Stave makin :) and a bit of tillering.
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Ayup boss. Hoping to get up there and get that wood in about 3 weeks outside. Just waiting for a pass from the wife, how are you looking around then?
I agree on the sleevesz shocking price for what they are. But I am no plumber or fabricator so no idea how much work is involved.
It's ash that seems to get me the worst breathing-wise, mind you I do tend to make more things from ash so maybe it's just getting more chances at it.
Talking of problems with yew:
In a log I got my hands on a few years ago there was a layer of rot below the sapwood. Looked great from the outside(I did know it'd been down and lying for a while).
Have stuck up a bunch of piccies of the bow. One that has more place here though is this, the mess that's hidden under the handle.
Doesn't actually look that bad from this angle, just looks like one knot. There's another round the far side that's just as messy.
I have one question , does the grain really have to be straight when you make a bow or can it wander?, its just that I have been told it has to be straight...
If the grain wanders you follow it. That's where all these snakey bows come from.
What you don't want is run-off, where you don't follow the grain and it wanders off one side of the limb.
The two tips have to line up with the centre of the handle without any run-off, the exact shape of the limbs is less important.
What you don't want is run-off, where you don't follow the grain and it wanders off one side of the limb.
The two tips have to line up with the centre of the handle without any run-off, the exact shape of the limbs is less important.
That knot is no bother where it is. I have some in the last third of a yew bow and they just tolerate it, providing there is enough good wood around it.
I have noticed that over the years one yew bow the knot its self has not recovered from the compression. This left a tiny hairline crack under the knot but has never shown any signs of problems.
I have noticed that over the years one yew bow the knot its self has not recovered from the compression. This left a tiny hairline crack under the knot but has never shown any signs of problems.
Despite the doom and gloom weather predictions this weekend I decided to head to the woods and spend a few days taking down some ash and elm for bow staves. I have been pretty lax recently and almost run out of bow wood. You really have to think ahead if you want to be making bows all the time. Making sure you have timber at various stages of completion so that you dont end up with nothing to do whilst a bow re-hydrates after heat treating or ending up with nothing dry enough t tiller.
So I drafted in a few friends to come and lug timber around, fell, split, rough out etc, hard work it is too. Was lucky enough to have a couple of staves taken out of the woods by landi but most of it was carried about 2 miles by hand which is a killer. That and with the warmer wetter weather than expected the mozzies, midge and horsefly were out in force and subsequently I have bites on my bites, about 11 at the last count.
My usual setup except my pack was stripped down to account for all of the extra weight in tools. Axe, billhook, wedges, drawknife etc etc.
Ground was very wet with a few showers on the first day but Chris wanted to light a fire from flint n steel so we went in search of some birch bark.
Flint and steel on char-cloth then made into a birch bark cigar.
Then it was felling elm and ash.
Aftermath
Fruits of labour. From left to right, two ash in the round, then its wytch elm all the way. Still more to sort out at the wood which will have to be done soon to keep the bugs out but i ran out of steam after this lot.
One last picture for Harvestman. I woke up to an eggs on logs part at the end of my hammock, no less than 7 of them inside my mozzy net. Hard to see but each round dot there is a spider
So I drafted in a few friends to come and lug timber around, fell, split, rough out etc, hard work it is too. Was lucky enough to have a couple of staves taken out of the woods by landi but most of it was carried about 2 miles by hand which is a killer. That and with the warmer wetter weather than expected the mozzies, midge and horsefly were out in force and subsequently I have bites on my bites, about 11 at the last count.
My usual setup except my pack was stripped down to account for all of the extra weight in tools. Axe, billhook, wedges, drawknife etc etc.
Ground was very wet with a few showers on the first day but Chris wanted to light a fire from flint n steel so we went in search of some birch bark.
Flint and steel on char-cloth then made into a birch bark cigar.
Then it was felling elm and ash.
Aftermath
Fruits of labour. From left to right, two ash in the round, then its wytch elm all the way. Still more to sort out at the wood which will have to be done soon to keep the bugs out but i ran out of steam after this lot.
One last picture for Harvestman. I woke up to an eggs on logs part at the end of my hammock, no less than 7 of them inside my mozzy net. Hard to see but each round dot there is a spider
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Gutted I missed it mate, not green with envy much, carrying them out by hand is always a chore but well worth it when you get them home and add them to your stash. How many did you get in the end? I also have the same Ray Iles draw knife & would not mind trying that bill hook out some time to, do you use it much in stave making?
, carrying them out by hand is always a chore but well worth it when you get them home and add them to your stash. How many did you get in the end? I also have the same Ray Iles draw knife & would not mind trying that bill hook out some time to, do you use it much in stave making?
Gutted I missed it mate, not green with envy much
Yeah it's a shame you couldn't make it bud but family first and hope all is well.
Numbers wise we got about 7 wych elm and about 3 or four ash so a good haul. There were a few characters that could have been ok but I run out of energy and car space. Plus the bugs were pretty relentless when not near the fire. The draw is a friends and looks very nice to use. The hook is mine and I use it more and more in bow making. It's great to start splits accurately and great for roughing out, especially the belly. It's also perfect for tidying up the canope of the tree you just took down.
Will have to get your self down when things are a little less manic.
I managed to twang something in my elbow whilst last out so trying to rest it some. So, time to make some arrows and catch up on some heat treating.
I decided to treat my self to a new dozen arrows which would keep me busy until my elbow frees up a little.
Half way there but run out of fletch so need to order some more in. Port Oxford cedar and two colours of goose fletch.
I decided to treat my self to a new dozen arrows which would keep me busy until my elbow frees up a little.
Half way there but run out of fletch so need to order some more in. Port Oxford cedar and two colours of goose fletch.
Some classy arrows there. Need to make like 10 of them myself before my next match october 5th.
In these 5 years I've been shooting I must have made myself at least 150 arrows now. I always manage to make them either explode upon impact or go missing.
It's the reason I make them myself now. A whole arrow costs about 9 euros for me, while materials for one arrow costs about 4 euros.
I always use blue and red feathers. If I would use the colors you're using there I'd lose all my arrows in one afternoon
In these 5 years I've been shooting I must have made myself at least 150 arrows now. I always manage to make them either explode upon impact or go missing.
It's the reason I make them myself now. A whole arrow costs about 9 euros for me, while materials for one arrow costs about 4 euros.
I always use blue and red feathers. If I would use the colors you're using there I'd lose all my arrows in one afternoon
Some classy arrows there. Need to make like 10 of them myself before my next match october 5th.
In these 5 years I've been shooting I must have made myself at least 150 arrows now. I always manage to make them either explode upon impact or go missing.
It's the reason I make them myself now. A whole arrow costs about 9 euros for me, while materials for one arrow costs about 4 euros.
I always use blue and red feathers. If I would use the colors you're using there I'd lose all my arrows in one afternoon
I always chose silly colours for shooting in woodland, I should be using bright contrasting colours so I can find them again.
Lighter coloured shafts stick out quite a bit mind.
Thanks to a trade on here I now have two fletching jigs which speeds things up no end.
Had some free time so back to the shop.
This is a wych elm stave that i cut and split a while back so it should be safe to reduce it further.
When marking out your stave be sure to follow the grain all the way down the bow, ignore it at your peril!
Once you have made a center line you need to mark out from here to the edge of your bow. I like to start at 2inches all the way down. You could reduce the tips now but its best to leave your options open and see what the wood says. You might want to go to 2.5 inches wide if you are using a lighter wood such as ash.
Once happy with the lines the stave is turned on its side and trimmed down with the draw knife. If your lines are right this should be an easy job as the blade will follow the grain. If its much harder something is wrong and your eye is out.
Now its time to reduce the belly further. I like to use my bill-hook for this as it leave a nice flat finish and helps following the grain. Keep the cut close to the handle of the hook so you dont over-strike causing the hooked part of the blade to catch the side of the bow.
Whilst I am doing this lot I have a stave on the stove steaming away. This is a bit of a test fora few reasons. Its a very extreme bend which I usually do with dry heat but lately this has caused a few problems. Its been an age since i used steam and forgot just how much easier it was. 45 minutes boiling away and then its quick as you can to the form and bend in one fluid motion then clamp in place. The other side to the test is the bow is made from cherry which guys keep saying is no good in tension. SOO to make a point this cherry bow will be highly recurved with a static portion, no backing and a decent weight. If it blows i wont say a word, if it works ill be rubbing it in!
Will keep you all updated. Will also be doing some finishing work later on a yew character bow that will soon be up for sale or trade. Going to be about 35lbs at 27 which is a real nice target weight.
Can I ask how long you'd leave the bow in the jig for after steaming mate
I tend to leave it over night just for convenience but i have removed it after a few hours.
So long as its equalised its temperature then it should not move.
So long as its equalised its temperature then it should not move.
If I could just pick your brains again.i have started my first bow n it was always gonna be a practice go so I made it from an old oak door casing leg.it actually shots which I was pretty buzzing about but I'm getting string follow at the tips(picked that terminology up been reading up on bow makin like a mad man ha).would steam bending the tips rectify this.or should I just start again and reflex the tips before tillering.
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It is always hard to say without seeing a few pictures. Set is caused by either wet wood or design problems. Every bow will take a bit of set but we do our best to try and minimize it where we can as set will rob the bow of cast.
If you manage to get some pictures uploaded we can take a look?
Cheers pal.please don't laugh its mi first go ha.its was always gonna be a bit of a skills test but would be nice too save it as it's my first one.ive got a little vid of it but I'm struggling post it do I need be a paying customer too do this
Best way to upload photos is to open a photobucket account and download the app for your phone. Nice and easy then.
From the photo its hard to say but it does seem to be bending too much at the last third. The bow seems pretty short for your draw length.
See the string anlge you have at full draw (between the tip of the bow and string) once this exceeds 45 Deg you start to lose efficiency and the bow will start to "stack" meaning the draw weight starts to increase rapidly in the last few inches of draw length for no real gain.
Hell of a first effort nice work!
From the photo its hard to say but it does seem to be bending too much at the last third. The bow seems pretty short for your draw length.
See the string anlge you have at full draw (between the tip of the bow and string) once this exceeds 45 Deg you start to lose efficiency and the bow will start to "stack" meaning the draw weight starts to increase rapidly in the last few inches of draw length for no real gain.
Hell of a first effort nice work!
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So mine here looks like its over 90 degrees from tip too string? Thus the tips shouldn't flex anywhere near that much?I'll have another go take my time a bit more thanks for the info mate
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Is that your usual anchor point?
Looks a long way back to me but I'm a corner of the mouth kinda guy. Have met others who draw to their ear so I know some do, just mentioned it as the bow wouldn't look so maxed out with a shorter draw length.
Nice haul Dwardo.
I'll be helping my dad bring down an ash at the bottom of the garden in the next wee while. Hard to see the trunk at the moment as it's crowded by the hawthorn hedge but I'm hoping there'll be a few staves there. One or two of the branches look promising too.
Looks a long way back to me but I'm a corner of the mouth kinda guy. Have met others who draw to their ear so I know some do, just mentioned it as the bow wouldn't look so maxed out with a shorter draw length.
Nice haul Dwardo.
I'll be helping my dad bring down an ash at the bottom of the garden in the next wee while. Hard to see the trunk at the moment as it's crowded by the hawthorn hedge but I'm hoping there'll be a few staves there. One or two of the branches look promising too.
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