Sassafras Stave. Now what?

[Chief RID]

No progress today on the bow. I spent the afternoon re-purposing an old pair pf Red Wing work boots that I had been saving. Back in the 80s when I used to wear out boots occasionally they still made a great leather boot. The handle on my elm flat bow from back then was covered with re purposed beet leather. I needed some padding for my workmate bench and they were just the ticket. Now I can continue with the bow build and not mare the back, hopefully.
I guess I will start flattening out the belly and work for a floor tiller. If anyone thinks I should decide on a handle first and whittle it out let me know, otherwise it is on to floor tillering.

[Chief RID]

The bow has a good shape and I took off some belly today but still not down to floor tiller. I drew this thing out with a four inch handle with 1 inch above the center line and 3 inches for the fade outs. Do I measure my limbs from the center line or from the end of the fades? I hope that made sense. I will send a pic tomorrow. It is actually looking like a bow a little bit.

[Chief RID]

I flattened the belly some more. The high crown on the back will be a waste but it is what it is. I do need some advice on my work bench too. Is there any better dogs I can make to do the holding instead of these plastic ones? Some advice from those using these benches would be appreciated. They do OK and don't mare the surface but I still could make something. I am not a woodworker at all.

It is going to take a while to get the belly down to tiller. It there a safety thickness I could mark on the side to get down to, so I can get after removing all this wood?

[PEARL DRUMS]

3/4" is a good start with that wood. Get yourself a bolted down bench vice.

[Chief RID]

Thanks PD. That width gives me a starting point. Just what I needed. I have a vice out in the storage shed but I like to work out in the driveway in the sunshine in this weather. It has been just beautiful here. Sunny and 64 with no wind right now. I had some more wood I had to take off because of inferior wood so I did some of that while watching the width of the limbs. The lower nock area is knotty and needs to be smoothed. That may determine some things. Things will go pretty quick from here on out so I have to be prudent with my rasp and spoke shave.

[Jim Davis]

As far as the plastic dogs are concerned, the cold truth is, those "work benches" are as weak as the dogs.

If you keep making bows, you will do yourself a big favor by arranging a more solid way to hold a stave. There are some inexpensive approaches, if that is an issue, as it is for me.

Jim Davis

[Chief RID]

Point well taken, asharrow. If I keep on doing this I will be looking into some of those.

[Joec123able]

Look forward to seeing you get a bow from that sassafras

[bradsmith2010]

I have a cheap vise,, I just" C"clamp it to a table outside to hold a stave
but I am also comfortable taking a big rasp and working it in my hand,, or hatchet

[Chief RID]

Had to work on a gate today. It wore me out. I have to finish it up tomorrow so I won't get anything done on the bow again.

I have enjoyed this skill work mate. It has been very useful for me and it holds a bow OK. I just thought some dog designs would improve it.

[DC]

You can make your own dogs from dowel and plywood. Find some dowel that fits the holes in the Workmate. Cut some 2" squares from the plywood. Drill some holes in the plywood and glue the dowels in. I made some for my old Workmate and they worked great til the Workmate top fell apart.

[Chief RID]

Here are a few new pics. It has been a while. I am ready to just get on with it. I don't know if you can tell much with the photos but should I try to straighten anything before going further? It is not bending much at all yet. It has some twist but it seems to twist back at the nocks. It has some bends but as you see it kinda goes straight over the handle area. I thought pulling a line across where I am thinking the nocks should be would give some reference.

[wizardgoat]

If it's that close I wouldn't worry about string alignment till you get the bow low braced.
Leave your last 6" on each tip a little bit wide, and I bet you can make everything good without heat.
Your full width handle will help too, you can narrow it a bit if the string is favouring one side

[joachimM]

Sassafras is weak in tension, but great in compression. If you believe the wood database, it is similar in compression quality to eastern red cedar, but still weaker in tension. If you want to fully exploit the good compression qualities (which is generally the limiting factor in bow making), then this is a wood that would benefit from backing, with either a tension-strong or at least denser wood, or with sinew or plant fiber backings.

[RyanR]

I am glad to see you are back on this one. I would get it bending some before I tried any straightening. You can literally tiller sassafras with sandpaper so go slow with your tillering.