Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: hedgeapple on March 07, 2013, 06:56:02 pm
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Is there a simple way to lay out the taper on a snakey portion of a limb? Here's what I do:
Draw the taper of my bow dimensions as if it were to a straight taper/straight limb. Then I mark the drawing off in inch increments, maybe as small as 1/2" in more snakey areas. I measure the width at each grid line and transpose that dimension to my stave. It's pretty time comsuming.
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I have a simple way. First find the high spot on the stave and follow it with a light pencil mark, it should follow the grain on its own almost, and should be near center most of the time. Remember to follow the high spot from end to end, not just on the ends. Mark center and lay out your grip and fade according to the grain there. Mark your parallel limb length. I have circle stencil I use now. I start at whatever diamter I want to rough it to. Say 1 5/8". I center that 1 5/8" circle over my center line at the fades. Then stencil those same size circles with 1/2" gaps between them until I hit my parallel limb mark. From there I follow the same center line every 1/2" again, only this time I drop a diameter each move. So in this case I would go 1 1/2, then 1 3/8, then 1 1/4 and so on until I reach the tips, I end up 5/8" usually. Then I go back and free hand connect the high spot on each circle, this gives you the same exact pattern the grain follows as a front profile, that is if you got your high spot right to start with. Really study that "center" line or high spot line before you attack with the stencil. The bows profile being perfectly matched depends on it.
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Dave,
Thanks dave and pearl...........I was thinking of the same question. I'm at that point on a osaget that's just a little snakey. I just eye balled it. looks like there is a better way.
Thanks
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Thanks Pearly. I'm following the center grain, But never thought about the circle stencils. I was wondering why I had those in my shop. I'm off to give it a try.
Dave
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Neat trick! I just usually free hand it which leaves too much room for error, leave it wide and fix it as I go. Likes it!
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I put on a pair of reading glasses and draw a line following that vertical or lateral grain. Then I measure 1/2 on either side of the line. Like this. Jawge
http://georgeandjoni.home.comcast.net/~georgeandjoni/layout.html
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Thanks everyone for you advice.
Peary, I use the stencil trick. I had to tweak it several time to get it to work for my stave. I kept the same width 1 3/4 to midlimb, then a double taper to the tips. I had more little circles than I had limb length. haha So, I used every other circle to 3" from tip and sayed with the 1/2" circle from there. It definitively got me in the ball park.
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;D I'm with Jawge on the reading glasses and PD using circles and following the crown top side. And to double check the top crown I like to even out the belly depth and check the run of the grain from below.
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Good advice Fred. I do that also.
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Dave,i use the circle stencil.i got mine at staples.i start with a freehand center line.i then mark half way up each limb.i then figure out how wide i want my limb to be from the fade to mid limb.then i go from the next smallest circle all the way to half inch at the tip.the stencil has a center mark that you keep on the center line that you have drawn.it is great on snakey staves.if you need a pic,let me know and i'll get you one after work tomarrow.
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Seabass, I actually had a stencil. I bought when I first started building bows. I saw tutorial that used them so I had to have it. Never really used it til today. I really liked them for this application. Since I had more circle than limb length, there were 2 variables I felt I could use. 1 skipping every other circle 2. move the circles closer together than 1/2". Next time I will move them closer. I might still try that even though it looks pretty good right now.
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Hey Dave, do you have one of Mickey's Bowyers Rule? If you don't, I can bring you one when I come down.
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I don't know what a " Mickey's Bowyers Rule" is, so I don't think I have one :-\
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Lay the centr liine out follwing the grain then follow it w the stincle fool proof just gotta tweak it to get circles spaced right i always go bit over size ya can always clean it up later but cant put wood bk on lol Brock
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pearly,
What do you mean by "high spot"? I might learn something here.
Thanks
Greg
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Twisted, what Pearly is referring to is the crown on the back of the stave. Since trees are round, there is almost always a crown on the back. If you follow the high point of that crown it will give you the center lateral grain probably 95% of the time even if the bow twists and snakes.
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Gotcha apple,
That is what I was thinking but not sure. I wonder if that is what happend to my hickory bow I am working on. The stave was bent a little and rather than straightening the stave I just layed out a straight bow on a bent stave...Now I have a heck of a prop twist I gotta take out. I only cheated the natural grain of the wood by 1/4 inch on either end. I will either get it straight or break it trying >:D
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Dave, it is a very handy ruler for bowyers. It is a real time saver when laying out bow dimensions. I had some printed on clear plastic at a local office supply store. Here is a link to it.
http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,20462.msg280953.html#msg280953
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Thanks Clint. I can see where those rulers would be quite handy.
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I do about the same to mid limb,but no circles. Then figure out what I need to drop from mid limb to the tip,depending on how snaky the stave is,I will make 3 inch lines across the limb if it is really snaky 2 inch lines and then free hand to the tip ,keeping the outer limb line running with the center line I have drawn. Works for me. ;) ;D I have seen the stencils used before and looks like that should work good also. :) While I am freehanding the outer lines I can see the longitudinal grain and make any little adjustments I need as I go along. :)
Pappy
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Hm, wondered why i kept seeing circles scribed on the backs in some of the builds on here. That sounds way better than my method, which is mark 1 or 1/2 inch increments along the centerline, figure my taper (eg: 1/32 per inch), then mark on either side of the centerline increments and freehand using the dots as guides. Quite time consuming, and a real pain in the butt when you look again and realize your centerline was off after all that work>:( Gonna hafta try the circle idea on the next snakey one.