I thought I'd start a thread for this bow even though it is in the Bow Trade thread.
This bow started out as a 2" diameter osage pole(sucker) that Mike McGuire gave me at the Tenn Classic two years ago. Mike cut it less than a month before. After I had it for a few weeks I sawed it down the middle, put spacers between the two halves and bound them back together.
Last winter I unbound then. Both halves stayed pretty straight but did get a little reflex. I gave half to Keenan at last years Classic and decided to use my half for the TG bow trade.
This is what it looked like last week...
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/PatBNC/2inchosagepole003.jpg)
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/PatBNC/2inchosagepole002.jpg)
Well, I started tillering the stave and have it bending with about 8" of tip movement. One limb has a slight dog leg, a knot near by and a bit of reflex. The other limb is relatively straight. Because of the dog leg, knot and uneven reflex in the one limb I decided to add even reflex(almost recurves) to both tips. So I clasmped the tip to the form...
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/PatBNC/2inchosagepole001a.jpg)
...add some oilve oil and held the heat gun to it until gravity began to do its work. When it began to fall I helped it down and clamped the limb to the form. Another clamp was needed near the curve so I heated it a bit more and clamped it...
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/PatBNC/2inchosagepole003a.jpg)
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/PatBNC/2inchosagepole005a.jpg)
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/PatBNC/2inchosagepole004a.jpg)
I'll take it out of the form and post pics of the results later.
Nice Pat, never thought about the gravity deal.. Guess that tells ya when the wood is hot enough to bend.
Boy Pat My bow sure is looking Sweet! :D
Or did the Ol'Man Roy draw my name :dunno:
Kris, I think Roy got your name. He said he had something special for you! d;^)
Yeah Roy. It is a good indicater of when the wood is ready to bend.
Pat , looks awsome! Is that belly split or saw cut?
The pole was sawn down the middle with a bandsaw. I was sure the pole was straight and with no twists before I sawed it.
I got her off the form. Looks pretty good but will need some alignment but I won't be sure until first low brace. Here she is...
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/PatBNC/2inchosagepole001-1.jpg)
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/PatBNC/2inchosagepole002-1.jpg)
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/PatBNC/2inchosagepole003-1.jpg)
Are you using the sapwood as the back? I have a nice and straight 8' x 3" -3.5" osage pole that I'll be using in the future and wasn't sure of how to proceed. Whats the best course of action, decrown, take it down to heartwood or use the sapwood back? I've read sapwood can be ok with these thin poles but before digging in I'd rather seek out tips before ruining the material.
As long as you know the sapwood is sound it works fine on these pole bows. I knew when this wood was cut and how it was handled until I got it so all I did was remove the bark and seal the back.
If you are not sure about the sapwood remove it and chase a heartwood ring. There is a lot of tension on the back of these bows because of the high crown, with the tension stresses concentrated mostly along the crown. Osage heartwood can surely take these stresses. Sap wood can also if it is sound. At 3 1/5" in diameter you will have to remove the sapwood unless you want a 200#@28" bow! d;^)
I have never decrowned a bow stave and see no reason to do so unless you are going to add a rigid backing.
When you split your pole be sure to secure the halves to a form or they may take too much reflex and twist. I would rather add the reflex I want then depend on natural reflex.
What I did is sawed the pole in half, added spacers between the 2 halves and bound them back together. This allows air circulation around each half plus let the two keep each other from twisting and taking backset.
Well stickers, I did get your name. So today I glued up 1,000 tooth picks with smooth on. Glued the bow into a 6 inch set shape. Should spit an arrow out around 40 fps:) Gonna put on poplar wood tip over lays and a yellow pine riser. Gonna stain it with black shoe polish paste too. Nutten but the best for you son:) :laughing:
After she cooled a bit I put her back on the tree and pulled to about 8" of tip movement. Tiller looks pretty good to me so far.
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/PatBNC/2inchosagepole002b.jpg)
Thanks for the tips Pat. I cut this myself and sealed the ends so it should be in great shape. Needs to dry some more though, just looking for what direction to go with it before hacking into it. It was too straight to leave on the long downed tree it was growing out of. One side is branchless & the other has several small branches. I may be able to get two bows out of this, one clean & one notty.
Pat,
That is looking real sweet. The contrast between sap and heart wood should look great and if you are able to keep the center line dark wood that will add great character. **** will be well pleased with it; oh look I spell my name with 4*'s :pray:
RB, near the handle there is still a void where the pith was. About 3/16" wide and deep. Yeah, I love the colors and knots in the belly. I wish it were mine! d;^)
What a special bow someone is going to receive.
Very cool!
That looks pretty cool pat. Ive got two sapwood bows ready to work and this might get me moving on em. I love the looks of these bows. I csnt wait to see yours.
Thanks guys. She's coming along good. I haven't braced her yet. She is about 50# at the draw I posted. Once I can brace her and see how the string tracks I'll be able to expedite the process a bit. She's bending so evenly it is mostly long scrapes that I'm doing. Get a little weight off, exercise her good, take a good look, take a little wood off, exercise her...you know the drill.
Time for a little lunch and back to the shop.
I finally got her braced today. Things are lined up pretty good. The string blends in with the belly but if you look close you can see it...
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/PatBNC/2012TGBowTrade2inchosagepole003.jpg)
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/PatBNC/2012TGBowTrade2inchosagepole002-1.jpg)
...and pulled to 23"(@50#)...
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/PatBNC/2012TGBowTrade2inchosagepole004-1.jpg)
sexy
Very nice, Pat.
Lookin' good.That osage is pretty wood.
I have a stave that will be close to that when I start working it. It will be all heartwood but very rounded on the back. How do you handle the middle/handle section of this type of bow? Are you leaving it alone and tillering the limbes only or are you working all the way down? I know there can be problems with a hinge developing on bendy handle bows but yours looks nice and stiff still. So how are you handling the handle?
Nice, Pat. Your progress on that pole is great. It ought to be a shooter and definately unique. The recipient of this one will surely treasure that one.
Brian, I have a 4" handle centered in the stave and 1 1/2" fades. The bend will come right up to the handle when done. I leave that area stiff for now then I'll bring the bend back into the fades. I can feel the handle give a little now when I pull the bow by hand. I'd like to be able to feel that bend right at full draw.
After tillering I will shape the handle somewhat and add a short handle riser made of thick leather set in super glue. This type of handle will bend with the bow.
Thanks Pat. I have a little while to wait untill mine is ready to work but I will try and be patient. Yours makes me feel good about the stave and its sister. How long is yours? Mine will only work out to be about 60" NTN after I cut off a small end check. I hope to get 50#@28" what do you think. Would you do anything different if that was your goal. If I need to build a lighter, shorter draw bow that is fine as well but I would rather it be good for me.
Trout
With a high crown like these pole bows have you should have your 60" bow bend through the handle for a 28" draw. I would flip the tips a bit too to help with the string angle.
Looking good Pat.
Thanks Kris.
I backed her with rawhide today. I feel better about it with the high crown although there is no indication there will be a problem. I'll probably add snake skins later too.
Here are a few pics of the rawhide backing...
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/PatBNC/rawhidebacking010.jpg)
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/PatBNC/rawhidebacking001a.jpg)
I decided to go around this knot with the rawhide instead of cutting the knot off and going over it.I used a rubber band wrap to secure the rawhide around the knot until the glue dries...
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/PatBNC/rawhidebacking004a.jpg)
That gonna be so cool!
Pat I love snake skins :D
Man, that's looking great Pat!
QuoteOriginally posted by Stiks-n-Strings:
Pat I love snake skins :D
I'm wif Kris Send it to me.
This morning the rawhide was hard so I rasped the excess rawhide from the belly and sanded the edges smooth...
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/PatBNC/leatherhandleriser001.jpg)
Next I added shoe leather handle riser. I traced the handle area on the precut shoe leather and cvut it out on the bandsaw...
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/PatBNC/leatherhandleriser002.jpg)
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/PatBNC/leatherhandleriser003.jpg)
I tapered both ends on the belt sander so the leather riser fades into the limb. It is lots easy now then once it is glued down...
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/PatBNC/leatherhandleriser004.jpg)
Then I soak the leather in warm water until it becomes pliable...
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/PatBNC/leatherhandleriser007.jpg)
Once the leather is pliable I take it out of the water and blot off the excess water. I now add the glue to both the leather and the belly of the bow. I decided to use TBIII for its water proof properties.You can see the center pith where the riser goes. The riser will cover it.
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/PatBNC/leatherhandleriser008.jpg)
Once I mput the pieces together I wrap with cloth strips and rubber bands and set it near the wood stove to dry...
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/PatBNC/leatherhandleriser009.jpg)
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/PatBNC/leatherhandleriser010.jpg)
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/PatBNC/47inchyewmodocKeenan012.jpg)
I cut out and shaped up the handle area a bit. I decided to add another piece of leather to fill out the handle. After it dried well over night I shaped the whole handle riser on my belt sander then saturated it with super glue. The super glue firms up the leather so I can get a good smooth finish on it. If necessary I can add more glue and sand smooth. It will have a really cool look to it when done...and it will flex with the bow. I'm planning to use leather for the tip overlays agso. Same process!
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/PatBNC/2012TGBowTrade2inchosagepole004c.jpg)
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/PatBNC/2012TGBowTrade2inchosagepole003c.jpg)
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/PatBNC/leatherhandleriser001a.jpg)
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/PatBNC/leatherhandleriser003a.jpg)
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/PatBNC/leatherhandleriser004a.jpg)
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/PatBNC/leatherhandleriser005a.jpg)
I done a bow with the leather tip like your talking about Pat and it does look sweet
I got her to first brace. She looks pretty good to me. The string tracks well and the bends are even. I have pulled her to 22" now and she pulls about 50# at that draw. A few more scrapes and she'll be ready to shoot. I can't wait!!! Here she is at low brace(5" from the back)...
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/PatBNC/2012TGBowTrade2inchosagepole001d.jpg)
...and looking down her length. You can see the string is tracking pretty good...
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/PatBNC/2012TGBowTrade2inchosagepole003d.jpg)
It's gonna be a sweet bow Pat!
Send me a couple pics of your wood bunrner. What's the river rock sitting on it for?
Hunting season is about gone so I'm on here trying to get inspired so I can get to harvesting some osage and making some bows. Your posts are helping with that very much.
Joe, she'll be almost as sweet as Flip Flop! I'm very please with the outcome so far.
Its that time of the year Joe so get on the stick!(literally)
You want pics of my wood stove? It is a Fisher Momma Bear, about 35 years old or so.
Looks great pat. I can't wait to shoot it
Here you go Joe. The critters on the wood pile are a few of my wife's paper mache projects. Don't worry, they don't bite!
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/PatBNC/woodstove001.jpg)
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/PatBNC/woodstove002.jpg)
Just like on the porch we have redneck hardscape on the wood stove too. d;^)
Looking sweet Pat.
The olde stoves a real beaut! Thanks for the extra time and pics Pat!!
Pat, when you "saturate" with super glue, how much glue?
Great bow.
Pat that is really interesting handle.
My grand parents had that same stove in there house when I was growing up.
No problem Joe. This stove is our primary heat. It does a good job at heating our 2000sqft house.
Wait til you see the tip overlays, Kelly.
Red, until it won't take more. It really doesn't penetrate a bunch. After I smoothed it with a rasp I found places I'll have to reapply.
Nice looking bow!!
Lookong good pat. Those rocks can be handy for lots of stuff.
Thermal mass, DVS!
I added leather tip overlays and shaped the tips and overlays. One tip was off a bit so I shielded the leather tip and rawhide with aluminum foil and gingerly heated and straightened it.
I have her tillered out to 50#@26". I braced her to her regular brace height and left her to "sweat" for a few hours. Then I went out and shot about 15 arrows. She has a bit of hand shock at my 26" draw but whenm I stretched out the shock was lessoned.
Here is a pic of the tip with thr raw leather added...
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/PatBNC/2012TGBowTrade2inchosagepole002-2.jpg)
...and the overlay shaped...
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/PatBNC/2012TGBowTrade2inchosagepole004-2.jpg)
Here she is at her regular brace height...
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/PatBNC/2012TGBowTrade2inchosagepole001e.jpg)
...and from the end...
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/PatBNC/2012TGBowTrade2inchosagepole002e.jpg)
and after sweating for 2 hours and shooting 15 arrows here is what she looks like just unbraced...
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/PatBNC/2012TGBowTrade2inchosagepole004e.jpg)
not too shabby for a lil' old 2" osage pole!
Thats a great looking bow there Pat. One of these days I'll be able to do something that nice.
I was getting a bit of hand shock so I re-shaped the tips to eliminate some of the physical tip weight...
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/PatBNC/2012TGBowTrade2ginchosagepole004.jpg)
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/PatBNC/2012TGBowTrade2einchosagepole005.jpg)
She is now tillered out to 28" and just over desired draw weight...
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/PatBNC/2012TGBowTrade2finchosagepole003.jpg)
The cave type drawings on this bow will be similar to these...
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/PatBNC/Tradgangtradebow001-1.jpg)
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/PatBNC/Tradgangtradebow002-1.jpg)
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/PatBNC/Tradgangtradebow003-1.jpg)
Pat
What type of ink are you using on the rawhide and then how will you finish the bow, tru-oil?
Looks great. Very inspiring work.
India ink and Tru-Oil, Brian.
Great bow, turning out very nice. Now I know what to do with that osage pole in the garage, thanks.
Really nice Pat.....wasn't many days ago that was just a stick.
NICE!!!!!
Pat you are one of the master artisans on this site. I know and this swap proves they are many such artisans. But still I am always impressed with your work.
Thanks so much guys. I just do what I do. When I started building wood bows there were very few guys doing it. Just seeing how many folks are interested and involved gives me a big thrill. Being part of it all is a bigger thrill!
nice
Pat, I still don't understand (even after a 1/2 doz bows) how you tiller out a bow and get no set. Great bow.
your bow is coming along mr pat. i like the cave drawings on the rawhide. it looks sweet. rv
Slow and steady wins the race, Ranger. Once I hit floor tiller I use nothing but a scraper to tiller the bow. 20 to 30 scrapes, lots of exercising but not beyond draw weight and back to scraping. I put lots of hours doing it this way and since I started doing it this way my bows have come out better.
Thanks Ruddy.
Dang, a guy blinks around here and he misses something !!!
Way cool bow and build-a-long Pat... I love the cave paintings and the leather use!!!
I guess it's ok, Pat. LOL, very cool bow.
:clapper:
Coming from you Roy, that is a compliment! d;^)
Thanks, Kip.
Gonna be a sweet one Pat. Did taking some mass off the tips reduce the shock?
I haven't shot it since, Kris. I will shoot her tomorrow. I need to put a lot of arrows through her. I'll get a finish on her soon too.
The gang is building some great trade bows but this one is really turning out great.
Just excellent Pat.....just like always.... :thumbsup: :notworthy:
Won't be long now!
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/PatBNC/almostdone.jpg)
Please Lord put my name under that tape........Thats just my size to!
Very nice Pat as always.
HOW IN HECK DID I MISS THIS?
Saw mention of it in another post and had to look for it!
A great bow by a great bowyer. I now have it, by some chance.
Thanks again Pat!! :notworthy:
How's she holding up, Kenny. I'm always curious about how my kids are doing! d;^)
Now you know what she's made of!
Cool build!! To tell the truth, I haven't had much time to shoot any bows.
Maybe when I get my planting all done, I'll have a bit more time.
I plan on taking game with it this year sometime tho!! :archer: