Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: TheDukesArchers on September 27, 2014, 07:25:13 pm
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I don't have a draw knife right now and can't afford to really go buy one. Need to remove the bark from a yew stave.
Have done some with a small dull pocket knife, but it's going to be on hell of a long job on a 76 long stave with just a dull 4 inch long blade.
There is a Rona near me that right do some something?
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Leave the bark on. Start making the bow. It should pop off sometime around low brace. Viola! Perfectly unscarred sapwood back!
As for suggestions to an alternative for a drawknife, I like a bandsaw >:D
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Yeah I'd love a band saw.
Keep the bark on? This works with yew longbows?
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Read Wills post again, he said it pops off at low brace. I nver tried it with yew but have on a number of other trees and it does work.
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Check out antique shops, prob get one for 20 bucks that has better steel than any modern ones.
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Or make one like Tyke did.
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I'm thinking of turning a file into some sort of draw knife. I just need to be super careful when removing the bark on this stave.
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Yes, I've made draw knives from files and mild steel, just make a single bevel and your away!
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How would I sharpen the file into a draw knife though?
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I saw one guy who stuck the point of a sheath knife into a wooden baton. He held the baton and the knife handle and drew away. Seemed to work fine! :)
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I saw one guy who stuck the point of a sheath knife into a wooden baton. He held the baton and the knife handle and drew away. Seemed to work fine! :)
Haha that is not a bad idea at all.
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My machete seems to work kind of ok. It does suck starting all over again and having to start with the basic tools.
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Keep one edge flat and bevel the other
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A while back I got a very humpy-lumpy Yew stave. I worked the whole back (bark+cambium) clean with a fixed blade Buck Personal knife. It was easy going - I really don't see the need for a draw knife with Yew. I used the knife like a scraper to get to the back. Bob
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I have a Fiskars hatchet that I use as my draw knife. I use it the way most here would use their fixed blade knives but the handle and large head of a hatchet make removing wood a two handed operation which is nice--I have more control and it's easier to draw along the full length of a bow limb. Not to mention, I build a lot of flat bows, pyramid style so the width of the hatchet blade covers a lot of limb. Basically, I keep the blade of the hatchet perpendicular to the limb, with my right hand covering the top of the head and my left hand grabbing the handle, then I draw back toward me. It's nice for those times when I need say "5 scrapes on each limb" to reduce poundage.
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My machete seems to work kind of ok. It does suck starting all over again and having to start with the basic tools.
A machete is what I used the last time I needed to remove bark. I started by using it like a drawknife, but once I got a section of bark off, I switched to using the handle and sliding the blade along the surface of the wood to gain momentum and let the blade work through the bark. Sliding works much better than hacking. That being said, a proper drawknife or a hatchet with one flat side would be my preference.
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You can use a hatchet for almost anything you need to do to make a bow. I use it more then my band saw.
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Last few of my bows has been nothing but my K-Bar start to finish. But for debark a broken bottle will work. I have also used the back side of a hack saw blade. Never used yew before but had an elm bow lift a splinter when bark popped off. It pulled wood up with it. be careful doing that, putting a bow under stress with bark on.
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I have one of these, crappy steel but it works okay until you can afford a good one.
http://www.menards.com/main/mobile/tools-hardware/hand-tools/cutting-tools/8-draw-shaver/p-1465879-c-9123.htm