Quarter sawn red oak

[Wooden Spring]

OK, so 80% through the tiller of a 40 pound red oak bow (Home Depot so-so wood) it started to twist and take massive set... So I went to Atlanta Hardwoods and picked up about 20 board feet of beautiful quarter sawn red oak. The grain is straight from end to end, and looking at the end of the board, the grain is perfectly vertical.

So here's my question, I know the vertical grain will make it a bit stiffer, and prevent twist, but will it also help prevent set?

I've been having some problems with red oak taking set, and I was hoping the grain orientation will do the trick.

[adb]

Set is more about design, tillering and moisture content. If you have a good piece of oak, the moisture content is ideal, and you apply the best design, with careful tillering your bow should take minimal set.

The vertical grain will not make it stiffer or prevent twist either... you have to do that.

[tattoo dave]

X2 on what ABD said. I've used QS red and white oak. Both will make an awesome bow, but set is always an issue, for me anyway. Probably because I tend to rush things a bit. That's my confession for the day Take your time and make sure the tiller is perfect.

Tattoo Dave

[Wooden Spring]

Set is more about design, tillering and moisture content. If you have a good piece of oak, the moisture content is ideal, and you apply the best design, with careful tillering your bow should take minimal set.

The vertical grain will not make it stiffer or prevent twist either... you have to do that.

I have built quite a few 30 pound oak bows of a certain set of dimensions that have all taken about 2 inches of set. Then, using those same exact dimensions, I have built a few hickory backed jatoba bows that turned out at 60 pounds, but only an inch or less of set. It's a good design, and my tillering is the same for each bow, so there's got to be something in the materials...

It could very well be me though... I just get frustrated when people post that their bowws have less than an inch of set... Talent is so disgusting, I SO wish I had it!

[Ifrit617]

Red oak requires the most perfect of tillers, even with a decent design to not take a lot of set. I recently made a 41# RO ongbow that has just under 1 1/2" set @ 29" and it has cast over 5000 arrows. Take your time and nail the tiller and RO will make a great bow.

Jon

[bubby]

if it was mine i'd go 1 7/8" at the fades to start and straight taper to 1/2' tips, standard pyramid layout get the whole limb to 1/2" thickness no taper and go from there, take your time and with this design you can minimize set to close to nil, bub

[Wooden Spring]

if it was mine i'd go 1 7/8" at the fades to start and straight taper to 1/2' tips, standard pyramid layout get the whole limb to 1/2" thickness no taper and go from there, take your time and with this design you can minimize set to close to nil, bub

That's almost exactly what I make them to... 66" NTN, 2"@fades, 1/2"@ nocks, 1/2" consistent thickness. Since it was taking 2 1/2" of set, I made one with a tapering thickness from 1/2"@ fades to 3/8"@ tip, and although it gave me more of a circular tiller with only about 3 to 5 pound weight loss, it wound up with about the same set...

This is confusing enough to give a Tylenol a headache!

[George Tsoukalas]

adb, said it.
There are build alongside on my site. Leave the board 1.5 in wide for 50 to 55 lbs or rip it to 1 3/8 I wide for 45- 50 lbs as some have a hard time shooting wide  handles.
Do not narrow the handle or glue on a piece. Let the handle bend.

When choosing a board if quarter sawn the board must be perfectly straight with no run outs.
Info on my site. Jawge

[George Tsoukalas]

http://georgeandjoni.home.comcast.net/~georgeandjoni/index.html

[Blaflair2]

Couldn't u temper the belly to help with the set?

[bubby]

how much set are we talking about, a little bit is o.k.

[TacticalFate]

Temper the belly and trap the back...

[Onebowonder]

I second the advice of trapping the back.  I've found that Red Oak loves to have the back trapped out a little.  Be careful though!  It's easy to undershoot your weight target with just a bit too much of a trap-job on the back, ...but hey, then it doesn't take set so bad, right?

OneBow

[stickbender]

     Trap the back?


                                          Wayne

[bubby]

trapping the back means the flat of the back of the board is narrower than the board, a cross section will have a trapezoid shape to it