Syringa character bow (updated)

[juniper junkie]

looking good Keenan  you cant blame me for you wanting that stave! you grabbed it first off the pile.

[Keenan]

  Not so good today. The limbs or starting to check right down the pith groove. I will take the limbs down a little more below the pith line and then seal them up.   Keenan

[Ryano]

Doh!  hope you can fixer up Keenan. 

[Justin Snyder]

That is to bad Keenan.  I believe in your ability to save it though.  Justin

[Gordon]

A big part of making bows is solving problems - might as well start now 

[Keenan]

 Thanks for the encouragement guys.
 Gordon you are so right.   "A big part of making bows is solving problems - might as well start now" 
 Rather then thinning the limbs, and take the chance of coming in real light,  I decided to fill the cracks with super glue and some fine dust off the sander. A few years ago I had a yew bow that was checking the same way and I filled the cracks with the real fine saw dust a then saturated with super glue and it worked well. The super glue turns the sawdust darker even if you use the same wood but on the yew it blended fairly well.
  I 'm sure that I will take alot of that wood out while tillering it in. But if there is still some of the checks showing I might have to name this bow "scarface"  LOL 
  I guess plan "B" could be thread rapping the limbs? The entire length.  LOL   I'll try to post some more pics later today showing the cracks and glue job.   Keenan

[Eric Kol]

I am very happy to have found your build along. I have yet to complete a bow! yet I have been drawn to "unusual" woods (whatever that means). I happen to have a stave of syringa seasoning in the basement. This stuff checks like crazy! I think the stave I have is safe, bark on varnished ends.
Is this syringa vulgaris....I know it as lilac?
What an interesting smell this wood has. Flowery and fruity..very neat. I plan on making small boxes and such out of the waste.

I can't wait to see the progress! right on man.
Eric

[Ryano]

Were you able to salvage the stave Keenan? 

[Keenan]

 It's doing good so far Ryano, I worked on it a llittle bit Saturday and got it to floor tiller stage. I'll try to update this and post some more pics and progress later today. I 've been watching the weight on it and making sure to get it good and dry befor working the limbs, But it's looking like it might work out.   

 Eric, keep at it. there is nothing like the feeling of shooting your first successful bow.  Syringa seems to be like bambo. Dave had a node pop a splinter on one that he has made and I did a little testing on a few peices and was able to see the same thing. The bow he made spit arrows out with some serious speed and excellent cast but it appears the nodes might be tricky.     Keenan

[Keenan]

 Ok  This stave has finally quit dropping in weight and though it checked in a few places I think a bow is still possible. The drying checks were length ways along the pith grove in a few spots and a lightning bolt like crack in the handle area. As they started to appear I rubbed fine saw dust into them and applied super glue. This stopped the progression of the cracks.
  As you can see in this first pic, the pith grove gives a good center line to follow. Following the center line of the stave is a must with character staves. I will taper the limbs in thickness from mid limb towards the tip first.
 At first I took a few shallow and carefull draws with my draw knife along the belly, so that I can see how the grain is running. Be very carefull doing this as it is easy to rip out a piece of wood on character staves.Often with character staves you will have dips and dives in the grain or hader spots from knotts that create week spots if you thin down with the band saw. 
  I will then mark and note the problem areas, and then rough out the limb with a farrier's rasp.  The pic with the pencil is showing one of the areas that the grain takes a dip.        Keenan

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[Keenan]

 The kink in this one limb is probably going to be one of the hardest areas to work with. It's a sharp dip and the wood in that area is fairly hard and simmilar to a burl. I don't think I will be able to heat or steam this one out completely so I will try to decide how to make the profile work into the bow.   Keenan

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[Keenan]

 And here are a few more pics of the challenges ahead.  Most would consider this endever a foolish waist of time and energy and I have plenty of wood that is straight and clean. However I like challenges and I'm convinced that character bows always teach you so much more. I just hope my lesson isn't to just pick a straighter piece of wood. LOL    Keenan

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[Ryano]

Looks good so far keenan, keep up the good work.

[El Destructo]

I have never thought about using ....syringa......Lilac .....for a Bow....I have two Lilac Bushes in the Yard.....they had better look out!!!

[Gordon]

I was over in Keenan's neck of the woods this weekend and saw this stave. I'm not sure I would be brave enough to take on a piece like this, yet alone do it as a build-a-long! Keenan also showed me some of his finished bows - that boy can sure turn out a fine bow.