Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: andreax1985 on October 06, 2017, 03:24:50 am
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Dear Friends, I seldom write on this forum but I read it regularly. I've always loved the idea of making selfbows and the "science" behind it, even if I have scarcely had the opportunity to practice by actually making bows (excluding naive attempts when I was younger and I didn't have access to the wealth of information I have now). I bought online second hand reference books (The bowyer's bible, The art of making selfbows, Hunting the osage tree) even if I have still to receive them.
Long story short, I've recently noticed a row of relatively young osage trees growing along a railway fence near to my workplace (osage is not that common where I live in Europe). In particular, I've noticed a quite straight, small diameter shoot sprouting from a big (not-so-straight) branch. Here's a picture of it:
(https://image.ibb.co/nL7J1G/osage.png)
This shoot is around 3 1/4" in (average) diameter at the lower end and it's about 74" long. I have a couple of questions for anyone of you who can help. Considering the relatively small diameter:
1. Is this a good place to start for building a bow?
2. Should I split the log just after having cut it?
3. If yes, in how many parts? Two? Or more?
4. Should I leave the bark on? Or should I remove bark and sapwood?
P.S. The big "knot" in the front of the shoot actually it's a snail, so don't worry about it :D
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The grain looks pretty strait on that, I would cut it full length debark & take the sap wood of and give a lot of coats of shellac, splitting it in to 2 staves would be pretty tuff I would just use it as is I would let it set sheltered for a couple months then ruff out a bow and bring it inside 50% RH for a year others might have different Ideas but thats my 2 cents
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@Stick Bender: maybe this is a stupid question but let's say I don't split it into two staves and I only remove bark and sapwood. If I coat it everywhere with shellac, how can the wood dry out and season? How can humidity find its way out?
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Are you from Hungary?
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@FilipT: no, northern Italy. What makes you think I'm from hungary?
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I would cut it as long as possible, saw it in half, bind the two pieces back together with spacers between the 2 halves and set aside to dry.
Seal the ends and if you remove the bark, seal the back well. The small diameter osage poles I've made bows from usually don't have much heartwood. The sapwood will make a good bow. If there is enough heartwood, remove the sapwood, seal the heartwood well and set aside to dry.
If you don't bind the 2 halves back together or otherwise restrict the movement the splits will twist and curl while drying.
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I agree with Pat, good advice.
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@ Pat B: thank for the advice. Do you suggest to saw it in half (with a bandsaw) or split it in half (with wedges)?
P.S. How do I know if there is enough heartwood?
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You will see the heartwood on the ends when you cut it.
I would pick the best sides and saw in half with a bandsaw. Trying to split small diameter can cause problems with runoffs.
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But how much of it is "enough"?
P.S. What if I don't have a bandsaw?
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Seal the ends really good when you cut it.
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2" of heartwood is enough.
What power tools do you have? With a circular saw you could cut a shallow kerf on either side of the pole then split it. The kerfs would help guide the split.
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If you don't have enough heartwood you can leave a layer or 2 of sapwood.
Jawge
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Hello Andreax. We should be pretty close.
I sent you a PM
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I'm afraid I only have this one. It's a circular saw but it's hand held:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bosch-Professional-Hand- Held-Circular-1400/dp/B002X68KAQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=diy&ie=UTF8&qid=1507297463&sr=1-1&keywords=Bosch+circular+saw (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bosch-Professional-Hand-Held-Circular-1400/dp/B002X68KAQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=diy&ie=UTF8&qid=1507297463&sr=1-1&keywords=Bosch+circular+saw)
can it be of any help?
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Yes just set your blade depth to about an inch and cut a kerf down the center of each side and then split it along the kerf. Cheers- Brendan
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Be careful though. If the blade binds it can jump out of your hand. Take it slow and steady.
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And take lots of photographs to post! Good luck with the process.
Hawkdancer
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At only 3 1/4 diameter and limited experience I would advise not to try splitting or cutting in half. With plenty of experience and an eye for the task it may be possible to get two good bows from it but....two ruined staves aren't much use ;) 'One in the hand is worth two in the bush'.
Pick the cleanest face that will be the back after removing the bark and sapwood (if there is enough heartwood/if not leave a couple of rings of sapwood). Flip it over and remove most of the meat on the belly side leaving the full stave 2 inches wide for its full length. Go slowly and get to a heavy floor tiller eg. the stave just bending a bit. Then cover the full stave with shellac. Don't worry it will not seal it completely just slow down the rate at which the water is released. No finish is completely waterproof.
Once you have it roughed out and sealed you can weigh the stave to monitor moisture loss. Write the weight/date on it every time you weigh it. Once it hasn't lost any weight for a week or so you can continue to remove wood from the belly and establish the limbs width taper. However keep the handle full width until it is actually strung. Once it is strung for the first time you can then shape the handle to the strings natural position and save yourself heat corrections/non centered string etc.
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Mike makes a good point about not splitting it in half but make only one bow from the shoot.
Look for other shoots anywhere from 1 1/2" to 2" in diameter and up. Cut them now and get the drying started.
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Actually I was just wondering how I could split it in half if I had heartwood only 2'' in diameter...that means that I would have ended up with two staves having 1'' heartwood each, which I think is not enough for a bow am I right?
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Mike: isn't it going to twist while drying if I follow your procedure?
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1" of osage can make a bow with reasonable weight.
You can clamp the stave to a 2x4 to prevent it from twisting while drying. Pad your clamps as to not dent the green wood.
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Maybe I error on the conservative side but I didn't have enough confidence that I could get a clean split so I did mine like Mike recommended natural materials don't always do what you think they will and I had enough heart wood to make a bow on mine , osage is not rare in my area but I'm risk ad versed about ruining staves , good luck with yours I can read the excitement in your posts !
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Actually I was just wondering how I could split it in half if I had heartwood only 2'' in diameter...that means that I would have ended up with two staves having 1'' heartwood each, which I think is not enough for a bow am I right?
That is correct for depth (back of bow to belly) but they are talking width, which would be the same after splitting. Without a bandsaw, I would probably go for one bow; things definitely can go wrong when splitting something that size (don't ask how I know...). Good luck!
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If I were you I'd do exactly as Mike suggested, making sure to leave enough heartwood to make an all heartwood bow if possible. If you clamp it down it should dry fine, no twisting or lateral bending.
Also, if you've never chased a heartwood ring before, I'd practice on a similar type of wood (mulberry or black locust) first. TBB 1 explains how to chase a ring pretty well IMO.
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Today I've cut my osage branch. It turned out to be not so straight as I thought. The piece is 77'' long. I have sealed both ends with glue. Next week I'm gonna remove the bark and sapwood. Here are some pics, what do you think about it?
Lower end section:
(https://i.imgur.com/VG5GoNH.jpg)
Good side:
(https://i.imgur.com/CVcf52N.jpg)
Bad side (lot of knots!):
(https://i.imgur.com/T2HaLeT.jpg)
Upper end section:
(https://i.imgur.com/sC1G6QC.jpg)
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Gonna have some crown to it, but those are some thick rings in that little branch. With all those small branch shoots, I'd study it hard before you start hacking on it, pretty sure you can get a bow out of it. Go slow and take your time.
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Those knots probably aren't terrible, but they would make me feel better about the plan to go for one bow from the good side. Especially with that length, you should be able to get a nice stave from the good side. I think if it were mine, I would leave one ring of sapwood...but either way should work.
(They never do seem to be as straight after you cut them!!)