Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: hedgeapple on December 07, 2009, 07:45:43 pm
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I'm boar hunting Feb. 5-8. I need a bow. I have some 1 1/2 year old osage billets. So with you all's help, maybe I can pull this off in 7 weeks. I really don't want to have to hunt with a bow with training wheels. I plan to post pics and ask advice through out this project.
I'm looking to build a 64-65 inch bow #55-65 at 27 inches. The staves are all 36 inches. Even with the 4" overlap for splicing I should have some wiggle room on the length
Here's pics of what I have. They are all sister staves. Stave #1 seems to have the fewest knot. Stave 2 and 3 are going to have knots that I'll have to work around.
Green dots are where I'm thinking of splitting the stave. Blue dots are possible rings for the back. Red dots are knots.
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Heck, I would kill for any of 'em, especially #1! If I were you I would get busy and rough shape 'em out. I like to give my roughed out bows a couple weeks indoors where the temperature and humidity is constant. How long has the wood been cut? ART
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i would split #1 and use that for the bow
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Art, they are 1 1/2 year osage staves. Seems I left out a couple words in my originall post ??? corrected now. :)
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What splice and glue are you planning on?
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that #3 has got a growth ring that ray charles could follow.
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that #3 has got a growth ring that ray charles could follow.
;D :D :o 8)
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Dano, I'm planning on using this splice: http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,983.0.html
Glue either TB3 or 2ton epoxy. But I'm open to suggestions.
Woodstick, haha you're right. If that stave was longer, I would have attempted to struggle through the knots to see if I could find a bow in it with my limited abilities.
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ID USE NBR 1 UR SPLICE IS JUST FINE IN THE PIC SAME AS I USE AND I LIKE URAC 185 FOR THAT BROCK
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Thanks everyone for your help so far. I'll split #1 Tuesday. Wish me luck.
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Hedgeapple,
I would not split the billet, I would saw it, as the billet has been already split you should not go too far wrong sawing it in half. Too much danger of messing it up if you try to split it.
Craig.
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I agree with Craig, you can saw it right down the middle since you have two split sides that are reasonably straight. I prefer the urac epoxy for its gap filling properties and heat resistant. The latter can be useful if things go wrong (it happens :'().
I like that "Z" splice myself. Simple and effective.
Even with your wood 1 1/2 yr seasoned you should still rough shape your limbs and let dry for a spell. Roughed out limbs dry out fairly quick, it's the thicker fade and handle section that needs more drying attention.
Now's the time to consider arrow pass layout. The center of your splice may or may not be the center of your bow depending on how you grip your bows. What type grip do you use ? ART
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First thing you need to do is get the sapwood off if it and down to your back ring, or one above it. Then even up the sides and get all the checks and splits off. Then flatten the belly to establish the plane of the back ring, parallel obviously. Then measure and see what you'll have in terms of width, and depth at the splice, once you part it on the bandsaw, bearing in mind you need to follow the grain. There are always surprises under the sapwood, sometimes good sometimes not so good.
I'd strongly encourage a W splice and Urac for the splice, epoxy second or some other gap filling glue... unless you are particularly adepts at fitting the joints. I've rarely seen a tight enough fit, absent a buttload of fiddle factor, for Titebond to fill completely.
Looks like you got plenty good candidates, and imho for 27" draw you can go down as short at 60" if necessary depending upon what your billets shape up like.
Biggest thing is getting it reduced pronto. You don't really have time for it to dry thoroughly as it is.
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Looking at the billet from belly and back side, it seems pretty straight, so sawing is probably my best option.
Art, I don't know what my grip is called, only the web area between my thumb and index finger really touches the bow. I'm not cutting an arrow past so that's not an issue with the spice. More than likely I'll have to build up the handle area a bit, which I don't see as a bad thing, since that would add more support to the splice.
I don't have a bandsaw. I was planning to take the billets to a woodshop, cabinet maker to have them cut the spices. Sawing the billet into makes sense, but I'll have to use a circular saw.
DCM4, it makes sense to me to remove the sap would now. It's got to come off sooner or later, anyhow. I might as well do it now and see what it looks like underneath. And it would make it easier to cut with the circular saw. Cleaning up the stave will be done with a drawknife and shurform.
I do have a hot box.
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Before I cut or split anything the first thing I would do is peel the sap wood off all them billets.
You cant tell what you have to work with until the sap wood is gone.
Then, seal the backs well with a coat of Poly.
Next, start looking the billets over to see where a bow could be placed out to avoid knots.
Then see which billets, or split pieces of billets, matched the best.
Then chase the growth ring you wish to use. Reseal the back with Poly.
Then the bow limbs would be placed and the bow ruffed in.
After this the limbs would be joined and tillering would start.
If you have a hot box keep the bow in the box when you are not working on it. If no hot box keep it in the house.
That is how I would proceed.
David
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Good advice from everyone. The key to a good splice is to get the both bellies flat, so they don't wobble on the bandsaw. The guy at the cabinet shop can run em over the jointer that will save you the trouble. Also you can glue your splice pattern on the backs with a contact cement, you knew all this I'm sure, just sayin.
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Very difficult to accomplish a good splice without a bandsaw. A hand saw will work, but you gotta be on your game. I would not part the billet with a circular saw, or do any other work with a circular saw. Better to split the billet than to try a circular saw. imho
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Sounds like you use a straight wrist/low contact grip. That would put your arrow pass somewhere between 1-1 1/4" above center. For a medium grip, where the thumb muscle rest on the handle, you would need 1 1/2" above center. A full hand/low wrist will take 2" above center for the arrow rest. All these numbers are subjective, but for demonstration purposes, close enough.
The problem associated with spliced joints in relation to your arrow rest is trying to hide the joint with grip material. That's why I mentioned that the center of your splice may or may not be the center of the bow.
Typically, for my medium grip, I make my upper (limb) billet 1" longer than the lower. Personally, I won't go more than an 1 1/2" longer on the upper (limb) billet for a low contact grip. But then again, just my personal preference. ART
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Art, my thumbs muscle does rest on the grip, well about 2/3 of it does. My elbow is bend out, so that probably means it's not a straight grip. (I'm just learning these terms) I just shoot what feels natural. :) The rest on my hickory bow is 1 1/2 above center. It seem good. But, then what do I know. So I"m thinking 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 about center? ? ? ?
Good new for SILLY me! I've been looking at these billets. I know they came for the same log, but the rings just weren't matching up. hmm Where's the rest of this log? Well, 2 more billets were hiding in the shed. And, they look as good if not better than billet #1. This means I don't have to be so exact with splitting and laying out this stave to try to get 2 billets out of it. I only need to get one billet from this one. shooo what a relief!
I've actuall removed the sapwood and rough square billet #4 already. I used a foe. I did nick the first ring a little bit which I thorough expect I would. But, the second ring is just as good. So, no problem there. As soon as I have a bit of lunch, I'm going to remove the sapwood and rough square billet #1. I'll post pics this evening.
Thanks guys for all your help and support.
Dave
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I would remove the bark on #1 and get down to that good growth ring (2nd blue dot in), then rip it on the band saw. Use Urac or Resorcinal and that handle will stay together. After that, it's follow the grain, heat correct flaws, etc and tiller. Take your time. This ain't no race.
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NOW HOLD UR HORSES DAVE !!1I DO SEE WHAT UR SAYIN HAVIN DIFFRENT BILLETTS BUT IF UR NOT VERY EXOERINCED I RECOMEND U SAW BOTH THEM BILLETTS FROM THE SAME PIECE MATCH THEM END TO END THEYR ABOUT THE SAME YOU GO CUTIN 1 ON THIS AND ANOTHER SOMEWHERE ELSE YA GOT UR WORK CUT OUT FOR YA CUZ THEY DO NOT MATCH UP HAHA GRIAINS DIFF ON BOTH OF EM SO BEFOR YA GET IN A ALL FIRED HURRY THINK THIS THRU CUZ UR DEFINTALY GONNA BE TRYIN TO TILLER 2 DIFFRENT PIECES THAT AINT THE SAME AM I RIGHT DANO ? BROCK
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"BEFOR YA GET IN A ALL FIRED HURRY THINK THIS THRU CUZ UR DEFINTALY GONNA BE TRYIN TO TILLER 2 DIFFRENT PIECES THAT AINT THE SAME AM I RIGHT DANO ? BROCK"
There isn't that much difference at this point, it's not like you have one limb that's been tillered and another that is still a stave. Even then it just takes a little more patience to make a bow.
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bcbull, I love your passion for bow building. I probably didn't make myself very clear. These #1 and #4 ARE sister billets. They are even twin sister being that they grew side by side on tree. See the picture. I can even use the SAME growth ring for each.
The only reason some of the rings don't match up exactly is because I removed about 1/2" from the side of #4 to square it up a bit.
One issue I have with #1 is getting two 1 1/2 wide staves from it, especially if I start with 3/4" inch thick pieces. How thick should I plan to start with?
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I like to have at least 1 1/4" thickness in my splice, 1 1/2" preferred. In terms of width, it pays to have aplenty so it will ride the table of your bandsaw, but no more than 1" to 1 1/8" is needed at the widest part of a bulbous handle in the finished bow, and only perhaps 7/8" to 3/4" at the arrow pass depending. I judge billets 1 1/2" square or better for 4" on the bidness end as good as it gets and any more a waste. And I have worked as small as 1", but I use a W splice at least 3 1/2" long.
If you are osage poor, that froe is gonna cost you if you use it for backing down staves/billets. Need a little more finesse than a froe. But if you got osage galore, have at it.
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Is it just me, or the lighting, or do these billets look like Black Locust? I assume you are sure they're Osage? :)
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Sounds just like the medium grip that I use hedgeapple. Just make your top limb/billet 1/" longer than the bottom and that will place your arrow rest 1 1/2" above center if you decide to go that route.
If you use the wood from your shed you definitely need to reduce the billets down and put back for futher drying. I'm not big on force drying any osage, I just take 'em in the house for a spell. Good idea to coat their backs also.
Here's some hickory billets I worked up recently.
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OK DAVE NOW WERE ON THE SAME PAGE !! HAHA LOL I THOUGHT U MENT YOU HAD OTHER BILLEST FROM DIFFRENT TREESS ETC IN THE SHED THATS WHAT I WAS ASSUMING DCM RECOMENDED A GOOD STARTING POINT ON THE THICKNESS ,WIDETH FOR YA JUST MAKE SURE UR BULLETTS ARE PERFECT FLAT WHEN YOU DO CUT THE SPLICE AND GET A GOOD FIT YOU LL BE IN GOOD SHAPE BROCK
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I worked billet #1 down a bit. Here's the "surprise" uncovered. The knots start 4 inches from the top and in the middle of stave. The only solution I see is to attempt to split down through them an hopefully the knots end up on the edges of each billte so I can work around them. These knots MIGHT not go all the way to the back of the limb. It looks like sapwood grew over a couple of dead limbs. THOUGHTS
Another issue: picture 2 showing the ends of billet (THE image is has a mirrow image flip to show the ends actually lining up as they do on the stave) is showing a something of twist. Look at the red lines that illustrate the orientation of the back of the limbs. It could be that just side will have twist because of the way the tree rounded sharply there. If this is the case, I'm assuming heat will allow me to straighten this twist. BUT, it this is indicative of a complete twist in this stave, if I split it down the middle then I might not have enough wood to even make one limb.
Of course, I'm not doing anything until I've chased the ring.
Chasing rings is going to take me a couple days. Should I reseal the back anytime there's going to be a delay in working on the bow?
All I have at the moment is white glue. Is that ok?
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Hey David, Is a W splice the same thing as a finger joint in carpentry terminology? just curious....
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Hey Dave, show us a pic of the under side of your stave. That will give us a better idea of those bad spots. They may only be surface scars which will work out with one or two ring reduction.
Osage is one of the easiest woods to straighten so for now don't worry about crooks or twist. You want to get your limbs roughed shaped out for futher drying and you can take care of any twist after that. Remember, keep the crown of the billet's backs centered and their edges perpendicular to that. No matter how their back rolls or twist.
Honestly, I would just take a wedge, and starting at the big end (handle end), split it right down the middle and go from there. A center split is going to follow pretty much the same outline as the sides. Rough shape to limb dimension, and then start ring removal. That would save yourself a whole lot of time and troubles.
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Kirk, yes.
Hedge, bear in mind when you part that billet it will change the plane of the flat on the bottom to match the crown of the two halves. You'll sacrifice a smidge of thickness to re-establish that plane parallel to the "new" crown of each half, or new billet. Same with a little bit of width as well, as you re-establish the sides square to the new bottom. You want the plane of the splice dead nuts perpendicular to the crown.
WRT features, I concentrate on the 6" or so where the splice will be being right and regular, then fuss the straightening everything else up after it's joined. I also tend to process all my billets individually dodging all the most wretched parts. Then match them up, frequently finding features and snake in one compliment another to help the string to track. "Sister" or side-by-side billets offering a bit of symmetry in the joined stave.
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I'm a bit confused. I thought I needed to follow the lateral grain for the center of the limbs. Is keeping the center of the crown more important? Or will they most likely be the same anyhow?
Guys, I can't tell you how much your advice, encouragement and sometimes scolding :) has help so far in this process.
I grabbed the sedge and the wedges and whacked the billet. I'm pretty darn pleased, actually. One billet is just shy of 1 3/4" at the handle end, so I'm not going to have much wiggle room for a 1 1/2" wide at handle. I will take my time with it. The other is a bit over 1 3/4" at the handle.
And there appears to be a little of of character snakeyness about 6" from the tip, but it looks like the bend re-center themselves with the limbs. How cool is that? :)
And, the knots look like the will work out with the shaping of the limbs. :)
And the twists seem to be minor and like DMC4 pointed out will probably compliment each other to give a center trackig string. woohoo.
Here's the pics
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I am glad you split it instead of taking the saw to it. You just don't know if osage staves run straight or have a little snake in them. But now you know. Plus that little character will make your new bow that much more interesting. That is what I love about Osage.
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Not for sure what you mean by lateral grain. Are you referring to its longitudinal/ lengthwise grain or perhaps its radius growth rings.? Basically, your bow limbs are right down the center of each of your billets. Just lay out their centers with a marker (with the longitudinal grain) from head to tail and then come back, and using their center line, lay out your limb width dimensions for each limb. Getting ahead of myself here, first get it down to their permanent back rings and then do the aforesaid. ART
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Art, yes I was referring to the longitudinal grain. And of course, I'll chase down the ring to the back before lay out the bow.
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Hey David, Is a W splice the same thing as a finger joint in carpentry terminology? just curious....
Thanks Kirk, now I'll know what to ask the cabinet maker for when I inquire about getting these joints cut for me. :)
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A couple questions about chasing rings: Whey you're going down to the second growth ring do you remove the top unused ring first then procede to the second? Or, do you go ahead and take down to the target ring as you go? I've only chased a ring a couple of times on hickory. I've been taking the top ring off for about 12" then getting to the target ring. When I get about 6" from the top ring and it starts to get in the way, I remove another 6 or 8 inches from it, then go back to working on my target ring. I continue this process through out the bow. By working both rings 6" or so at a time I get an idea of what to expect when I get to chasing the target ring. Such as I find the pin knots, curves and dips in the wood. So when I get to chasing the target ring it's fresh in my mind.
Do you start from the root end of the tree or the top end of the tree? I've just been starting at which ever end seems easiest to find initially.
You guys are great, I hope I don't wear you out too much with my newby questions.
Dave
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I do because I loose track of the ring I'm on if I don't and I think I'm a bit ocd so I like to get all of one ring off before I go to the next. I also eat my corn one kernel row at a time though, so I'm kinda weird like that ;D The only time I take off more than one ring at a time is when I am working through the sapwood or if I have a few rings to get through before I get close to the one I want. Even then though you'll want to stop 2 or 3 rings above the one you want and start going one at a time. The cool thing about Osage and Black Locust is that the sun is your friend, if your outside taking those rings down or you have a nice window with light shining on the bit your working on it helps a lot. I have worked on some at night thinking I was alright and wondered when I went cross eyed in the morning, when I see I went through on some spot. Just watch out for knots if you have any and make sure you don't cut through them with whatever your using to chase rings, even the tiny pin knots. If you cut through one of those it might cause problems down the line. You can always run some ca glue over them though if you accidentally cut through a small one though, but it's less work if you don't.
We all had/have questions man, that's what this place is for and people are great about helping out. Good luck.
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Don't know about others, but I find it easier to chase a ring working from the top end to the trunk. Reason, the growth rings taper from thin to thick similar to a wedge. Try working "into" a wedge sometimes. Wood being wood though, you never know sometimes. You just have to start out slow and feel the wood out and go from there. But on clear wood where the growth rings show a goodly taper working down (from top to trunk) the stave seems to work better. ART
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Thanks Art and Micheal,
I found many of the answers to my questions about ring chasing on this post:
http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,16522.0/topicseen.html
Seems there's other newbies out there with similar questions. :)
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Boy taking pictures of the process really shows you a lot. GUYS AM I GOING TO HAVE ENOUGH WOOD ON THIS BILLET TO MAKE A BOW 60# at 27" ? ? ? This billet is going to be right 1 3/8", probably more like 1 1/4" by the time it's all said and done. Taking into account my limited bowyer experience, I was thinking I needed limbs around 1 1/2"
I do have billet #4, which is still a sister billet to #1. It's just from the other side. And, it has much more wood to work with.
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Are you saying it's 1 1/4" wide at the fades where your handle is going to be or 1 1/4 thick? If it's width you might be in trouble I would think you want it @ 1.5" some take it up to 1 3/4", but if your talking thickness at the handle you can always glue a piece over the back where your billets meet. I usually make mine around 50-55# so I don't know how much more stress 5 or 10 # puts on the handle area, I imagine quit a bit.
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An 1 1/4" is your normal standard width for Osage (for medium to longer bows) anyways so I wouldn't worry to much about that. And that width is generally only needed near the fades. From there you will probably side taper (depends on design) on to the tips.
A good plan of action for now is to get your billets down to their finished back ring and put on a coat of varnish/tru-oil/ shellac (since the wood just came out of your shed). Then clean up their sides to desired dimensions and reduce limb thickness. Once that's done you can take out any twist in the limbs in preparations for splicing. ART
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You can play at 1 1/4". But bear in mind you won't need full width at center of the handle, rather where the fades will be but spanning perhaps 6" to 12" or 14" on either side of dimensional center of the joined billets. And you only need another 1/8" to 1/4". Just allow for another 1" or 2" of lenght. You can make a 100# bow no wider than 1 1/4". Just needs to be a lil taste longer. Heck, for an elb style 100# probably no more than 1" wide depending upon density. As a rule of thumb I maximize what's there, then match billets to my purpose afterwards.
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An 1 1/4 is the maximum with I can get for the width of the back at the handle. The stave doesn't get any wider 6 or 8 inches up the limbe to allow for it to be wider at the fade, either. If anything, it's going to loose another 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch. I'm wanting 64-65 inch bow #55-65 at 27 inches.
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I would listen to the other guys who have made them at that width, I've never tried one that size, but now I might knowing others have been doing it all along ;D See what you learn even when you think you know better.
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You still have sufficient width at an 1 1/4" to build what you want. Try cleaning/squaring up the sides of your billet out to about 8-10" or so from the butt end to where the sides show about 5/8" to 3/4" limb thickness. Then measure across. You'll probably show a bit more than 1 1/4". ART
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Art, ok I'll give it a try.
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I got back from muzzleloader hunting today and nearly cried when I examined my billets. I had 5 billets for potentially building a bow. Four of the 5 checked badly while I was gone for 3 day. I had applied glue to the ends and back, but not the belly, which was stilll in the"splittery/slip mode. The check lines run between rings and spider web along the longatudinal lines. I'm in a step back on punt model right now. The boar hunt is six weeks away and I'm as square 1 in the process. I'm sure I have more rational thinking by tomorrow. My wife has hidden all the axes and hatches to keep me from whacking ever piece of organic matter to splitters. >:( :D
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That's strange for 1 1/2 year old billets. You'll probably still good to go. How about some pics? ART
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Art, I find it strange, aslo. Especially, since all of the billets had been in the house for at least a week to begin with. The only thing I can think of is: our house is very open with a vaulted ceiling, except my office where the billets were. The themostats regulate tempts for the open area of the house. When my office door is closed, it's the house room in the house because the heating units are trying to heat the large area and my office really doesn't circulate heat anywhere else. If the door was closed to my office for 3 days, it's possible that while the rest of the house was 68 degrees, my office could have be 80 + degrees with no circulation of moisture.
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Just curious here Dave, did you reduce those billets (like in the pic. I previously put up for you) to near bow dimensions before taking inside? If not, then you have your answer.
I wouldn't give up on your wood just yet. I know a lucky young fellow who's shooting a very nice osage bow today where the previous owner had similar problems with the stave. ART
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I have tried to make bows from osage that checked in from the sides, every attempt failed. When I run across a stave or billets from my stash that has side checks now I trash it, don't want to put a bunch of work in something that will more than likely fail.
Here is the straw that broke the camels back for me on side checked wood. I spent a tremendous amount of time making a sinew backed R/D osage bow. There was a side check in the handle area when I started the bow but I thought it wouldn't be a problem but it turned out to be an indication of weak grain structure. The sinew pulled the bow apart as it dried. The crack shown below is one of many that showed up as the sinew dried.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/ekrewson/bow%20making/failure.jpg)
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I suspect that those cracks may have already been there but were made visible by further drying. Was the wood cut when it's sap was up? But unless you get your wood closer to dimensions you really don't know what you can do with the it. Heck, what have you got to lose, you will still gain some valuable experience.
True, most of the time those cracks run deeper than they appear. But I've made several successful bows from such. And sometimes not. Just depends on how deep the delaminations run. ART
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Just curious here Dave, did you reduce those billets (like in the pic. I previously put up for you) to near bow dimensions before taking inside? If not, then you have your answer.
I wouldn't give up on your wood just yet. I know a lucky young fellow who's shooting a very nice osage bow today where the previous owner had similar problems with the stave. ART
Art, I brought the staves which were wedges no more than 3 1/2 inches wide and 3/12 inches high (belly to back), inside. Then began reducing them. I'm slow. By the end of the week I had 2 reduced to 2 1/2 x 2 1/2 still wedged shaped with the appex removed. I had also began chasing a ring and was half way finished with one billet. Friday evening I coated the ends and backs with white glue. In hide sight, I probably should have put them back in the shed until I could have gotten them squared and the rings chased. Lesson learned. Don't effect the moisture content of the wood until they're roughed out to near bow size. AND then seal them with poly.
There might still be a bow in these billets. Any other time I would continue with them until they proved me wrong. And, just chalk it up to learning. But, for now I don't have the luxury of time. I have 6 weeks until the boar hunt. If I'm going to get a bow built in that time frame, I need to work with wood that gives me the best odds for success.
The two staves that I did no work on, also checked. But I didn't apply glue to those. But, looking at the checks, they might still have enough would that is uncracked that would make a bow. I'm going out to split them now and see what I have.
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That's strange to see in wood that has dried for that long, I have wood I've kept in the garage from this spring till now and the humidity and temp have been up and down and I haven't seen that sort of thing happen ??? I'm curious why that would happen, so it doesn't happen to mine, anyone know?
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Only time that I've seen osage delaminate like in Eric"s pic is when the tree was cut with the sap up in spring. The fellow that cut the tree failed to get the wood in out of sun and wind quick enough. Osage is one wood, once started on, should be reduced to a roughed out bow stage to help reduce checking (and sealed accordingly to it's dried/wet state) IMO. Less wood equals less shrinkage. ART
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I have had some that I split the stave's really close to size while they were green side check,Now I don't split them down as close. 4 or 5 inches wide is about as small as I split them till they dry out some. :) I have also cut some that had been blown over by a tornado that had them in it,I figured it was the twist for the storm had separated the rings. :)
Pappy
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Michael, I think Art hit on the problem(s). I redued the wood probably 40% which would allow it to dry faster. The relative humity outside right now is 93%. Kentucky's RH is always high and most always above 70%. Then I keep those reduced billets inside in dry heat. I don't have an RH guage is my house, but I'd bet it's in the lower 30's. Then I don't seal them complete.
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You can purchase a digital temperature/humidity gauge at Wally World for about 6 bucks each. One in the house and one in the shop is a must. Good things start to happen once you have a general idea of the wood's moisture content. ART
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Art, my house is my shop haha. Good idea about the RH meter for the house. I was just looking at MC meters online. My Ace Hardware should have them for around $25.
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Probably the same ones that Wal-mart has for 6 bucks :o. Very accurate and dependable. ART
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The MC meter, moisture content meter, at Ace is the kind you stick 2 prongs into the wood and it measures the moisture content of the wood.
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Oh, a moisture meter, I got you know! Mine hasn't been out of the drawer for about six years now. Pin type is kinda useless IMO. No, all you need really are those temperature/humidity gauges I mentioned. Instead of spending money on the tester you would be better served buying a humidifier.
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Here's the outcome of working down the checked billets--mostly a lot of kindling or possibly and atlatl or two. These two billets will probably make a bow some time in my future, but not on my 3rd attempt at bow building. They each have small limbs that have died and the tree grew overthem. Each would make an interesting "see-thru" the limb bow. But, again way beyond my abilities.
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Here's my only other option for an osage bow at the moment. The problem with it is it's only been cut for about 6 months. It's a sappling. I split it yesterday afternoon. AND YES IT HAS BEEN COATED WITH POLY. I think it will make a bow, but it might be just to soon for it.
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So set em aside and wait ;D They will still be there when your ready and I have read of some of these guys putting aside a piece they thought was impossible and a few years later making some incredible bow.
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Looks like enough wood to at least try for a bow. Get it roughed out to where the limbs are just bending (seal the back) and let it air dry for several weeks. It may or may not be ready for dry heat at that time so you might need to do any straightening by steam. ART
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That wood looks like locust, even looking back at the ones you were working on before they look like locust. Maybe its just the light, can you get a shot of the bark on those?
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Michael, I promise you these are osage. I have osage and BL on the farm. I cut some BL staves last year after the ice storm. I've attempted to work the black locust, chase a ring. And it's completely different wood to work with. The little curling shavings of these billets are bright yellow as opposed to bronze/brown of black locust. And the BL is much harder to scrape.