4H Senior Project Help

[John Scifres]

I am helping a young man out with his 4H Senior Project to build a wooden selfbow.  This weekend, we met at my family's lakehouse in Western IN to find a suitable tree.  We ended up with a 6" hickory that yielded enough for 4 bows, 2 from the butt end and 2 from the next 6' section.  Michael and I split the butt end and he is working one stave while I am doing the other half.  We are doing this instruction remotely since he lives an hour away.  After I got the piece home, my youngest daughter tells me she wants to learn to make a bow.  We have started this in the past but the projects waned for one reason or another.  So Lainey is learning along with Michael.

Here is my half, peeled of the bark, coated with wood glue, and ready to start.  The first goal is to get it down to the smallest size I am comfortable with to let it start to dry.  We are planning to get this done in 6 weeks.

I start by squaring off the ends.

 

 

Measure and cut to overall length of 68".
 

Mark Center from end to end.
 

Mark centerline along the entire length using a weighted string.

 

[John Scifres]

Lay out the bow.


   

 

Cut it out wide.
 
   
 
 

[John Scifres]

Scribe a line for a 5/8" thickness.
 

Cut to thickness.  Carefull not to go to deep on the bottom.  Angle the stave a bit as you cut.

 
 
   

[John Scifres]

Clamp it in reflex to a strong board and then wrap with thick packing tape.

   
 
  http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r607/jdscifres/Laines%20Bow/DSC00269.jpg

Store it in a coolish place, like my garage or a basement for 2 weeks.  Then we'll stick it i n the attic for anotehr week or so before we start working it.

[KenH]

Boy, talk about a Safety Fail!!  Please

DO NOT TEACH YOUR CHILDREN, OR ANYONE ELSE'S THAT IT IS SMART, SAFE, OR INTELLIGENT TO WORK IN A WOODSHOP WHILE BAREFOOT AND WEARING SHORTS!!!!!!!

Not to mention your lack of eye protection.

[John Scifres]

I knew as soon as I posted that someone who is smarter, safer, and more intelligent than me would bring that up.  Thanks for the constructive criticism.

[Dano]

God gifted John with more than just brains!! Nice start buddy!!

[Roy from Pa]

Dano?
How the heck are you doing?

Very nice, John.

[Buemaker]

Dano, good to hear from you again. Bue--.        

[John Scifres]

Holy crap Dano, how you been my old friend?  How's Nevada?

[mikkekeswick]

KenH - wearing modern shoes wreaks your joints. You should look into the benefits of being barefoot they massively outweigh the risk of dropping something on your foot. At the end of the day if you do drop something then its your fault for being careless. Wearing 'safety' gear promotes being careless to a degree. Obviously all jobs aren't the same but...
John - Good on you for passing the craft onto other people.

[takefive]

Looks like a nice stave, John.  Also looks like you laid it out to keep the big knots off the bow?
No safety tips from me.  Sometimes when I can't get the bow I'm working on off my mind, I get out of bed and sneak down to the basement in my underwear.  No power tools, though, just a rasp, scraper, and sandpaper at that point.  

[Roy from Pa]

Greg, it didn't happen without pictures.
LOL

[takefive]

Believe me Roy, nobody wants to see that.  

[PEARL DRUMS]

John I wear Crocs in the shop to protect my feet  

[John Scifres]

I seriously considered a blurred out a$H shot and saying this is how I normally work in the shop but I dressed up for the pics     I figgered that would be the last straw in getting kicked off of TG.  But I am better than that - hehehe.

I hope KenH doesn't take this the wrong way.  I'm mostly funnin'.  He's right of course.  Maybe a disclaimer will do.  I did that one time in the past when I was called out for something perceived to be unsafe.

DISCLAIMER:  You are responsible for your own safety.  I bleed a lot.  The most common alarm around here is "Mom...Dad's bleedin' again!"  Don't be like me kids.

There.  That should do it  

[Dano]

Hi Bue, John Nevada is hot about now. Doing fine, I help out in a local gun store here, I love the speed of these weapons!!

[Paul/KS]

Dano! Wow, now there's a "blast from the past"...
Good to see you posting.I was thinking about you when I was down at OJAM in March. Hope all is well.

[Dano]

Hi Paul, been missing ya'all too

[KenH]

Hey, John.  It's a tough job, but somebody's gotta do it.  If you were Howard Hill or Fred Bear, I'd still call you on safety;  I'd had a couple woodworking friends who weren't being safe, who are now known as Lefty and Stubby.  We don't need any more nine-fingered, three-toed, one-eyed bowyers.

The famous gunsmith Parker Ackley, a friend from the old days, lopped the tips off of four fingers with a hand-held router he was using to round-over a 4x4 post.  Just for a second, he forgot his left hand was holding on to the post as he ran the router up the far corner....