Chasing a very thin ring

[Don Armstrong]

Have been working on a stave with rings about 1/32". Got aggravated and quit a couple of times. Can't seem to get started on one without getting into the one under. Should I throw in the towel or is there a trick I could use. Have made about 4 osage and was able to get one ring but this one is kicking my butt. Don

[George Tsoukalas]

That's a tough one. Best you can do is go to the ring above and use a scraper to get down to it. Back the bow whether you can do it or not. I'd use rawhide. Jawge

[Ryan Yoon]

I've never had to chase rings that thin but like George said, a scraper is a great tool for that. If the wood is coming away that easy you may even be able to just sand it down even though that would take a while.

[Don Armstrong]

Thanks guys, I don't want to give up but I will run out of wood soon   :(   . I am using a scraper and a drawknife. Don

[Pat B]

I love thin ringed osage. It seems to have good recovery speed.  I do the best I can at chasing a ring and rawhide back it! Made lots of these and most have survived. d;^)

[getstonedprimitivebowhunt]

....heck ... Its fun on them thin rings.

[John Scifres]

I save thin ringed wood like that for my sinew backed bows.  Do your best and then back it like Pat says above.  They are definitely fast and won't follow the string as much as fat-ringed wood.  

One trick if you're making a rigid handled bow is to start at the handle and chase a ring on each limb separately.  That way if you violate the ring, it will only be on half the bow.

[Dublin Joe]

Jim Hamm says to use a dull drawknife; if yours is sharp try dulling it.

Joel

[SEMO_HUNTER]

I made my own drawknife out of an old lawn mower blade and put the handles more straight out like a rolling pin with about a 45deg. angle on it. That allows me to draw/cut, but also use straight up and down to scrape. It works great for scraping and I can work down a ring fairly quick, but when I get close like one thin ring above the one I'm chasing I switch over to a long fillet knife and scrape easy as she goes from there.

I know what you are saying about Osage. The knot areas are the worst and sometimes the rings start out big and maybe 1/8" thick on one end, but when you get to the other end you can hardly see the seperations. It's a real chore, but keep working at it, it'll get there.

I'm getting ready to start roughing in another one this morning, so I'll be in your boat soon enough Don.
Good Luck!

[Eric Krewson]

I have chased rings on hundreds of osage staves and am pretty good at it. One like you describe may take me 8 hrs and several "start overs".

[Tom Leemans]

I once read where you could scrape,plow, whatever, a trough down the center so your target ring is basically a stripe down the center,like a creek at the bottom of a shallow valley, then carefully remove the surrounding hillsides.

[horseapple]

I actually like tite growth rings, I would recommend seeing if you can find a small drawknife and use it turned upside down, I have 4 small Pexto brand drawknives, the blades are only 4 inches and the handles are round and usually red in color, sometimes you can find one on the big auction site.

[horseapple]

One other thing I do alot is to lay your bow shape out, bandsaw it to shape then all you have is the outline to chase down to one ring.

[Don Armstrong]

Well Eric was right. It took about 8 hours and several "do overs" but I got it to one ring. I worked 12 hours last night and try to stay up on my last midnight. I came home, drank a cup of coffee and started chasing a ring at about 9:30. I stopped to eat a couple egg and bacon sandwiches and went back to chasing. It's 5:01 and I have it on a caul hot and clamped straight. Thanks for all the encouragement. I was ready to give up. Don

[DCM]

When I was still building I tried to keep the perspective that the process was what was important, more so than the product.  Another way to say I enjoy building a whole lot more than owning some number of already finished bows.  So when I got to the end of a trying task, like you have, I would feel good the task was done and done well, but slightly disappointed I didn't still have that challenge ahead of me.  Of course as you know this craft always has the next challenge lurking, waiting for you.

[Don Armstrong]

DCM, I couldn't have said it any better. That summed it all up. Don