D-bow guidance needed

[jthompson1995]

I'm starting on my first D-bow (second stave bow) and need some opinions. It's a piece of osage, 64" long, mainly sapwood with just the bark removed for the back. I've trimmed it to 1.5" wide with the last 12" of each limb tapering to 3/4" nocks (I plan to narrow these later but allowed for string alignment). I left the handle full width and extra wood around a big knot. There is a slight s-curve to the stave but I think I can get the string centered on the handle without a problem.

My question comes from handle placement. I marked out a 4" long handle centered on the length with 2"ish fades but there is a big knot in the center of the limb that falls in the fade and I don't know if I should adjust the limbs to incorporate it into the handle or out of the fade or where? I'm looking to tiller this one out to 26"-27" or so, draw weight is still up in the air, just say over 30 lbs if I can get it and I want to back it with cherry bark.

I'm looking for suggestions on how you would approach/solve this one, having no experience with d-bows or knots before. Thanks in advance. Pics are below:

Back


Belly


belly at handle area - you can see knots, center mark and faint handle/fade marks


Back at handle area with knots

[George Tsoukalas]

If you chase a ring how much heartwood will you have left? I think we need to get some terms straight. You said D bow. Do you mean a bend in the handle bow or a D cross section? Jawge

[jthompson1995]

I meant for it to bend in the handle some. I don't plan to chase a heartwood ring, it'll be mainly a sapwood bow with a small amount of heartwood on the belly.

This was kind of an extra stave when I split a small log but it never did have enough heartwood left to make a bow from. I'm trying to use it to practice some before I try some better staves.

[Ryano]

The knot in the center of the limb is of no consern however the one you violated on the edge of the limb is going to be a problem. Try to narrow it up enough to remove it completely if posible. Also, a True D bow doesn't exactly have fades per say.... since it bends through the handle.

[half eye]

A lot of the Native American "D" bows (circle bending) had the center of the stick about 3/4" thick and the limbs had a slow taper to about 1/2" thick at the tips. As well, the limb (usually) have a straight (but slow) taper on the plan view as well. Dont know anything about "stave character bows" but I'm pretty sure that a lot of the native bows were made like yours and most of them were of these flat, slow tapers.....Ryano said it...they dont really have a grip/ fade area.
just my opinion
half eye

[jthompson1995]

Thanks for the info. I plant to take out the knot I cut through, the grain gets back to straight pretty quick around the knot so I don't think I need to remove much wood to eliminate it. I guess I was thinking I'd make a bow similar to the D bow shown on the top of page 275 in TBB 1. It has a slightly thickened handle that doesn't bend as much in the handle as a lot of D-bows. I figured this might help with the fact it had a couple knots near the middle of the stave.

[Ryano]

I would call that a semi - ridged handled flat bow. 

[George Tsoukalas]

If it is D bow then there should be no fades. Other than that, it sounds like you are set. If you only want 30 # you'll find 1.5 in wide is a lot. One of the fastest bows I ever made was from an osage sucker with a sapwood back and a part heartwood and sapwood belly. That bow is a screamer. It's still shooting. I gave it to a friend. It had about 2 inches of reflex after tillering and started out with about 4 in. I did get some chrysals so retillered that limb and the other. Anyway that bow was 1 in wide and 64 in long. 48# at 26 in.  One other thing. I've found over the years that the closer you get to the heartwood the stronger the sapwood. I have no idea how thick the rings are and whether you can get closer to the heartwood but it is something to think about. have fun, j. Jawge

[hedgeapple]

Jawge, would you need to chase a ring in the sapwood as you remove some of it to get closer to the heartwood?

[George Tsoukalas]

Yes but all that is predicated on the thickness of the sapwood rings. If they are too thin you may not be able to do any chasing. You do not want any violations of the rings. Look at the butt edges and see what you have. Remember to leave enough wood for a bow though you don't need much osage if you tiller carefully.  See how it plays out. You may want to consider a rawhide backing. Ya! Move'em out! Sorry couldn't resist. Rawhide! Jawge

[George Tsoukalas]

Head'em up! Move'em out. Sorry! Sorry! Ok, I'm done. Jawge

[jthompson1995]

I took your suggestion George and chased a ring off the back, first time chasing a ring. The rings on this piece are just under 1/8" thick so it wasn't that bad. I narrowed the whole bow and removed the knot I cut through and it's bending pretty good now. I think with just a little bit of scraping I could get 45-50 lbs out of this one. I'm amazed how little osage it takes to make a bow. I think I'll go for a cherry bark backing, though, no dogies to move on out. 

Thanks everyone for your help.

[George Tsoukalas]

J, good for you! I never used cherry bark. Osage is an amazing wood. Cherry...let me see if I can think of a song.  Neil Diamond.."She's got the way to move me, Cherry. She's got the way to move me, Cherry baby." I'm ok now. Jawge

[hedgeapple]

Thanks, Jawge for the info and concert 

Jt sounds like you're on your way.

[George Tsoukalas]

You're welcome, Hedge. I'm really an entertainer at heart. Jawge