2021 Bow Trade - build in progress

[stuckinthemud]

That looks so nice!

[stuckinthemud]

Let's play guess what.  27 inch billets been nagging me for years,  may well be plan A but what are they???

Any more guesses?  Something cryptic then,  a northman in the uk might clean up with it

[Kidder]

I’m not sure nature makes a prettier grained wood than what’s on my trade bow! Got it floor tillered and onto the long string!

[stuckinthemud]

That is stunning

[Kidder]

Alright everyone - we're about a month in and just posting a progress summary in an attempt to keep the spurs on people!

Kidder - I'm on the long string tiller. No more drama since I blew up the recurves on my first belly lam. Rookie move!
Swampman - Posted his initial stave and design. Needs to get the concrete moved!
Flntknp17 - bought an entire tree of hickory boards but is gnawing on a fiddle currently!
Mafort - allegedly has his bow "roughed out" but like they say, "if you don't post pictures it didn't happen"
Simk -went easter egg hunting and now appears that he may be building a bow for everyone in the trade!
Stuckinthemud - dropping riddles on us about what type of wood his stave is!
jakesnyder - been pretty quiet  but did post his initial stave.
Stickhead - claims his last trade bow was plan D...haven't seen plan A yet!
Tradcraftsman - posted his stave and design post. Looking good!
Pasteve - making lots of fancy circles on his stave! excited to see where it ends up!
Fox - scratching away on his bow's back!
TimothyR - Ordered a coffeetree stave but decided on building a bamboo backed ipe...but we haven't seen it!
Santanasaur - got lots of staves to chose from...must be thinking hard!
Deerhunter21 (reserve) - appears to have gotten lost in the woods - where are you?!?!?

We seem to be on track, but could also use some more progress pictures from a few. Keep up the great work!

[Kidder]

[/quote]
Any more guesses?  Something cryptic then,  a northman in the uk might clean up with it
[/quote]

Ash?

[Jakesnyder]

Gonna be working down a ring this weekend and start the layout.will post a picture this weekend! It's some pretty dence osage I got here!

[stuckinthemud]

Nope, what are the peoples north of Hadrian's Wall called?  And what would you sweep up with? A clean sweep needs a new .......

[Mafort]

Alright everyone - we're about a month in and just posting a progress summary in an attempt to keep the spurs on people!

Kidder - I'm on the long string tiller. No more drama since I blew up the recurves on my first belly lam. Rookie move!
Swampman - Posted his initial stave and design. Needs to get the concrete moved!
Flntknp17 - bought an entire tree of hickory boards but is gnawing on a fiddle currently!
Mafort - allegedly has his bow "roughed out" but like they say, "if you don't post pictures it didn't happen"
Simk -went easter egg hunting and now appears that he may be building a bow for everyone in the trade!
Stuckinthemud - dropping riddles on us about what type of wood his stave is!
jakesnyder - been pretty quiet  but did post his initial stave.
Stickhead - claims his last trade bow was plan D...haven't seen plan A yet!
Tradcraftsman - posted his stave and design post. Looking good!
Pasteve - making lots of fancy circles on his stave! excited to see where it ends up!
Fox - scratching away on his bow's back!
TimothyR - Ordered a coffeetree stave but decided on building a bamboo backed ipe...but we haven't seen it!
Santanasaur - got lots of staves to chose from...must be thinking hard!
Deerhunter21 (reserve) - appears to have gotten lost in the woods - where are you?!?!?

We seem to be on track, but could also use some more progress pictures from a few. Keep up the great work!

Sorry I’ve been busy. Got fully Certified as an EMT finally. I’m gunna get to some pictures this afternoon.

[Digital Caveman]

Scotch broom? what's it like?

Almost to the tree. I also have a handful of arrows to fletch, a deer hide to brain, pottery to glaze, and finals to take. 

[Deerhunter21]

Deerhunter21 (reserve) - appears to have gotten lost in the woods - where are you?!?!?

Finals... im trying to stay mentally sane until then.    

I chased a ring on a stave though.   

[stuckinthemud]

Finals? Sleep lots, only a rested mind can function properly.  Be multisensory, talk your learning, teach others .  Make many many powerpoints and swap them with your peers.Take your notes for a walk, you will be able to visualise the learning points more easily if you can hang them  on visual cues. Good luck

[stuckinthemud]

Yes, scotch broom.  Very impressed so far, seems very resilient, responds well to heat straightening.  VERY knotty and all I've found have been short lengths, but if you don't mind scarfing then its all good

[TimothyR]

I'm waiting for it to warm up a bit here.  Il be building a laminated bow.  I've got paduk and Ipe. My coffee bean isn't dry yet so it's off the table. I'll get some pictures posted soon. We've had a cold spell here so don't want to glue anything till it's warm enough.

[Santanasaur]

Here’s some of what I’ve been up to, four straight staves and four recurves. The four on the right are my abcd choices right now but I do have a few other staves I’m keeping an eye on for the trade bow.

Only the first four are trade bow candidates, the others are just interesting projects. Optimistically one of them may yield a heavy enough bow but probably not.
 

From  right to left in the first picture.

1. Pignut hickory. Clean piece with reflex and fantastic latewood ratio. 65” and 1 1/4” wide. I think  dimensions will be challenging for me in terms of making weight. I’d rather make lighter bow than a bow that takes a lot of set—but I’m optimistic because it’s really good hickory

2. Hornbeam. Green deflex stave with plenty of character. Will likely be shortening, flipping the tips and quick drying.

3. Shagbark hickory with a thin sapwood back. Chased  down to a sapwood ring and with a heartwood belly.Still not sure about the design. Maybe an english longbow, maybe a flatbow. I think there may be a heavy bow in here.

4. Summer cut bitternut hickory. Great stave, just needs a little steam  bending.

5. Wild rose, about 3/4” wide, hollowed out to remove the pith and recurved.  I used the deflex side of the stave then recurved, so that the reflex would not be overwhelming and to make sure the good compression wood was on the belly. This stuff  is incredibly flexible. I harvested a piece about 1” wide 70” long that turned out to be rotten, so I did a bend test on the green wood and was able to bend tip to tip then into a circle about the size of a baseball before it started cracking on the back. Small scrap  pieces I’ve dried seem very snappy.

6. Viburnum lentago. Been finding some interesting pieces. Usually shrubby but sometimes in clusters you can get a nice stave. Creamy white sapwood with  swirly caramel heartwood. Smells like stinky cheese and old wet socks. Seems very flexible

7. Dogwood static recurve. Been chipping away at this one slowly at the vise and floor tillering.So far this dogwood seems very tough.

8. Hickory short narrow static. I’ve gotten 40# from these dimensions but we’ll see what happens. Dried to 6% mc