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Bow Three: Ash Longbow (finished bow on page 2)

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Matt Heppe:
Sorry, meant to say flat belly.

Thanks for the info.

mikekeswick:
Rough out to 1 1/4 wide by 1 inch thick at the handle. 73 inch long. Taper to 1 inch wide 12 inch from the nock then down to 1/2 at the nocks. Chasing a ring will give you a very strong back . Ash is very strong in tension and therefore I would trap the back quite severely and also heat treat it. Mildly rounded belly will be fine if you get the heat treating and trapping right.

Del the cat:
Go with what Mike says.
If the board is a little narrow you can cut it to start one bow at one end and the second one at the other end, that way the widest bit of each bow will be next to mid limb of the other and you will save a bit of width.
(It's easy to forget the width of the saw cut and any wiggles in the cut).
On the other hand you don't want to get too greedy and end up with 4 forty pounders!
In these situations I always aim for one really good stave, anything else is a bonus. Better one good one and a kids bow than two more 40 pounders.
Del

fishfinder401:

--- Quote from: mikekeswick on September 10, 2012, 03:48:08 am ---Rough out to 1 1/4 wide by 1 inch thick at the handle. 73 inch long. Taper to 1 inch wide 12 inch from the nock then down to 1/2 at the nocks. Chasing a ring will give you a very strong back . Ash is very strong in tension and therefore I would trap the back quite severely and also heat treat it. Mildly rounded belly will be fine if you get the heat treating and trapping right.

--- End quote ---
i also agree, but one suggestion,if you do make it 1 inch deep, you have enough depth to cut the second off the bottom and have extra width to work with

Matt Heppe:
Well, with a friend's help I cut the board. It looks like I'll get two bows out of the board. One "stave" and one nice quartersawn board bow.

I started the process of reducing the "stave" to one growth ring. I've been using my draw knife and it is going well. I've been using the draw knife upside down and pushing it instead of pulling it. When I pull it right side up it just cuts too deep and creates splinters.

I have some thicker sections of wood to remove and I'm not sure of the best way to approach it. I'm talking 1/4 inch over a three foot section.



So far I have managed not to violate any growth rings. The darker patches are very thin remnants of the previous layer. The darker "crack" is just a discoloration of the wood. I have plenty of depth to the board, so have plenty of room if I have to go down a ring (or three).

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