ok got my stave laid out and tried to follow the grain down the middle of the stave, pin oak doesnt seem to have a definite grain that you can follow on the back. one limb will have to be straightened, but drawn out it looks weird to me. what do yall think?
the bow will be 65" ntn, 5" handle w/ 2 1/2" fade outs, limbs are 2" wide and stay straight for 12" then taper down to 1/2" tips.
its hard to see the lines on one of the pics.
(http://i432.photobucket.com/albums/qq50/bbs383ci/IMG_1515.jpg) (http://i432.photobucket.com/albums/qq50/bbs383ci/IMG_1508.jpg)
I'm doing a hickory stave right now and have the same problem, I couldn't see the grain well enough on the back. So I left it wide and flattened the belly evenly and looked for grain direction there. Draw a line up the belly and lay out the width.
Ill try that tomorrow, ill put it on the band saw and start whittling on it.
Thanks for the advice
Pm sent