Main Discussion Area > HowTo's and Build-a-longs
osage board bows: 2 at once
radius:
Ok, i have cleaned up the tapered ends and the bellies so that they are starting to bend in floor tiller...
At first, i just drew the basic shape on the edge of the staves, and then freehanded the cuts on my table saw...easy enough...stayed well outside the lines. I just wanted to keep the excess wood, rather than file it off into shreds and shavings....
So here are a few pictures of the work.
here is my bench...open top with moveable 2x4's
here are the two bows with their tips tapered. You can see how one is more abrupt than the other. Shows both ends.
In both cases, the bows bent most where the end taper began...here are pictures showing where i have marked wood to be removed. These are two pictures of the same end of the same bow.
Running out of light...i'll put in another half hour then call it a day...
grantmac:
You want a couple of those strips of Hickory back? I don't mind giving 'em to you if you really need some backing for those boards.
Cheers,
Grant
radius:
sure, Grant, that'd be cool! Yeah, I don't know who gave you those sticks you gave to me, but they are definitely not Osage.
You coming into town anytime soon?
Scott
radius:
OK, tillered into the darkness, and managed to get nocks filed into both bows and gave them their first pull on the stick. You can see the stick is simply attached to my bench...i need a workshop!!!! Gotta get happening with that "creative visualization"!! I'm in my shop, building bows, very happy, in my shop, building bows, very happy....
here is a shot of a thorn just south of one of the nocks
and here, this puppy is rift sawn...
while its partner (with the 2" fades") is "pondsawn"
here is the rift sawn bow at 11 inches (fair effort to get it there, upwards of 70# "by eye")
and here is the pond sawn bow, also at 11 inches, a little easier to draw into place
Can you see that both of them seem stiff on the left side? Well, to double check, I turned the second one around, just making sure nothing funny was going on. And it was stiff on the right after I flipped it. So, tomorrow, I will chase tiller and try to get these sucker up towards 20 inches of draw....I've got other things to do, or I would run it all the way through.
One of these days I have to buy a spring scale. So far I've done all my tillering by eye and by feel. I have turned out one hickory bow 65# at 28 inches, and an ash pyramid bow 45# at 28, but from what i can see, using a spring scale takes the guesswork out. Pull it to weight, scrape it, pull it to weight, scrape it...next thing you know...you're a pro!!
DanaM:
Better get em backed with something before you pull em to far, would hate to see them blow on ya.
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