Red Oak Board to Stave build-a-long (Finished Page 3)

[RyanY]

I started this one a few days ago and have been posting progress to the board bow FB group so I thought I would post it here as well.

I had an off-cut of red oak from a different bow that didn't have totally perfect grain. I thought I would chase a ring to see how it goes.

[RyanY]

After chasing a ring there is still some flat surface on the back at one end where the board was planed. The design will be 60" ntn, symmetrical, 3" handle section with long "fades" 6" from there and then a straight taper to 1/4" nocks. I started the handle at 1 1/4" wide, widest part of the limb is 1 5/8" wide.

Got the profile roughed out. Cut away most of the bulk with the bandsaw. I kept the board flat on the belly while cutting but the back was angled. One side can be cut close to the line but the other side needs to be cut further away so I didn’t cut into the belly. I drew lines at the tip to make sure I knew which side was which. Use a spokeshave to get closer to the line. Only one small section had tear out so grain is pretty straight overall. I use a square to make sure the edges are square to the back. The back is crowned or dipped in some spots so I just make sure the square is the same distance from each edge on the back. Should be easy to tiller with the pyramid outer limbs.

[Pat B]

I would think that will make a pretty good bow. I'm curious to see how it comes out. 

[RyanY]

Used a block plane to true up the edges to the line. I marked out the back growth ring to see where it ran along the edge. On one limb tip the growth ring leaves the back of the bow where the board was sawn. This is technically runout IMO so we’ll see if it holds or decides to break there. I am adding an extra long, 3" overlay to even out the tip. I may also trap the back as a way of making the back a higher percentage of the single growth ring if that makes sense. The handle area was 5/8” on one side and 3/4” on the other. I chamfer the taller edge so they meet in the middle to leave as much thickness as possible while keeping it even on both sides. Adding the overlays early since I decided to start with narrow tips. Using red oak from the off cuts. Thickness is 5/8” at the handle tapering to 7/16” at the widest point and stays 7/16” to the tips.

[RyanY]

Thanks Pat! We'll see. I'm doing a bit of experimenting with Trapping and am going to see how it handles a decent amount of reflex with heat treating.

Nocks glued on and shaped up enough to hold a string.

[RyanY]

Cut away that initial thickness taper as evenly as possible with the drawknife/spokeshave. Put it on the long string once before bracing to a bit over 4”. About 30#@16”. Got the tiller where I wanted it before trapping and ended up about 30#@17.5”. Pics are arranged in order. Mass at floor tiller is 16.1oz, so plenty of mass for a moderately heavy bow. After tillering the mass is 15.35oz. MC is around 7%.

[RyanY]

Tillering pics in order. Tips are still a bit stiff. Right side has a mild hump mid limb with mild reflex in the outer limb so I'm okay with a bit of tip stiffness for now at least on that limb.

[RyanY]

Trapped the back to 60% the total width and 1/4" deep from the back. Handle is not quite as narrow or deep for the trapped portion for comfort and keeping strength and thickness there. Mass after trapping is 13.95 so it'll be interesting to see how much draw weight it lost when I can get back to it.

[George Tsoukalas]

Looks good, Ryan. Jawge

[Will B]

Looks great. Thanks for posting the photos!  Very interesting build

[scp]

Wonderful work. Doing such a meticulous job with a common material shows love and dedication rarely seen. Such qualities will make one go a long way to become one of the best. Thanks.

[RyanY]

Thanks guys. Hopefully it turns out but I know there are imperfections that couldn’t be avoided. Let’s see how far I can push it! Going for 35#@28” but will possibly go lower, give it a good heat treating with some reflex and tiller just enough to get it even and keep it wherever it ends up.

Here is a pic of it braced and drawn to the same distance after trapping. Pulling 26# so about 4# loss with 1.4oz of mass. Seems like a good ratio given Steve’s mass principle equates 1oz to 5# draw weight. Maybe it doesn’t apply with such a short draw. I have no more excuses for those stiff tips now.  Time to get it tillered out.

Pics are appearing upside down to me and I’m not sure why...

[RyanY]

Continuing the tillering process for my red oak board to stave bow. I start out trying to get the tiller even at the same draw length I’ve pulled to before which means the bow will lose weight before drawing further. I finally got it evened up and it was 25#@18” so a loss of about 5lbs. (First few pics) From there it’s a matter of removing wood evenly to get to my draw length. In the process the limbs tend to go back and forth for which is stronger or weaker. I measure this at brace height and mark the limb before removing wood with my card scraper. Around 22” draw, I rounded the belly side of the handle, and true up the lines of the whole bow’s profile to get it as straight and even as possible. Decided to stop at 31#@25” draw for now. I may consider tillering out a bit further before heat treating but the limbs are pretty even. Finished at about 3/4” set and just under 12oz mass. A bit more set than I would have liked but it’ll hopefully get taken out with the heat treating.

[RyanY]

Chamfering the handle. This process does not have to be so precise but I like the symmetry. Used a spokeshave and knocked the edges down with some 120 grit sandpaper.

[RyanY]

Unbraced, braced, and draw at 31#@25”. I will probably end up going for 27” draw as I’m learning 28” seems a bit long for me. Maybe a slightly asymmetry in the bend but fairly even overall. Still learning how to tiller these bendy handle bows with long fades. Trying to use monitoring the set as a guide.

Pics are still flipping around on me for some reason. Sorry!