Hazel Bow WIP

[Niels]

This is by no means a tutorial, just me showing what I've been doing lately. I decided to start working on a new hazel bow, so I took a nice big branch with no side branches, and started work on it. I hope the pictures speak for themselves.


2012-12-14 18.13.59 by Sami knives, on Flickr

Central line drawn:


2012-12-14 22.12.35 by Sami knives, on Flickr

Some axe work done:


2012-12-14 22.34.32 by Sami knives, on Flickr


2012-12-14 22.34.53 by Sami knives, on Flickr


I will keep it under my bed for one night, work on it some more and then put it on the heater to dry for a week or 2.
I will keep you updated

 

[dwardo]

Great stuff

When its down to near bow dimensions and before you do any bending besides a little floor tillering keep a record of its weight. You need a reasonably accurate set of scales.
Keep it in a warm room and when it stops loosing weight for a few days minimum its near dry.

 

[Niels]

That's a good tip! Thanks, wouldn't have thought of that myself.

 

[Man of Tanith]

oh to get away with leaving a branch indoors let alone in a warm room

looks good i shall enjoy this thread

 

[ateallthepies]

Would the humidity matter with that seasoning method? I wonder if its cold in the Netherlands whether the RH would be very low?

Steve

 

[Niels]

Well it's still pretty moist and when I was cutting it a couple of hours ago now, there was actually water dripping out of the saw groove. If I put it on the heater just like this it will probably crack, but my last one I let dry normal for a while first and then on the heater, and it worked fine

 

[ateallthepies]

Will re-type information.

Steve

 

[Niels]

I worked it down to the correct thickness this morning. I did stay well away from the drawing lines though, to prevent cracking while it dries. The bow width will measure 30 mm at the handle, tapering down to 13 mm to the tips. The thickness will be 32 mm tapering down to 19 mm.

Thickness drawn:



2012-12-15 13.05.53 by Sami knives, on Flickr


2012-12-15 13.21.07 by Sami knives, on Flickr


2012-12-15 13.26.36 by Sami knives, on Flickr


2012-12-15 13.32.11 by Sami knives, on Flickr




It's now drying nicely on the heater. I'm just hoping she won't crack. I also got some wood glue on the ends just in case.

Thanks for looking

 

[ateallthepies]

Here is the table on wood moisture content at certain humidity levels and temperature. I now have permission off the original poster on another forum to use it here...

The figures are the lowest moisture content a piece of wood can naturally season to at certain humidity and temperatures. If you use this table in conjunction with Dwardo's scale drying method you will have an accurate picture of your staves moisture content. If you can't naturally season your stave to the correct level, around 9%, you then can force dry like on your radiator to get the moisture down.
Humidity/temperature meters can be bought quite cheaply and are an essential piece of kit for bowyers who might not own moisture meters.

HTH,

Steve.

 

[Niels]

That's a great post! We'll see what happens I bet it will be dry after 2 or 3 weeks on the radiator.

 

[ateallthepies]

Depending how hot and how long your radiator is on for I hope it won't over dry in 2-3 weeks or split/warp? You could take your limbs down to almost finished thickness but leaving them as wide as possible to help avoid drying twist, this will speed up drying no end.

I know it takes time but using the scale method, reducing the bow to almost finished dimensions and knowing the humidity and temperature of the stave storage area will let you know accurately the moisture content before any forced drying. I would let your almost finished stave sit in a warm room away from a fierce heat source for those 2-3 weeks, much safer for the wood. If you use the info above you may only then need a day or two of force drying to get to your target 9% but a percentage point above or below will be OK as well.

Steve.

 

[dwardo]

For your next Hazel Go much wider. I made a hazel bow an age ago and it does like to be 2 plus inches wide at the fades. Heat treating also worked wonders wit the wood.

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=74412

This took some digging out. Funny thing is i am wearing that jumper now although it has a few more hole in it
Time to go do a bit my self as the missus n boy are asleep and i have a few orders to be getting on with!

 

[Niels]

I've never seen a hazel flatbow before! Burning eh? I think I'll give that a try with this bow. I've taken it and put it under my bed for now, and I will put it on the radiator again later.

 

[dwardo]

Steve definitely has a point with the warm room first though bud. Too rapid a moisture change is asking for trouble. You may not even see the warping or cracking yet it may still be there sub surface.
I run 3 computers 24/7 from home and that keeps the room at about a nice 27c with is more than enough to be drying timber.
Get splitting and roughing out the other staves that will keep you busy for a while Just reminded me to pull some roughed out bows in and get them in a warm room. I like to leave them in the shop for atleast a week after roughing out before moving them inside.