Self bow from saw saw cut timber

Sqirrely · March 09, 2012, 07:37:00 PM

Hey all , it's been a while since I've posted.I have this piece of osage , and was wondering if I could make a bow from it . Most build a longs are from staves so I'm not sure how I would get the bow out of the piece .

The dimensions are 2'' by 14'' by 7 1/2 '
Thanks

PEARL DRUMS · March 09, 2012, 08:33:00 PM

Make as many 3/4 x 2 x 36 slats as you can. Looks to be 15-20 bows there.

psychmonky · March 09, 2012, 08:53:00 PM

Wow that board is....seasoned lol.

Pearl nailed it. Splice the slats at the handle and then back it with boo or hickory. That's enough wood to keep you busy for a while.

fujimo · March 09, 2012, 09:23:00 PM

if the board is 7 1/2' long- why would you make "billets", and just not long boards- 3/4 by 2- jus askin- cos i dont know the answer!
or maybe its short slats- so they are easier to ship out to all of us :D

Sqirrely · March 09, 2012, 10:03:00 PM

Thanks for the replys , but I should've been more specific , I want to make a self bow not a laminated one. Do I just cut the blank out or is there another way I should go abot it ?

fujimo · March 09, 2012, 11:58:00 PM

without looking at the rings on the back ( outer side of the tree) side of the board, its hard to tell from here- but if you could chase a ring on the"back" and there was still enough material on your belly, then in theory you could trace a center line- draw out a pattern and cut out, and build a self bow- but the chances of that are reduced when you cut lumber from a log- unless you had that in mind and cut parralell to the outer bark/ edge of the log.

you might be better off, cutting slats out of the board, and trading them for a stave or staves- depending how highly people value the slats.

okie64 · March 10, 2012, 12:17:00 AM

Its hard to say just by lookin at the pic but it looks like the outside of the tree is the right side in the pic. So if thats the case you could chase a ring on that side and then cut it to whatever depth you want depending on what kind of bow you want to make. After you cut that bow out chase another ring and do it all over again until you run out of wood. You should be able to get 5-6 bows out of it doin it that way. The only problem you might run into is having enough width while following the vertical grain. If the tree has pretty straight grain you wont have a problem but if its snakey you could have issues.

okie64 · March 10, 2012, 12:19:00 AM

Its hard to say just by lookin at the pic but it looks like the outside of the tree is the right side in the pic. So if thats the case you could chase a ring on that side and then cut it to whatever depth you want depending on what kind of bow you want to make. After you cut that bow out chase another ring and do it all over again until you run out of wood. You should be able to get 5-6 bows out of it doin it that way. The only problem you might run into is having enough width while following the vertical grain. If the tree has pretty straight grain you wont have a problem but if its snakey you could have issues.

PEARL DRUMS · March 10, 2012, 08:03:00 AM

I thoughgt about that too okie. Who know what way the grain went before the sawmill got ahold of it.

Bowjunkie · March 10, 2012, 08:27:00 AM

In my opinion, a selfbow MIGHT be possible. But that thing's got some issues.

Following the grain is an important consideration, and since it was sawed across the grain, not hand split WITH the grain, you may have issues there. It doesn't appear to be a clear piece, so I'm guessing the grain is doing some funky stuff.

By looking at the picture, there are other concerns as well... by looking at the end of the board, the outer growth rings appear to be leaning, i.e. not perpendicular to the sawed sides. If you were dead set on making a selfbow with it, I would stand that big board up in a vice, and remove the sapwood with a drawknife and scraper down to a single heartwood ring. Then you'd have a better idea of how the curvature of the potential selfbow's back ran, and you could see the grain in the newly revealed growth ring to know if a selfbow was even still possible. If not, I'd probably seek the clearest section long enough for 36-40" quartersawn slats, and then splice them together and back them with hickory or bamboo.

But to be honest, that board looks kind of rough. I don't know if there is enough good clean wood in there for slats either. There appear to be several big knots in there, and is that a big crack in the middle of the board or a saw mark? I gotta keep telling myself it is 7.5' long and that there's a lot of wood there... but I just don't know. Can you take pictures of the bottom, right side, and close-ups of the ends?

What is the history of this piece? How was it dried, stored, cared for?