I am working on a stave I cut a little while ago. It is beech and about 6" in diameter. It was cut from a thicket on the side of a steep hill on the leeward side. It is very straight and the bark didn't look twisted. When I split it in half the day after it was cut, it twisted about 120 degrees. I have taken a second split and reduced this to bow shape over the last month and a half. It feels dry, seems to act dry and my moisture meter says it is dry. Meter said it started with 32% mc.
I have been trying to get the limbs to straighten out by heating and clamping to a caul, but am having very little success. It doesn't want to move very well in the first place and returns to pretty much where I started when I remove the clamps.
Any help or sugestions would be greatly appreciated.
:pray: :pray:
Not all staves are even suitable for bows and you may just be working with something like that. But still, you can still learn a lot by giving it a go.
I think the best way to get twist out is by steaming. Trick is to twist way past what you want and let it relax back.
If you're determined to make a bow from your stave then here's how I would handle it. First I would remove any handle section (like in board form) so I could get some additional twist out there also. Then just glue a handle piece back on later. Good luck........Art
Thanks Art. The handle is very thick at the moment and I was considering reducing it down to help allow more movement throughout the length of the bow.
I may just have a long piece of firewood, but will give it a go and see what I come up with.
i have read a bit about beech being steamable , but not really heat only.
give steam a try , or wait for people with actual experience...
-hov
If you had left it in stave form with a little extra length, you could have cut it in half and swapped one end, and could have taken out much of the twist by spicing the handle back together..........Art
Still got enough of a log for 2-3 bows so I might give that a try on a future endeavour, if I don't burn it first of couse.
How much twist and are we talking propellor twist? Jawge
Jawge,
The Wright brothers could have used this piece of wood. It is probably about 120 degree twist from end to end. It has improved a little with a couple of heatings but not much. I was going to remove more material to get closer to floor tiller and give it another go, also going to thin the handle done per Art's suggestion.
Just done one as an experiment to see if I could do it. Reduced it to a rough bow. placed it in a vice and hung a quarts heater over the twisted limb. Let the wood get hot to the touch for several minutes then took a pipe clamp and clamped it to the end of limb. I hung a a bucket from the end of the pie and filled it with bolts until it twisted the limb back in line with the rest of the bow. I left it in that position for 20 min with the heat on it then I removed the heat and allowed it to dry for a day. removed the weight and the limb held its shape. I then let it set in the corner for a few days to rehydrate. then began tillering.
When I hung the weight on it the bow was back to the ground also left it with a little more reflex. So far during tillering it is holding its reflex.
I think I'd set that one aside until I had nothing else to work on! d;^)
funny you say that . i have a piece of black locust about the same twist...that is going to be the swap bow...
-hov
razorback, I've had a few staves do that. Sounds like you got great advice including Pat's. Merry Christmas! Jawge
I've seen some of the bows that Pat works on and if he would put it aside, maybe I should follow his advice. However I tend to be a bit stubborn about these things so will probably keep working on it. Whats the worst that could happen :knothead:
To quote many on here;
"if you ain't breakin, you ain't makin"
Merry Christmas all!!!
As soon as you split it. Ruff out your bow and clamp in down to a caul. SAME DAY levae to season. I had to do the same thing to sasafrass never did a beech. Semms like a really soft wood. Likly it will deed backed if you don't leave the limb wide.2's plus. What do you have in mine.
Most of my bows are made from osage and it reacts (or submits) well to heat. I've never worked beech so I have no knowledge of how it reacts to heat or whether it does best with wet or dry heat.
Pat.
Don't have a set up for steam heat, so will reduce more wood and try the dry heat some more. If I can get it straight and looking like a bow I will use this one as a donation to the YMCA camp where I got the wood, for their living history display. I have some Birch shafts that are nearly arrows and will try to get a stone head to add to the display. Hopefully I can get a shooter out of it but if it becomes a good display bow I will be happy. Thanks for the input.