checking and string follow

[vampire]

I'm a beginner and need a glossary of terms for the "Bowyer's Bible vol 1". What is the meaning of "checking" and "string follow"? Someone explained "set" already.

I have my first hickory partice bow almost ready to tiller, but like another guy, I have a large amount of deflex on one limb. I have not streamed it yet.

It has been fun building this first bow, but it sort of like putting a puzzle together without a the box top.

[Nim-rod]

"Checking" means cracks on the belly that run across the bow and happens when that spot bends too much and compresses the wood there beyond what it can take. "String follow" is when the bow is un-strung and the bow is still bent as if it were still strung (varied amounts).
Steam first then tiller later otherwise you might ruin your tiller job (from what I hear anyways). Good luck and post pics!

[don s]

checking is cracks or spliits in staves or billits. they happen if you don't seal the ends of your logs as soon as you cut the tree down. very important to seal the ends of the log. you also should seal the back if you remove the bark. they are caused because the wood is drying too fast. the cracks that happen on belly wood due to compression are called chrysals, not checking. don

[don s]

oh yeah you asked about string follow too. it is different than set. lets say you build a bow and it has 2 inches of reflex in it. after you shoot the bow in, it holds 1 inch of deflex when unstrung. your bow now has 3 inches of set and 1 inch of string follow. if the same bow had settled in where the limbs were straight after being unstrung. you would have 2 inches of set and zero string follow. don

[John Scifres]

Checking is caused by faster drying (and therefore shrinking) on the outside of wood than the inside.  The outside shrinks and separates at the grain.

Checking can be controlled by sealing wood and therefore minimizing the differences in drying/shrinking between the inside and the outside of the wood.  You can also thin wood to near bow dimension (I like 5/8" thick) and thereby minimizing the amount of inside wood.

You can cause checking if you steam unsealed dry wood and then let the surface dry too quickly.  These are usually pretty shallow surface checks and usually don't cause a structural problem.  But they can be ugly.

[vampire]

Thanks guys, I knew I could count on you. George

[vampire]

Thanks for the info guys.