Author Topic: Starting on my first vinemaple, tips appreciated  (Read 2236 times)

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Offline Mo_coon-catcher

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Starting on my first vinemaple, tips appreciated
« on: March 01, 2018, 02:16:34 am »
Ive finally built up the nerve to start on my first vinemaple stave. This is the stave I won in a drawing from Dubois. I’ve git the bark cleaned off and a centerline drawn. It’s 69” long, 1” deep to te tip of the crown and looks like I can get 2” of width once the edges are cleaned up, along with 4.5” of reflex.
I rasped a flat on each edge to clamp while cleaning the bark off, and it’s acting like it will be a rasping proposition for shaping as opposed to a drawknife. It seems soft and stringy compared to the black locust I’m used to working.
So any advice on how to proceed from here?
Such as design styles this wood prefers, heat treat or not, how well does it take heat corrections for any possible alignment issues, and any wires quirks of te wood compared to more common white woods? So far I’ve worked with black locust, black walnut, white ash, hickory, Osage, eastern red cedar, and persimmon, to give a background on what I have used so far.

Thanks for all advice,
Kyle

Offline Mo_coon-catcher

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Re: Starting on my first vinemaple, tips appreciated
« Reply #1 on: March 01, 2018, 05:18:08 pm »
I think I’ve decided to go for a 65-70# at 26” draw. In a flatbow parallel to midlimb style with a slightly flexy handle. I’m assuming it’ll flex being 1” deepand I’ll cut it down to 1.25” wide. I may narrow it if it seems to be holding stiff enough. So any recommendations on a good width to go with?

Thanks,
Kyle

Offline High-Desert

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Re: Starting on my first vinemaple, tips appreciated
« Reply #2 on: March 01, 2018, 05:27:24 pm »
Ive done a lot of woodworking with VM, and only tried one stave, which ended up breaking right as I got to full draw. Split out right at a knot. Although it is one of my favorite woods. It is a bear to work. Like you said, stick to a rasp. I worked it down to dimension with a surform, which work well, but it does seem to be way more tension strong than it is in compression. What you have planned seems to be a good starting point. You have plenty of wood to work with there for that poundage.
Eric

Offline osage outlaw

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Re: Starting on my first vinemaple, tips appreciated
« Reply #3 on: March 01, 2018, 07:36:09 pm »
I've only made one bow from VM.  I liked it.  I seem to remember it clogging my rasps more than osage.  It looks good with a dark skin on it.
I started out with nothin' and I still got most of it left

Offline Mo_coon-catcher

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Re: Starting on my first vinemaple, tips appreciated
« Reply #4 on: March 04, 2018, 08:28:53 pm »
Here’s what o have mapped out in the stave for te front profile. I went with 2” wide from fade to midlimb tapering to 3/4” nocks. I left the handle wide at 1 1/4” at the fade and 1 1/2” in the middle. The limbs lengths are 29” from fade to nock. I figure I can staye large and cut it back if need be. I haven’t  decided if I want to leave the handle 1” thick and expect it to flex or glue on a handle and keep it stiff. Though I’m leaning toward a stiff handle. I expect it to tiller out in a gullwing profile as all the reflex is in the handle area. Any one see any good tweaks from here? Especially around those knots.

Kyle

Offline Mo_coon-catcher

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Re: Starting on my first vinemaple, tips appreciated
« Reply #5 on: March 04, 2018, 09:29:34 pm »
I did some looking in the stave after I marked it. I initially had it so that the main reflex happened at the fade, I did that unintentionally. So I shifted the profile so that the reflex is centered in the handle. Which shifted one limb to being 26.5” from fade to nock. So I shifted the other limb to 27” and i decided to leave the handle the thickness it is then scrape it until it just noticably moves at full draw if it already isn’t when I rough it out.

Kyle

Offline Mo_coon-catcher

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Re: Starting on my first vinemaple, tips appreciated
« Reply #6 on: March 08, 2018, 04:08:26 am »
I made a little progress tonight. I got the front profile cut out and the thickness taper cut out. It’s still very still though as I cut it a bit thicker than I expect it to be. I left the handle 1 1/8” thick went with 3/4” at the fades, down to 5/8 at the end of the parallel section and held the 5/8” the rest of the way out. Next step it the sand the back and clean up they sides before I start making it bend. I will say though, I’m not used to this much crown, it really through me when it can to marking out the thickness taper. Usually I work with low crown staves so I go of the thickness of the side flats and ignore the crow. This time I used the crown peak as my measuring point.

Kyle

Offline Dances with squirrels

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Re: Starting on my first vinemaple, tips appreciated
« Reply #7 on: March 08, 2018, 07:43:01 am »
I made one very similar to what you have started there. It's the third from the left in the picture. I can't remember the exact specs of it, but I can double check when I get home. From memory, it's something like.... 64" ntn, 64# @ 28", 1 5/8 or 1 3/4" wide. Mine also was only a tiny bit over 1" thick in the handle area, so I added a couple pieces of leather on the string side to fill it out some. I built it with a narrowed arrow pass and flares, and tried not to let it bend there, but it kinda does. Not as much as a bend through the handle bow, but it does bend a little and that's fine with me. I figured it might, that's why I used leather to build up the grip and not wood. I didn't want to risk the glue joint separating.

I made the belly 'mostly' flat on mine, although there's a slight radius to it, and the corners are well rounded.

Mine thumps the bow hand when I shoot it, but I shoot it really well. Back when I used to keep score at the bow club, I shot my highest score with old 'Wart'... by a considerable margin.

Vine maple seems pretty forgiving of the little knots and such, and I may have violated the outermost growth ring in several places when I sanded it, but it didn't seem to bother it. It reminds me of yew wood in a lot of ways. It clogs up the rasps some, so you'll be cleaning them often, but it's nice wood to work otherwise. Cabinet scrapers work lovely on it once you get to that point.

I didn't heat treat it, and don't believe I even had to make any heat corrections to it. I just worked it au-naturale.




Straight wood may make a better bow, but crooked wood makes a better bowyer

Offline Msturm

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Re: Starting on my first vinemaple, tips appreciated
« Reply #8 on: March 08, 2018, 12:57:37 pm »
I just got done working on a bow from a very similar stave. It was my first go with Vine Maple too. I got a great shooter out of it and I hope you do too. I did film the entire thing. If you want to check it out you are more than welcome.  My bow has a roller coaster section in the top tip that had a lot of reflex in it. Getting it to bend at all was a real chore.   I didn't baby the knots any, and the stave came with several knots sawed in half on the edge. The bark on mine popped off at floor tiller perfectly, much like Yew does. I did not heat treat or heat bend. It has some prop twist but the string lines up with the handle so I am happy. I hope this helps.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjF7Fm_IQeE&list=PL1qKcxnxNrwSmBnbxfDlgX-m07kVM4Re7

MSturm