Sassafras Stave. Now what?

[DavidV]

Don't bother burnishing the stave, just make sure it's smooth by sanding. I would cut out  the width first then work on the belly. Also, tried the shower steaming trick on my first few selfbows and none of them took... now I do all my heat corrections with a cheap heat gun.

Good luck, I'm working on a sass stave as well.

[JonW]

I have had success with Sassafras. I did take all the sapwood off and chased a good thick ring on them though. The best one is in this post and is still shooting.

http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,41491.msg555139.html#msg555139

[hunterbob]

I have also made a sass bow . 67" 60@27 . I to ran a ring on mine . that bow was fast . till I took it to work and pulled it out of my car on a 99 degree day and was showing it to a guy and he pulled it back and broke it. But with my snap draw I feel it would of lasted me for awhile. Now if I sm going to put all that work into a bow its going to be better wood.

[Chief RID]

Thanks for the info guys. I sure need the input. This stave has a punky line that runs through the center. I worked down the belly yesterday with my spokeshave just to see what I had after making it flat. If I have to get rid of that punky part I won't have a lot of thickness left. Could be interesting. I will try to draw out the limbs today and keep them as wide as possible for their length. I still want to make it bend through the handle too.

hunterbob.  Ditto on never letting someone draw your selfbow. Been there.

[bradsmith2010]

i always unstring my bow before showing to someone,, 

[Chief RID]

I laid out the proposed handle and limbs today. It looks pretty good as far as the grain goes and it will have a lot of unused wood because of the high crown but I will start whittling her down some now. If things go well it will be a solid 70 inches. It will be interesting to see where the string ends up on the handle. I have to go out to my storage shed and find my rasp. I will try to post some pics tomorrow if I get to remove some wood. This does smell good when working but makes me hungry. made chili and cornbread yesterday. I'm going to have a bowl right now.

[Springbuck]

  I'd go ahead and cut the hickory, if you have access to it.  Then I'd make the sassafras bow while the hickory dries.

[Chief RID]

I hear ya, Springbuck. I have some posts to cut for a couple gates and I will cut a cedar (ERC) and a hickory then but I want to wait till summer on the hickory so the bark will peel.

[Chief RID]

Well the weather has given me too much time to think about this. I am now wondering about following the grain on the back of this thing. I want to make sure I do and it has got me wondering if I have laid this thing out right. It there something I could stain the back with to see the grain better? Old eyes and this white wood has me questioning things.

[Blaflair2]

U don't need to follow a ring, just peel the bark. Following the grain during layout just means u don't sever grain lines. Like snake in a bow.

[Chief RID]

Exactly Blaflair2. I am trying to prevent run out on the edges. I split out this stave but I am trying to maintain that while I narrow the limbs. I would just like to see the grain of the wood better.

[Blaflair2]

Try chalk like chalk, I've used it in similar instances when I first started

[Chief RID]

I remember back when I made my 1st bow that roughing it out was the hardest part for me. I think I have never understood some of the aspects of it and it seems to be lacking in explanation to me.

[bradsmith2010]

there is going to be a little run out as you narrow parts of the bow,, just make your changes gradual,
draw a pencil line down the grain if you need to,, you can sand it off
can you send a close up pic so we can see the shape of the bow and grain,,

[Chief RID]

There should be pretty good light this morning. I will try to get some shots of the back in the working areas hat I am concerned about. Thanks. This could definitely help.