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8/19/2019 Peteward-com BUILD a BOW

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A lot of confusion on making an osage bow comes from getting the back into 1 growth ring. First we must understand what a tree is made of (keeping in mind I am not a botanist). Of course we are all familiar with the bark. It is what we see on the outside of the tree. The bark is like a coat surrounding the internals, keeping everything inside protected.Bark comesin yearly layers and gets thicker with age. Bark is generally dark in color.

Next we have the sapwood. It can be thin or thick, as it also comes in layers. Sapwood is generally a c reamy white c olor.

Next comes a series of layers of early wood and late wood with a layer of each being added each year. The early wood is generally a lot thinner and lighter in color than the late woodand is actually quite pourous and crumbly.

Depending on climatic conditions (soil quality, amount of moisture, sun, ets) these layers can be close together, far apart, close on 1 side and far apart on the other side.Any numberof combinations. Ideally I look for 9 growth rings per inch and the lighter early wood ring only being 1/4th as wide as the darker late wood ring. However most osage we find is not likethat. We make do.

Here is a look at a section of tree which illustrates all of the above. Note bark on top, followed by white sapwood, followed by light early ring, dark late ring,light early ring, dark latering and so forth

When making a bow our goal is to remove the bark, the sapwood and at least one early ring leaving the entire "back" of the stave into 1 dark late ring. Using a draw knife we remove the bark, and sapwood, removing it as we work down the stave. As you draw knife you will see the white sapwood getting thinner and thinner, andsome of t he early wood getting thinner until you start seeing some yellow. Once you start seeing yellow you must be c areful not to dig in any deeper, but to try and sc rape so thatyou remove "most of the white" while leaving "most" of the yellow. The problem with a newbie chasing a ring with a drawknife is it takes some modicrum of angle control with thedrawknife not too dig in too deep. Hold the blade at the right angle and it shaves wood, hold it at too steep an angle and it digs and can destroy that which we seek. Practice andexperience will serve you well here.

This picture shows some of the bark removed, several layers of the sapwood removed, some of the first early wood removed and some of the first late wood (yellow...highlighted in

pencil in the lower left side of the pic)

----------Being careful with the drawknife we work our way down the stave, removing more and more of the early wood, leaving more andmore of the late wood. In this pic I outlined the lightcolored earlywood with the pencil. As you can see most of the visible wood on the left hand side of the stave is in the yellow late wood ring while the right side is still in the lightcolored early wood.

NOTE: the 2 woods have entirely different feeling under the drawknife or scraper. The early wood is crumbly and brittle and makes a scraping sound that is easy to hear under theblade of your scraper or drawkinfe, while the late wood is hard and slick and makes almost no noise under the blade.

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--------------------In this picture it is really easy to see the yellow late ring (at the top of the pic), several layers of the sapwood (at the bottom of the pic) and the one layer of early wood in themiddle of the pic. It is the stuff that is white and looks like it has t iny holes in it. There is a thin layer of this between each layer of late wood and it is important that you learn torecognize and feel it as you are working on the wood.

Sometimes as we work our way down the stave you will find "pools" of the light c olored early wood that doesn't come off with the rest. This is generally because there is a trough orlow spot in the wood that your draw knife or scraper glides over. Can you see it in this picture?


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------------------Sometimes the rings just under the sapwood are too tight, too tightly packed, to go for the first late wood ring and we may have to go down 4 or 5 latewood rings to find we findsuitable.In this case we start at one end of the stave and work our way down to the last early wood ring above our desired late wood ring and then take the entire back dow to thatearly wood ring. Coming back later to remove that thin crumbly early wood ring revealing our late wood back ring.

The ring just above the black arrow would be our desired ring in this piece of wood

-------------------Having your wood into 1 solid late ring is the number one foundation block for making a durable bow. there is nothing that is as important, not good tillering techniques or design orfinish or lack of tools marks. Without a good back your bow is doomed to failure. Master this little task and you can build good bows of nearly any design from nearly any wood. Glad you are enjoying this too..this is fun. Ready for some more?

Finding good clean straight osage with no blemishes is like finding a super model that likes how you look and the fact that you hunt and kill things ie: it's dag gone rare. Most likely youare going to end up dealing with some "issues" (in the wood and with the model ha ha)

Here are a couple of the problems with osage:

Knots..you can have a pretty serious knot ANYWHERE on the stave..on an edge, in the middle, in a limb tip or where you are going to lay out your handle. They can be solid or theycan be rotten and pukey. The solid ones we work around, the pukey ones we dig out and fill with a 2 part epoxy and sawdust mix. The grain in osage will run around a knot like thewater in a stream runs around a rock. Remember you must follow the grain where ever it goes. If it swirls around a knot, so must you.




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--------------------Then there are pin knots..these tiny little boogers are a pain in the rump, and the c ause of much consternation. Lop off their heads and the bow may crack on you t here. If they areon the edge, you bow may crack on you there. Try to keep your pin knots in the same growth ring as your back.

Pin knots are the tiny brown dots in the center and often come in clusters or groups

You will want to keep an eye on pin knots in a finshed bow and if you see any cracks radiating from them, hit them with some CA glue and sinew wrap it right quick.

-----------------The inconspicuous holes in this sapwood was caused by wood borers or the larvae of a wasp. As they grow they will eat down thru the sapwood oft en into the heartwood for severalgrowth rings.




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Generally you can get below them, but it will cause you more work in the process, forcing you to go to deeper rings than you may have anticipated

nasty little boogers. This is caused by storing wood outside unprotected where the wasps can get to t hem to bore and lay their eggs. If you must store your wood outside, spray itliberally with bug killer like a diazanon type spray.




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-------------------- Osage may look straight, and we look for the straightest we can cut, but even "stove pipe straight" looking osage has a way of fooling you and won't be all that straight once you getit cut, split into quarters, hauled up out of the woods, sealed and dried in your shed. That st raight piece of sage you cut in February may have one or more of these "issues" whenyou dig it out to work on it the following December

It may have a crook in one end




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if the stave is long enough, this may be c ut off . If not you have to deal with it. On this piece a plumb bob shows the tip comes back in line with the other tip so we will ignore it. Or

you may have to use steam to get it in line.

--------------------It may have a bend in the middle where your handle is supposed to go

or it may be crooked all over




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-------------------- or the piece may have some "prop twist" named for the tilt on an airplane propellor blade. This is where the wood is twisted and not perpendicular to 90 degrees flat when viewed fromthe end

These are all common problems that the budding bowyer must learn to deal with. Most can be c orrected with steam, dry heat (heat gun) a caul, or a big ol crescent wrench with a2x4 propped under the handle

--------------------When drying in the shed even if it has been sealed sometimes the wood will do what they c all "check" on the end. Check is a fancy bowyer word for c rack




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This check went 6 rings down in the wood and several inches deep

if you anticpate this and cut your wood 72" long even though you are planning a 64 or 66" bow then when you are ready to build you can lop off the checked piece




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If you don't anticipate, all of a sudden your plans for a 66" bow turn into plans for a 60" bow ..OOPS!

--------------------Sometimes if you force dry your stave too quickly OR do not seal the back well enough it will develop drying checks (there's that check word again). This is where moisture in thewood escapes by opening up a crack right in the middle of t he wood along the back. As long as the checks/cracks run with the grain you can still use the wood and make a bow, butif the c hecks run off the edge of the grain it's doomed. Here is a long check in a bows back that runs with the grain and is safe (although it's ugly)

also notice if you will the pin knot in the top of the wood and the crack that is radiating out of it. This is what I was t alking about watc hing for in a previous post. Dang pesky pin

knots.

-------------------- Wow if your still with me thus far you are probably wondering if it is all worth it and why not just call up a custom glass bowyer and order a bow?

Like Killdeer used to say (at least I think it was Killdeer) "we do these things not because they are easy, but because they are hard"

There is a certain satisfact ion we get f rom taking a piece of wood and turning it into a functional bow and hopefully taking game with it, as it has been done for thousands of years.Making your own bow is not for everyone but if you have the desire, you can develop the skills and be ultimately rewarded.

-------------------- Ok I'll go down and lay one out, but let me lay out some foundations here. Like I said above there are dozens of different bow layouts and different woods have differentrequirements. All basic measurements for widths are taken from a centerline which follows the crown or the grain.

here are some recommended widths for different woods commonly used in making bows

This is for a bow 66"-68" tip to tip bow,with a rigid handle and fades, for up to 28" draw, for draw lengths longer than 28" add 2" in bow length for every inch of draw.

White Ash ...1 3/4"

Black Locust ...1 5/8"

Elm ... 1 7/8"

Hickory ... 1 3/4"

Maple ... 1 3/4"




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Osage ... 1 1/4"

Red oak ... 1 7/8"

white Oak ... 1 3/4"

and here's a handy chart for measuring different widths from each side of the centerline

Limb Widths

2" ...1" from center

1 3/4" ...7/8" from center

1 1/2" ...3/4" from center

1 1/4" ...5/8" from center

Handle widths

1" ... 1/2" from center

7/8" ... 7/16" from center

3/4" ... 3/8" from center

Limb tip widths

5/8" ...5/16" from center

1/2"... 1/4" from center

3/8" ... 3/16" from center

Most bows are layed out with a 1" wide handle and 1/2" wide tips...so it's easy just to remember those two measurements from center..1/2" for the handle and 1/4" for the tips.

-------------------Clint that c ould make a pretty neat bow ac tually...even though it is S shaped it appears that the handle and tips may ac tually line up?

-------------------- LOL Adam strange that you should say that as I was just going to show that very thing. Follow along.

Here we are going to lay out a bow on the back of an osage stave. This stave is not in the final growth ring (as Adam alluded to) and you'll see in the photos it says "not 1 ring"written on it in pencil. This does 2 things (1) you c an draw freely on the stave, erase if you have to, c hange your mind and change the design without worrying about the back and(2) by cutting off all excess wood you only have to scrape the minimum into 1 growth ring.

This is my favorite design in a rigid handled osage bow, 65 1/2" tip to tip, 64" ntn 4" handle 2" fades 1 1/4" at fades tapering straight to 1/2" tips. If you cut your string slots 3/4" fromeach t ip you end up with exactly 64" nock to nock leaving just enough wood for some nicely shaped tips.

Since I'm doing this for the camera I used a magic marker for my lines, if you were doing it in pencil the lines would me much thinner and crisper.

-------------------We start with a stave cut off to 65 1/2" end to end

on here we are going to put a c enterline the length of the stave following the c rown. If the st ave is straight enough you can snap a centerline with a carpenters chalk line andactually I c ould have done that on t his one but it wouldn't show up in the pict ures very well so I hand drew the line.




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-------------------- Next we are going to find the center of the stave lengthwise which on our 65 1/2" stave would be 32 3/4" from each end

be sure and flip your ruler over and measure to the other end to verify you are in the middle




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if you are on the same mark draw a line across the stave and mark with a C Our handle is going to be 4" long so we measure up 2" from the centerline and down 2" from the center line and mark it

our handle is going to be 1" wide so from the long centerline we are going to measure out 1/2" at each end and mark those

-------------------- Now connect all the lines and we have our handle box




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For our 2" fades we measure up and down another 2" from the ends of our handle box and mark it then measure out 5/8" from our long centerline to get our limb width of 1 1/4"

--------------------connect your lines and you'll have your fades and handle box marked out

since we are tapering straight to our 1/2" tips we head down to the ends of our stave and from the long centerline we measure out 1/4" on each side




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-------------------- next connect the corners of your fades to the marks on each side of the centerline at the end of your stave and your bow will be laid out

sometimes if the stave is clean enough this can be done with a straight edge and sometimes you just have to measure out from the centerline making dots as you go and connect thedots and sometimes as in the crook in the end of this stave you just have to free hand it.

A plumb bob shows on this particular stave the tips and the handle are pretty much going to line up and not require much "adjustment" later




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--------------------Now like Adam said you can drawknife down to just outs ide the lines or take it to a bandsaw and cut it outside the lines trying to keep the stave "square" as best you c an. You c anrasp or file it down to your exact lines later.

BTW the little clear ruler you saw me using came from a fabric store and has a ruler on each side measuring out from a center hole making equal measurements on each side of acenterline a snap.

--------------------Ok gents, lets finish up this layout..this time the side profile

Ok remember what I said about symmetry earlier? Everything we do to one side or end we do to the other side or end so all the marks we see being made in the following instructionswill be made to both sides and to both limbs.

We've drawn the out line on the back of our pie shaped stave. The next step is to put it in the vice back down and trim off some of the excess. Drawknife the belly until the stave isan even 2" thick

full length




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-----------------Next trim the sides of the stave to just outside the lines you laid out on the back. This will make your sides flat and bright yellow

Next put your stave in the vice on 1 side (note at this point you should be using soft or padded jaws on your vice so as not to dig into any of your surfaces)and extend your linesfrom your handle and fades to the sides of the stave




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-------------------now from your handle line measure up from the back 1 1/2" and make a mark

and at your fade marks measure up from the back 3/4" and make a mark

------------------now connect your lines which will form your handle and fades(technically the dips on the belly side)

Next measure up from the back 3/4" about every 6" or so and make a mark down the length of your limbs with the last one being at the tip




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-------------------- Now here's a trick that is very important..notice how I am holding the pen with the t ip at the end of the fade and have my index finger laying along the back of the stave. Lock yourhand in this position and using your index finger as a guide run the pen towards the tip. It should make a perfect line 3/4" from the back no matter how lumpy or wavey the back. Thedots you made will serve as a check as you work your way to the tip

-------------------- Notice how the line follows that little dip in the back out t owards the tip (right below the yardstick in the pic)




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*** Now make identical lines on the other side of your stave...make sure all measurements are taken from the BACK of your stave ***

Next take your draw knife and draw remove the wood down to your lines

------------------

Do the other half and all of a sudden that big piece of wood we started with is looking an awful lot like a bow




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We have the bow cut to near outline, we have the handle cut to 1 1/2" deep, we have the dips initially shaped and we have t he limbs drawn down to 3/4" thick, c lose to where theywill start bending a little bit if we push on them. Pretty cool huh? See I told you it wasn't rocket sc ience.

Grab a piece of wood and have fun gentlemen!

2 things I forgot to mention, and both have to do with draw knifing to outline...I think it's visible in the pic, but I did not cut out (narrow) my handle yet, but rather cut straightacross leaving the handle full width. I will narrow the handle a little later. It's just easier to draw knife straight across and it will fit in the tiller tree better.

Secondly down where that crook on the tip is I let the grain decide where it wanted to cut and did not worry about cutting down close to the line yet in that spot. Don't want thedrawknife to dig in and tear out a chunk and maybe ruin the tip. As you further reduce wood both on belly and sides it will pretty much show you where it wants to go. If you want itto go somewhwere else, you can't do that with a draw knife, but can do it with a file. Clear as mud?

-------------------- This morning I carefully took this bow down to our outline using drawknife, file (in the crook on the tip) and scraper. Since this was a stave t hat was not in 1 growth ring for the backwe must remember to go back and scrape it into that single growth ring before reducing the limb thickness any further. Notice how much less wood we have to get into 1 ring,compared to getting a whole stave into 1 ring. On this one I'm using a scraper.

------------------- Ok gents, lets finish up this layout..this time the side profile

Ok remember what I said about symmetry earlier? Everything we do to one side or end we do to the other side or end so all the marks we see being made in the following instructionswill be made to both sides and to both limbs.

We've drawn the out line on the back of our pie shaped stave. The next step is to put it in the vice back down and trim off some of the excess. Drawknife the belly until the stave isan even 2" thick




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full length

-------------------Next trim the sides of the stave to just outside the lines you laid out on the back. This will make your sides flat and bright yellow




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Next put your stave in the vice on 1 side (note at this point you should be using soft or padded jaws on your vice so as not to dig into any of your surfaces)and extend your linesfrom your handle and fades to the sides of the stave

-----------now from your handle line measure up from the back 1 1/2" and make a mark

and at your fade marks measure up from the back 3/4" and make a mark

-------------------- now connect your lines which will form your handle and fades(technically the dips on the belly side)




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Next measure up from the back 3/4" about every 6" or so and make a mark down the length of your limbs with the last one being at the tip

-------------------- Now here's a trick that is very important..notice how I am holding the pen with the t ip at the end of the fade and have my index finger laying along the back of the stave. Lock yourhand in this position and using your index finger as a guide run the pen towards the tip. It should make a perfect line 3/4" from the back no matter how lumpy or wavey the back. Thedots you made will serve as a check as you work your way to the tip




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-------------------- Notice how the line follows that little dip in the back out t owards the tip (right below the yardstick in the pic)

*** Now make identical lines on the other side of your stave...make sure all measurements are taken from the BACK of your stave ***

Next take your draw knife and draw remove the wood down to your lines




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-------------------- Do the other half and all of a sudden that big piece of wood we started with is looking an awful lot like a bow

We have the bow cut to near outline, we have the handle cut to 1 1/2" deep, we have the dips initially shaped and we have t he limbs drawn down to 3/4" thick, c lose to where theywill start bending a little bit if we push on them. Pretty cool huh? See I told you it wasn't rocket sc ience.

Grab a piece of wood and have fun gentlemen! 2 things I forgot to mention, and both have to do with draw knifing to outline...I think it's visible in the pic, but I did not cut out (narrow) my handle yet, but rather cut straightacross leaving the handle full width. I will narrow the handle a little later. It's just easier to draw knife straight across and it will fit in the tiller tree better.

Secondly down where that crook on the tip is I let the grain decide where it wanted to cut and did not worry about cutting down close to the line yet in that spot. Don't want thedrawknife to dig in and tear out a chunk and maybe ruin the tip. As you further reduce wood both on belly and sides it will pretty much show you where it wants to go. If you want itto go somewhwere else, you can't do that with a draw knife, but can do it with a file. Clear as mud?

-------------------- This morning I carefully took this bow down to our outline using drawknife, file (in the crook on the tip) and scraper. Since this was a stave t hat was not in 1 growth ring for the backwe must remember to go back and scrape it into that single growth ring before reducing the limb thickness any further. Notice how much less wood we have to get into 1 ring,compared to getting a whole stave into 1 ring. On this one I'm using a scraper

One of the really nice t hing about laying bows out this way, is that from either centerline ..the perpendicular one or the longitudinal one, whatever you do t o one side of the staveyou do exactly the same thing to the other end of the stave..up 2" one way...down 2" the other way, out 1/2" on 1 side...out 1/2" on the ot her side. This symmetry will come intoplay later as well in that you'll be able to shoot this bow from the right side from the left side, upside down and right side up, and with equal length limbs it will be easier for your eyeto read the tiller on the tiller tree.

-------------------- Some bowyers like Dean Torges prefer different length limbs because of the pressures exerted on the limbs by your release hand AND they feel it "carry's better" when you arewalking.This can be accomplished in 2 ways..

(1) find your perpendicular centerline and mark your center..measure up 1 1/2" on one side and down 2 1/2" on the other side and there's your 4" handle, then draw equal length fades1 1/2" or 2"..whatever

Jawge Tsoukalas does it a little differently by altering the length of the fades. He finds his center of the stave measures up 2" and down 2" for his 4" handle section, then makes onefade 1 1/2" long and the other fade 2 1/2" long thereby making one working limb longer than the other (Jawge please correct me if I am wrong)

This forces you to designate an upper and lower limb prior to tillering and to tiller keeping that in mind knowing that your lower limb must be the stiffer of the two limbs

-------------------- Another thing to keep in mind here. I am a self confessed wood hack, and know very little about the act ual physics of bowyery. I c an't quote Elmer or any of the physics PHD's andam out of most discussions about such things pretty early in the game.I build wooden bows that have for me and some others been dependable and have been successful in taking




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game. My claim to fame is that I know how to take pictures and can explain things that beginners can pretty much understand and follow.

Guys like Dean and Adam and David and Lennie etc know, understand and have forgotten more about building wooden bows than I'll ever know.

That's my disclaimer

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