Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: nugget on June 30, 2008, 02:52:39 am
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Guys I am spoiled .
You may ask why and on what .
I will tell you. Spoiled on Osage, Cedar, and Black locust.
The other day I started a bow out of Maple I got from Dana . That is some hard !@# stuff. I am about ready to make firewood out of that piece. It has been the hardest piece of wood I have ever worked in my short career as a bowyer!!
Sorry for the profanity ;D
I got so used to how the other woods worked . This must be concrete Maple!!
I love Osage and Cedar. I know how to manipulate it in most every way , But white woods like Maple and Hickory are a serious headache!
It may be me ::) , but Osage and Cedar are my 2 top choices.
I do not want to give up on this bow ,but all my tools act like they are dull on this particular piece of wood.
HELP !!
T.J.
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lol. have you tried ironwood? (hornbeam)
gives me a hard time. and i agree about ceder. easyest stuff there is to work with.
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Nugget, Read what is at the bottom of my post..I have been doing this for a long time, and we aren't there yet..trust me..
Even light woods have great variations in them..As we say "welcome to bowmaking reality" I have heard this from guys twice my age who are now dead...
Never think you are "there'
Rich-not there...
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I have not yet tried Iron wood. Got some curing . Might be firewood after this ,but you never know.
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Rich, you put some perspective on it I agree.
I started out with osage and fell in love with it. Some may say it is Hatefull , I disagree ,I say it will let you get away with alot more ( More forgiving ) . Cedar is tempermental , I say you just have to know how to handle it (Soft and slow) .
Maple and hickory? ( A new adventure that has not started out very well at all)
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Just wait until your first run-in with Ipe, your nose and tools won't know what hit them >:D
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Nuggett,I'll be the guy at Mojam cutting up osage and packing it for shipping back to Cal. Grant, I used to hanglide off the park on the Oceanside of Victorial...Last time was in 79...I forget the name.
I will also have some Ipe in trade for those going there..
Rich-flying isn't cheap anymore..
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Grant, you will find different tools work with different woods, I use a spokeshave primarily on a lot of white woods. I love to work maple as it is fast and easy with a spokeshave. Much easier to sand than osage as well. Osage I like my drawknife and a rasp. Ipe and a lot of the tropicals I use mostly a rasp and a scraper. They all work easily once you find the right tool. Steve
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My first bow is a big piece of Hickory, and it wore a file I had down to absolutely a bear piece of metal. Where can I get a piece of Ironwood? I'm a glutton for punishment. ;D
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I work with Hickory and IW a lot and never had any problem,I use a farrier's rasp and good sharp scraper no problem,I will admit Osage will spoil you.That is after you get the bark and sap wood off and get a ring chased.Till then I will go with Hickory or IW. :)
Pappy
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Nuggett,I'll be the guy at Mojam cutting up osage and packing it for shipping back to Cal. Grant, I used to hanglide off the park on the Oceanside of Victorial...Last time was in 79...I forget the name.
I will also have some Ipe in trade for those going there..
Rich-flying isn't cheap anymore..
Rich: Dallas road! Still a major spot for Hangliding and Paragliding, we see then all the time when taking the ship in or out of port.
Steve: I'm going to have to try the rasp and scraper approach next time, I wore out a belt on my sander with the last one.
Cheers,
Grant
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yeah, Rich, we see hangliders, and windsurfers and even para-whatevers out there all the time!
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two questions.
1. what is ipe? ???
2. what is a spokeshave? ??? ???
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TJ, I know what you mean, once I started using osage my bows improved. With other woods I'm not so hot! ::) A good rasp and a good scraper, lots of time and patience and a cold one will get you through it. Make it a challenge and not an effort! ;) Pat
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Thanks Pat.
Shooter ,Ipe is a type of wood. A spokeshave is a tool used to scrape wood .
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lol. i could have came up with that much my self.
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If osage has been dried with the bark on it can be a pretty good chore removing the bark and sapwood. One little trick I have learned and it works well on character staves with a lot of knots as well is to make up several little splitting wedges about the size of broadheads but about 1/4" thick, easy to mkae on a grinder out of mild steel. Anyway just clean up the sides of the stave with a draw knife or bansaw so you can clearly see the growth rings. Pick out a ring one or two rings above the one you want and tap a wedge into it. Go all the way down the stave with the wedges and if needed put a few wedges in the same ring on the other side, try to pound the wedge into the springwood if you can, it will often just pop right off leaving you a ring that just needs a few minutes worth of scraping. Doesn't work on all wood but most osage is pretty good about this. Steve
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cool trick man. i need to make me some arras next visit to grandpas.
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Nugget, I know where you are coming from. I came home from Pappy's with some of Dana's Hard Maple. I tried cutting a blank out on my saw and had the blade smoking. That is some hard and dense stuff. I think that hickory and HHB is nothing after messing with that stuff.
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That maple is some tough stuff for sure
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Hey Shooter Ipe is a great looking chocolate brown hard wood sometimes known as Brazilian walnut.
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I use less steeper angles on the blades for that hard wood, and I angle the cutter when Tillering to prevent chatter.Maple and Hickory are a pain, Don't give up and don't let that wood burn ya out like it does me. Exhausted PK
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And here I thought the my maple worked sweet and easy, you guys must be wussies >:D
I'm surprised that you think its that tough, I didn't think it was any tougher than hickory, and I haven't gotten to
the osage yet. I have permission to go cut another big ol hard maple from the same guy as last year ;D
Don't give up on it nugget, just sharpen yer scraper eh ;)
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I am not gonna give up. Maybe alot of cussing and sweating
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I'm with Dana on this....Maple ain't that hard. But that being said, you need to learn different technique's for removing wood for almost every different kind of wood as they all seem to work differently.
The technique I use the helps with almost any kind of wood is to remove wood from each edge of the belly and then the midle of the belly. This helps cut down on the surface area your working on and your tools work much easier...its like working a much narrower piece of wood.
After all this being said, Yes Osage is still my favorite and works better with a scraper than any of the other woods I have tried. It is by far the most forgiving bow wood.
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I still Like Workin with Maple and Hickory.I'm feeling how hard it was for you guys to gather the stuff. :)
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i have a ton of yew laminations here (and a couple blanks with the yew as belly lams....) so i guess in the near future i'll be spoiled on yew bows with white ash backings...
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thanx bad bil. sounds cool. and its EXTREAMLY hot for bowyering in louth louisiana right now. i sweat more makeing sawdust than i do at football practice.
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sounds like a good trick Steve. might have to try that on some BL im gonna be getting soon. ive worked both white oak and red oak, hickory, ash, maple, hickory and hickory. my favorite so far is the hickory, but i think because its so hard to break. which is a plus for a guy like me! :D dont give up man, and if you get frusterated, step away for a while.
Phil