Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: apg on August 11, 2019, 04:29:49 pm
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Received a gorgeous piece of Osage, and once I found my ring, I also found this nail which runs deep it would seem.
Is there any way to work a bow with A nail in it like this? It’s smack bang in the middle of the working section of the limb and there’s not enough wood on either side to work around it.
Ash
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If was me I would try as is,...but have never done it
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Clint built a bow a few years ago with a nail in it.
I'd do like Brad I would put super glue on the nail on the back and leave the belly side a little proud around the nail.
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It depends on the design of bow you intend to make. The narrower the limb design the more of an issue it will be.
Treat the nail as if it was a pin knot, i.e. a potential weakness, especially in tension. Compensate by leaving extra width at the spot, just as you should with a knot, or pin.
Also if you used edged tools or rasps a nail exposed on the belly side is going to wreck havoc. You have the option of carefully driving the nail right through, and out with a punch or punches,
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THANK YOU!!
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Like this right?
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Leave the nail, your profile looks fine. If you have a belt sander, use that to tiller, it wont notice the nail.
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That's the right idea.
What ever the diameter of a knot or in this case nail then add that much to the limb at that point, eg if a limb was 1 &1/2" , and a knot is 1/8", the limb need to swell out to 1&5/8".
Yes, leaving the nail in will look cool.
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A few years back, a fellow member on here named LEBHUNTFISH helped a guy build a bow with a nail in it. It shot fine as I'm sure yours will also.
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Are you still following the grain by “curving” the profile around the nail, thus creating unnecessary grain run out? Can you shift your whole profile over a bit and accomplish the same thing? Hard to see grain in picture, but I agree with treating it like a knot.
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Here’s one I have at least 500-600 arrows through. Knot goes clear through the limb and is 1/3 large on the belly side. This is in lower limb also.
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Ohhhh I see- so @bentstick54 you made the belly profile thicker around the nail and maybe a little wider too?
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I'm tempted to pre drill and nail into a perfectly clear piece of osage for my next bow:)
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I'm tempted to pre drill and nail into a perfectly clear piece of osage for my next bow:)
That would break fibers. A nail just pushes them away. I'm amazed someone was able to drive a nail into osage. I didnt know that was possible.
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To nail straight into osage it would need to be very green.
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I'm tempted to pre drill and nail into a perfectly clear piece of osage for my next bow:)
That would break fibers. A nail just pushes them away. I'm amazed someone was able to drive a nail into osage. I didnt know that was possible.
To a point. How about hammering a round nail like that one into the back of a finished bow? You reckon it will be ok? ;) What belts do you use on your sander? Zirconium? Ceramic?
If it was my stave I would use a fine punch to remove the metal then sinew or rawhide back it. I like to make a bow that is going to last :) Broken fibers on the back may hold...they also may not...and getting a whack on the head isn't much fun when it could have easily been avoided.
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In thinking about it, if it were my stave, I would punch out the nail so you can tiller properly. I would leave that area a little stiffer than the rest of the limbs. I've seen plenty of knot hole bows though I don't think I've ever made one. But I've made bows with plenty of punky knots.
I would also get yourself a dowel maker of the paper diameter, make a dowel and glue it in with a waterproof wood glue. That way you can punch out a nice osage dowel. If you don't want to do that then just bring the nail to a hardware store and buy an appropriately sized dowel.
Osage doesn't take well to violations. I'm conflicted on the rawhide backing. At least with a knot the wood has compensated properly with grain lines running around the knot. It may be needed. Don't know.
Jawge
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I built one once with 3 nails in it, the wood was a purple color and it worked out fine, still shooting today, in fact I won BOY with it. Good luck, you should be fine. :)
Pappy
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At one of the early MoJAMs, I recall someone having a big fence staple in their bow. Kind of like a Timex, Osage can take a licking and keep on ticking.
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I would pull it out or smack it out and fill in the hole with a dowel.
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Apg, the belly has no build up around the knot shown. I just gently scraped over the knot with a cabinet scraper so it is flat with the belly. The wood puckers if you will alittle bit on the back as the growth rings swelled up around the knot itself. More of a bump. Then I saturated the knot on both sides with superglue until it wouldn’t take anymore.
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All good information and thank you.
I’ve tillered it to brace weight, and it’s feeling good so far. Slightly wider at that nail and around the knots. It’s also a little fatter at the nail. I’ll see if I need to keep that or not.
I’ve got another knot right by the handle after the fades on the limb. I guess I should rasp that out right?
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It looks like another nail hole?
I think I would sand or rasp it out.
Jawge
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If it was mine, I would take it off being on the edge like that, and looks like you have room to do it. When you round over the edges I would try to get as much of the darker streak worked out so it’s not right on the edge also.
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If it was mine, I would take it off being on the edge like that, and looks like you have room to do it. When you round over the edges I would try to get as much of the darker streak worked out so it’s not right on the edge also.
I agree, but it's so close to the fade where it's not subject to much bending anyway I dont think it's as critical as it would be anywhere else in the limbs.