Made it past a critical stage tonight, so thought it was safe enough to share.
I started with a 1 x 2.5 x 8' board. It has nice quartersawn grain, but the wood itself isn't that pretty. That's OK, because I like to paint my bows, and already know what she's going to look like when all is done. I used a hand plane to get her roughed out, and then a file to round of the edges.
I've done a recurve with glued on siyahs, but I've never bent wood. Well, this seemed like a great time to try something new. I built this ugly little bending frame...
And started boiling my roughed-out bow. My wife thought the whole operation was nuts.
The plan was to boil two 3/8 hickory slats that I would put on either side of the bow... one to keep belly splinters from rising, the other to help form a smooth arc.
And I started bending...
And she didn't break! A small splinter came up on one limb, but it will easily sand out. I was surprised at how easily the wood bent.
Now to get a low brace. I'll post more as I make progress. I'm not going to give out details quite yet. A least a few bow-trade secrets will make it more fun.
