pieces. just dont get greedy and end up with nothing.
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Before reducing log splits much more than that, I like to find out first how many bows are potentially in a stave. To do that, I take off all the bark and crudely chase the sapwood/heartwood to 1 or 2 rings above the one I want for the bow back. Then I use a pencil to trace the the grain down the center of the stave. Sometimes you'll find your line stays in the center of the log split, which means your original split ran true. Barring any flaws that you may want to avoid, you may in fact have 2 bows in the log split. Quite commonly, though, you'll find your pencil line runs diagonally across the log split. In that case, your original split had some runout and you may only have one bow in the log split. I like to find that out up front, since I don't want to split again only to create firewood. Also, my preference to bone out a log split that's only 7" wide is to bandsaw it into 2 staves rather than trying to re-split, since splits (again) don't always run true and trash the perimeter of the stave. If the log split doesn't have any runout and you lay your lines out and bandsaw carefully, you may even get 3 staves from that split.
Likewise, belly splits are tough to pull off cleanly, unless bandsawed. Unless the log split is unusually deep and wide at the bottom, I don't even bother with them. Belly splits get very narrow and the grain often meanders off the stave too much to get a bow from them.
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Ok I was wrong it is only 4 1/2" to 4 3/4" wide and it is 5" deep to the vee.
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(http://i1182.photobucket.com/albums/x460/beetle_bailey1977/osagestaveend.jpg)
Here is a photo.
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looks to me like any ring would be a good ring to choose for the bows back
myself,i would try and take a belly stave from it too
it would make for nice bendy handle bow
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Thats what I was thinking....if I bandsaw the bottom off I would violate rings but it won't matter because I plan to back it was bamboo. Am I correct on this?
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Just remember that you don't have any spare bow wood on a bottom/sister. Any weather checking or splitting on the lower part of the stave can render it unusable. I personally would not cut off a bottom stave on that one unless you plan to make a thin bend through the handle bow with the top/outside stave so you can leave quite a bit of wood underneath. My personal guideline is that I don't go for a bottom/sister stave unless the top is wide enough to split in half for 2 bows. Then, I take the bottom one off first, usually splitting from both ends to meet in the middle. Then, I split the top wider stave in half. I have ruined perfectly good staves trying to get a sister off them.
Good luck, That has very nice thick rings.
George
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Thanks for all the help. I appreciate it.
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If the stave is good and clean,I would put a wedge about 10 rings up from the bottom v and
split.really good chance it will split right along the ring ,all the belly will need is a little clean up,I never cut the belly with a band saw,they split to easy ,especially one with rings like that one.Then take the top down to the first ring and see if it is wide enough to split in half.If you take the belly v off it make the top split much better. :)
Pappy
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(http://i1182.photobucket.com/albums/x460/beetle_bailey1977/osageafterspilt.jpg) Ok Pappy Thanks for the tip. I went and spilt off the bottom....looks like a bow there to me too. I have not spilt the top in half yet.
(http://i1182.photobucket.com/albums/x460/beetle_bailey1977/osageaftersplit2.jpg)
(http://i1182.photobucket.com/albums/x460/beetle_bailey1977/osagebigknotonend.jpg) Here is a knot on one end......it has a few pin knot also.
(http://i1182.photobucket.com/albums/x460/beetle_bailey1977/osagestaveinsideaftersplit.jpg) And this is the top of the stave on belly side.
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Those are some good looking rings. How long are the staves? I was wondering if you could cut below the knot?
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It is 68" long the knot is about 9" from the end.
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see i knew there wqas 2 ataves in that piece of wood ;D
good for you on listening to Pappy,hes knows his shanizzle when it comes to sage ;)
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You did well, good job. I would split that top one again and see how the split goes around the knot. You might get a very interesting stave there. As long as the other half makes a good stave worst case you can either do a real short sinew bow (cutting off the knot) or have a billet to mate up with another similar piece of wood. You will get others like that, I guarantee it. Splitting up staves when the wood is interesting is almost as fun as making bows. I'm glad you listened to Pappy and not me too.
George
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I put elmers white glue on the back of the bottom sister stave I split off. Will it work good or should I use Varnish. I couldn't get any shellac. Also should I stick it up in my attic to dry?
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Is the stave still green? If it has been seasoned over a year I'd do nothing to the bottom stave but build a bow out of it. I know other people seal all their bow backs, but I don't. Elmers should work for a sealer though if you're concerned about checking. This time of year, putting your stave in the house might dry it faster than in the attic. I dried many staves in my barn hay loft so I'm sure the attic would work fine.
George
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Yes it is green it was cut om 10-8-2010
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The belly split will check if not sealed. Keep it in your house, it will dry faster there this time of year. Elmers glue will work fine to seal the back.
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Pat's right, a green stave needs to be sealed. I should have said I don't seal my seasoned stave backs. I certainly seal the green ones. It will check quickly so don't put it off.
George
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Glue is fine,I always seal them if they are less than a couple of years old on a belly split or even when I debark the top,ant worth the chance. Nice job on splitting the belly. :)
Pappy
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Thanks Pappy...when I saw your response I went out and split it off. It split very easy. I thought that it would from looking at the grain and the rings but I was not certain. Thanks again.
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Ok I removed the bark off of the stave and split it where a crack had already formed prior.....I ended up with a narrow stave and a wider one that all the knots stayed in. It was best I did it this way because the crack ran almost full length and had been there for a while because the wood was a lot darker there. I will post pics tomorrow. Do I need to remove all of the sap wood for drying or can I leave some on?
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The sap wood will remove much easier now, The dryer it gets the harder it is to remove.
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You can bank on Kerry's word there. He debarks more osage in a day than I will use in a lifetime!!! Won't stop me from trying though!
Good luck with that wood, beettle, it looks like some prime stuff.
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It is best to take the sapwood off. Even with sealing it can check and checks in sapwood are likely to travel into the heartwood. Once you get the sapwoof off seal the heartwood back as soon as possible.
If you decide to leave the sapwood on seal it 2 or 3 times with Elmers.
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If I am going to take the bark off,I always take sap wood also like Pat said it will check and go into the heart wood. Just get it to yellow wood and seal. :)
Pappy
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OK thanks I will take all the sapwood off. I did that on the narrow stave....it is tough work but not to bad.
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beetel, you got some great advice from world class bowyers. I've said this before. I wish I had this site when I stated. BTW I make a 50 # osage bow from an 1.25 inch sucker that was mostly sapwood. It doesn't take much psage to make a nice little bow. Have fin. Jawge