Hey guys this is my first layout on an osage stave. Real clean piece of wood but it has a hump in the middle of the limb. I think I followed the grain correctly.

What do you think????

              http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/x344/bowhntineverythingnh03743/100_0720.jpg  

             http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/x344/bowhntineverythingnh03743/100_0721.jpg

That's the correct way to do it Justin. Just follow that grain around the knot whichever way it flows, just like water around a rock in a stream. Best I can tell from pictures, it looks like you got it nailed pretty good, but it's hard for me to say unless I can hold the stave up at an angle in the light. That tiny little grain is a bugger to see and sometimes I have to hold a flashlight on edge against the stave while I trace it with my pencil.

Just use your rasp and go easy when filing in close to the curves of the grain. At least your thinking in the right direction and your on the right track.

Thanks Chris... this is a side view of the stave. It has a hollow where the guy I bought it off of must have split it and then cut it with a saw. It seems like there is plenty of meat still there to use. I just got to be careful thinning it out and when it comes to tillering

 http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/x344/bowhntineverythingnh03743/100_0724.jpg

Another thing... How do you scrape small pin knots... I drew my drawknife over one  accidently and then had to scrape around it.

That divet that you see is where the knot was when the stave was split. It's the grain actually growing around the knot. That's pretty typical and I get that all the time. You just try and work around it gently and do your best not to grab too much meat with your draw knife when you get close to it. I normally just use my rasp when I get close to an area like that and go slow, cause it's too easy to make a big mistake with a draw knife on places like that. Don't worry though, it will tiller out just fine.
Just take your time, and use lots of patience.

For pin knots I work up close to them, then just go around and keep on chasing my ring. Then I'll come back to them later and finish chasing the ring up the side of the knot with my scraper. It's like scraping dirt up an ant hill, just keep working up the slope and push the ring off the top. Try not to cut the tops off when your on the ring you intend to keep, cause it could check on you at the knot area if you slice the top off.

Never drawknife over a pin knot.  Just work up to it then work around it with a scraper.  It should be left raised and intact like a island.  Can take a while to scrape one in correctly.  And it does take practice.

For knots you should scrape from the center out all sides. Leave them proud until the very end. It is tedious work.

Take a pair of scissors apart and use one half.  The tip is great for working around pin knots.  You can do very precise scraping with the point.

Looks like you followed it pretty good to me. I built one awhile back that had a big chunk out of the side like you got there. The stave was really narrow and I wasnt sure if I was going to have enough wood in that spot but it turned out pretty good. Heres a pic.
 

Here's one I just had to work around recently also. This was the only anomoly on the entire stave and it landed smack in the upper 1/3 of the top limb. It tillered out just fine though.

Ok guys...I did more work today on the bow. I know the handle isn't perfectly in line yet but I don't want to take off any more wood until I start to floor tiller. Next is to put some reflex in it but I need to build a caul... Anyways here are some pictures... Any advise or comments are more than welcome... Thanks Justin

Lookin good. Looks like that limb with the whoop- di-do has some natural deflex in it. That can make tillering a little tricky on that limb, make sure to keep your thickness taper even or it might get overstrained in that spot.

Man, that's looking good!

Thanks guys... Got to work on the bow some more tonight. Ended up making a steam pipe and puting it on a form for the first time. Here are some more pictures



My wife commented as she came into the kitchen and saw this... her direct quote "your a dork" lol

That's hilarious...pretty much what my wife would have said. Lookin good!

Quote

My wife commented as she came into the kitchen and saw this... her direct quote "your a dork" lol

Should have told her it's a popcorn gun    :D

So I did some more work on the bow tonight. I am starting the floor tillering but I am going at it really cautiously. I don't want to get a hinge were that bend is in mid limb.... What do you guys think??? Any suggestions

 

 

 

 http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/x344/bowhntineverythingnh03743/100_0752.jpg

 http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/x344/bowhntineverythingnh03743/100_0753.jpg

Your going at it just like you should Justin, take your time and think about everything your doing before getting ahead of yourself.

At this point I would suggest using only a scraper and a palm sander. Use the scraper to take off more wood till you get it knocked down some then switch over to the palm sander if you have one. That palm sander keeps the limbs nice and flat/uniform from side to side and throught from fade to tip. I made my prettiest bow to date when I started using a palm sander for tillering.
You can start out with a heavy grit like 120 or 150 to take off more material, then drop down to about a 180-200 grit the closer you get to your target wt. and take off just a little at a time.

If you don't have a gizmo......make one! This is your best friend when tillering a flat profile longbow like your holding there in your hands. You will be glad you did.

Good luck and check in here as often as you need to. Lots of great guys and great minds here.

Ok.... one question

1.) What the heck is a gizmo?

I know that I need to still take off a little more wood because the limbs are still kind of stiff. I have only been using a scraper now and will continue with that. Good call on the palm sander as well.

I need to make a tillering tree this weekend so that will be the project going on.

Thanks Chris

Search Eric;s Gizmo on here and you will see what Chris is talking about, its a lifesaver.