Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: JW_Halverson on December 22, 2023, 07:42:52 pm
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I have this stave that isn't terribly deep and has some bad checking between growth rings on both ends, but the middle is good (?). The checking is near the outer side and if I eliminate the mass down to one growth ring I will have very little left.
BUT if I turn the stave inside out and use the inner part of the stave as the back, I can get a deep handle and remove the checked material on both ends. This way the back of the bow will be a bit concave, but not extremely so.
Has anyone ever made a bow using the inside of the tree as the back of the bow like this?
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I have not, but I have thought about doing it. I will be curious the results if you do it.
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Sounds like a good fix to me.
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I agree. I can't see any issues as long as the wood is sound. It gets done quite often with board bows, using the same orientation of growth rings.
I vaguely remember someone having tried it successfully, maybe by accident on an old darkened osage stave that didn't show any curvature, in the rings.
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Take a look at Simsons webpage - he has a bow that has a concave back but I don’t recall it being a reverse build. Either way you’ll want to think carefully about the mechanics - as you draw the back is going to flatten which will mean the belly will have competing forces. Might be best on very low crown or a narrow design. Either way sounds fun.
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Pappy and Gary Davis each built one as an experiment that was successful. Go for it, John. :OK
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It will work JW, a little strange working Osage that way, the ones we made turned out great,wished I had kept them but they went on the raffle table at the Classic. ;)
Pappy
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Pappy and Gary Davis each built one as an experiment that was successful. Go for it, John. :OK
Yes I was waiting for someone to mention this! I recently re read this article in magazine. Can’t remember off hand now the issue date but think from 2020-2021. I’d say go for it too. I have a belly split I may try this with.
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Big thanks to everyone that has chimed in. THIS is one of the best features of this group, the depth of experience and the unwavering desire to pass along their experience.
I've been involved in a number of hobbies over the years and so many of them act just the opposite in that they hoard knowledge and experience like it was gold, refusing to share at any cost. The older I get the more I realize that kind of thinking comes from weak people with what is, in all likelihood, very little knowledge to share. They hold fast to what little they know in order to gaslight people into thinking they know more/have more. But like the great potlach celebration of the Pacific Northwest people, the only true measure of wealth is in the giving and sharing.
Thanks, friends.
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Yup, done it, it works. Chasing a ring gets a little meticulous due to the concave nature of the rings. But, it works just fine! Had to do it due to wasp damage.
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I had no idea this was possible. All my staves are high-crowned, could you also reverse such a stave; the compression would be loaded on a very narrow strip, wouldn’t it? Or, is it like a way of trapping the belly?
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I’ve built only a couple like this . Here is my take on this . Concaving the back puts more strain on the belly’s middle and adding tension on the outer side of limbs back. Does this give a bow good cast I think so maybe. You probably should make sure the back edges are honed good. Now if you concave the back and round the belly? Now the engineers can explain my-probably wrong thinking. 🤠🤠🤠 s
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I have done that a few times now but I treated it more like a straight grained board. took the edges down to where it was flat but made sure I was still on one ring for each strip.
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I just as Arvin said round the belly being sure to keep the limb thickness the same from side to side, if you flatten the belly you will have rails on the edges that will will take a lot of strain and will break at that point, ask me how i know that ??? ;) :) I treat it just as I do a concave back stave. :)
Pappy
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I’m the end it wont function much differently than a decrowned stave. Just make sure the grain lines run even and parallel like if you did a decrowning.
Kyle
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I have done that a few times now but I treated it more like a straight grained board. took the edges down to where it was flat but made sure I was still on one ring for each strip.
Sort of a backhanded de-crowning, I get it. I think I may fool around with keeping the belly rounded in order to follow growth ring integrity further along the limbs.
But this goes on the backburner now since I have another 7 staves to remove sapwood and checked heartwood before I get serious about actually making bows. When I made that flying trip to Nebraska back in mid-November I planned on having all 12 staves down to a single growth ring and sealed up before December 1st. I'm just a little off the deadline.
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These are the ones Gary and I done, it was small diameter , note the bark still on the inside handle of mine, they made some fine bows. ;)
Pappy
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Bark still on the grip? That's terrific!