Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: rabbitassasin on November 12, 2013, 06:16:41 am
-
Hello,
i recently acquired this stave off eBay (le-enterprises), its nice and straight with no nots with a little relfex in one limb and all seems pretty good along with shaping my bow out.
(http://i1125.photobucket.com/albums/l584/Spearfisherman/PB120004_zps8959be75.jpg) (http://s1125.photobucket.com/user/Spearfisherman/media/PB120004_zps8959be75.jpg.html)
dimensions are
53"
3.5" handle plus 1.5cm little taper to limb thickness then 2" wide for halfway down the limb (31cm from handle) the the rest tapers to a 0.78" tips (2cm) do these sound like good dimensions for this bow? handle will bend slightly.
also
The back of the bow seems to have these imperfections
(http://i1125.photobucket.com/albums/l584/Spearfisherman/PB120001_zps0bcc3f5c.jpg) (http://s1125.photobucket.com/user/Spearfisherman/media/PB120001_zps0bcc3f5c.jpg.html)
there are more of these but smaller on different parts of the back, im guessing this layer is the layer under the bark, and by looking at it from the ends and side, it seems like a very thin layer which is ontop of a decent latewood layer though they might be the same. my question is will those marks affect the integrity or just a natural thing of pulling off the bark? p.s. i plan to back this bow and to get off the polyethalyne should i just sand it?
thanks, any advice is appreciated
-
That has to be cleaned up to one ring still. Your bow will likely not make it if you left it alone.
-
thankyou, all i need is a straight answer, ill wait till i get my scrapers in the mail to assist working 0n that
-
Your in luck, I prefer straight answers myself. What kind of wood is that?
-
I've bought several staves from le enterprises. I can tell you he doesn't chase a ring. He just takes the bark off and seals so you will definitely have to clean the back up. You should also check the description to see when it was cut. His staves are usually fresh cut or only a few months old, so you'll probably need to let it dry for a while. As far as dimensions, they sound okay, but I haven't worked with hackberry.
-
chasing a ring is gonna be a bear..normally just take bark off and build bow....depends on rings....they are usually real tight on hackberry...if the splinter isn't too deep you might be able to sand it and put a sinew bandaid around that limb..hard to tell by pics how bad or deep it is..but it doesn't look good...need a pics of rings ..you may have to try to repair the spot rather than try to chase a ring...gut ..kirk
-
So its hackberry.
Its is a royal pain to chase hackberry, but its possible. Ive had to do it twice, once on a 4" sapling. The scraper and sandpaper keep busy.
-
So its hackberry.
Its is a royal pain to chase hackberry, but its possible. Ive had to do it twice, once on a 4" sapling. The scraper and sandpaper keep busy.
I'm sorry I thought I read that it was hackberry. I just reread the first post. I do know le enterprises has been listing a lot of hackberry lately.
-
The entire back is butchered. You get what you pay for.
-
hi,
the stave was got in march some time making it 8 months old, seems pretty dry to me, and im pretty sure ther is a decent ring just under the thin top layer
-
post a pic of the end ''saw off a 1/16 or so...so we can see it without sealer...
-
That might be a thin layer cambium left on the back of the stave. Could you post a better picture of the back?
-
I got a few staves from this same person. I had the same problem with a hackberry and a hickory stave. I think he is a honest guy but, doesn't know much about bow making. I decided then I will only buy Osage from him because you always chase the ring on that. I still do not know what I am going to do with that hickory stave. I don't really want to try and chase the ring on that.
-
firstly ill post a pic later on of some excess wood cut off, and the back looks like a quite less dense material than the main rings ive been cutting thru on the belly
-
I got a few staves from this same person. I had the same problem with a hackberry and a hickory stave. I think he is a honest guy but, doesn't know much about bow making. I decided then I will only buy Osage from him because you always chase the ring on that. I still do not know what I am going to do with that hickory stave. I don't really want to try and chase the ring on that.
ryan you can sinew it or plane it flat and boo back it or clean it up good as you can and rawhide back it
-
Yeah Laverne is not a bowyer. He is an honest fella and easy to deal with. I'm betting you'll have to chase a ring, but with good lighting its not that bad on hackberry. Josh
-
Hello,
very sorry to bring up an old post,
just wondering, when chasing a ring, does it matter if i go into the ring a bit and not go into the next or does it have to be a perfectly intact and only just scrape off the ring ontop of the desired ring?
thanks alot ;)
-
It's hard enough to get a ring off all by itself when you have a little experience chasing rings, so getting a perfect ring when you haven't had much experience is mighty challenging. NOT saying you can't, but don't work yourself into a lather over it.
If you take off a little of the next ring without biting into the early wood below it, you should be fine. You just want to use more finesse when chasing rings than when you are hogging off sapwood like osage. Any time you feel like you are making no progress, go get a large bucket, fill approximately 1/3 full of ice, add a dash of salt, and fill with cold water. Submerge your head until the feeling subsides. Towel off and return to the stave and go back to finesse work. Someone on here used to say, "Softly, softly, catchee monkey". Good advise.
-
Thanks alot, im now onto a ring and the wood im using is being very kind and the drawkinfe is only digging into the ring i want to get rid of so im very slowly removing it (having a hard time waiting for my scrapers to come), i have one more question, can i get it to floor tiller, heat treat it, then get it bending all good as i can then heat treat it again, then add sinew at the very end before the finish? my reading experience has shown most people sinew earlier on than this,
and does plain melted beeswax make a good finish or is it best to add in an oil of some sort , im asking these questions as i go through the build because i now learned that i should ask before i make big steps as if i didnt i now know of several fatal mistakes i would have made, and have already learned a tonne and i know im tackling alot for one of my first bows, but so far its smooth sailing.
-
I have a hackberry sinewed static in the Build along section, probably page 2 or so. Check it out. It might help you out.