Vine Maple... Tactics for a crooked stick ???

[coaster500]

I am roughing out a Vine Maple stave and have a couple of questions. The bark on this stave pealed off and left a very interesting back. Lots of texture, little spines and wrinkles that I would like to keep, one dflexed limb one reflexed limb and a good bend in the middle. Normally I would work it down a bit more clamp it to a form and dry heat it to manipulate the shape. My problem is with all the uneven surface stuff on the back of the bow I will end up with pressure points and uneven stress??? The stave is pretty short (I'll be lucky to get 58 NtoN) so allot of slow tillering is in order to make 27"s.

How would you come at this stave?

[k-hat]

Dude!! That is going to be a beauty!!  I'm definitely not an authority, but I would go as is on it.  The character will make it something to see.  Look over this one, which had extreme reflex and deflex issues, http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,30090.msg397799.html#msg397799 and notice Gun Doc's advice on page 5.  Go ever so slow, use calipers, and you oughta be in good shape to make weight.

Good luck, and can't wait to see her finished!!

[coaster500]

That was some sage advise for us grass hoppers Great job on that bow Hatman

Great explanation Doc!!

Quote... I hate to do this to you, but here comes another long winded explanation regarding the importance of balance in bow making. You are on the very edge of grasping the problem and I think you would figure this out on your own in short order. But here goes. Put all thoughts of a symmetrical brace or full draw profile out of your mind on this one. The only symmetry works is if you start out with unbraced symmetry. With one limb deflexed and one reflexed , the reflexed limb has to travel slot farther to appear symmetrical. That means the reflexed one has to be weaker. No good that! What you need to concentrate on is equal limb travel through the draw and that all of the working part of each limb is working equally. You can use your tillering tree to do this, but you will need to lash a wedge of some sort to the handle so that the limb tips start at an equal level. Then you can see if they are traveling equidistant throughout the draw. I couldn't find my crayons so I scribbled a few diagrams with a pen to try and illustrate what I'm rambling on about. Josh





I am a little concerned because of the length and thought I might want to start with a bit more reflex all around but maybe I can pull it off. I mean watching you pull a bow from that stave I think anything is possible

[vinemaplebows]

2 blocks of wood on a bench heat the area you need to, and use a large C-clamp to adjust it. Pretty simple really.

[blackhawk]

That has such a mild manner to its profile that it is an easy heat correction/even shaping over a form and with leather shims to protect those raised knots.

Since its no where near the caliber of character side view profile as khats I wood put it over a form and make both limbs the same.

[k-hat]

Those are good points, i'm just a character nut, that's all, even if there's just a little

Vinemaplebows .. . are you saying the c clamp should clamp against the sides so the limb can be pushed/pulled, or use it normal and use plenty of padding?

I would think getting it at least to floor tiller and calipering in the tapers as close as possible would be necessary for even bending if it's not going over a form?

[Bryce]

VM will do wonders for you if you treat her right
Brian's got the right idea there, just Give her some heat.

[Gordon]

That is a pretty typical vine maple stave. Use dry heat to even things out a bit and you'll be fine.

[Keenan]

As Gordon and a few others have said. VM works great with dry heat. Use rubber pads where applying pressure and take a little past what you need for settle.  Be sure to let it rehydrate for at least a day. You can even use your Stave Master pressure roll if you can position things right.

[Zion]

I'm working on a piece of VM right now and really that doesn't look half-bad at all. If you make an even reflex throughout the wood it should easily get rid of any of the problems, and when you start tillering they will be hardly noticeable. You should be able to get a pretty good amount of draw out of it if your careful!

[coaster500]

Thank you for the coments....  never thought about using the stave master Keenan

I was just a bit leery of the uneven surface and clamp preasure but I'll give it a try...

[vinemaplebows]

Yep!

[Weylin]

I've used my stave master for my last couple heat corrections, it worked great. Way less sketchy than my previous contraptions.

[dmenzies1950]

I love the funky back of that bow! Vine maple is some pretty tough wood I wouldn't worry too much about it. Tiller it out and start flinging arrows!

Hey k-hat! When I saw the picture of your vine maple bow I had to call my wife over so she could see it! I built a v-maple bow about 15 years ago from a gnarly old piece of vine maple that my logger cousin cut for me. I didn't want to hurt his feelings so I split it and managed to get a stave that I thought was a "long shot", at best for making a bow. Well, the resulting bow looks remarkably like your vine maple post! Even my wife couldn't deny the resemblance. That bow also happens to be the sweetest shooting bow I ever built. After at least 5000 arrows it still shoots like it did when it was new! I have to  add that it's also still as ugly as it ever was! I will post a picture or two when I figure out how to do it.    Dale

[nlester]

I've used my stave master for my last couple heat corrections, it worked great. Way less sketchy than my previous contraptions.

That's me to a T.