string alignment

[youngbowyer33]

i was making an elm elb from a sapling about 2"wide, and it wasn't perfectly straight. so i found the center line then marked out the bow.the rough shaping for the sides is pretty much done, but there are a few problems. the first problem is that since i didn't use the middle of the sapling for the entire bow, Ive got corners of the semi-circle stave at the tips and the handle it is pretty much a quarter of the log. i was going to use under the bark for the back, but that doesn't work now, so I'm flattening the back, and hopefully that will work with a backing. but the other problem is that the stave has or was drawn with a curve to the side, along the length of the entire bow, sort of like this (    . i put the bow on the ground on its side with the curved ends pointing up, and measured the curve at the ends just like i would for string follow(except on the side), and it is a little bit under 2" on both sides. So finally my question is how can i fix my second problem, the curve?thanks, i hope this makes sense, if no please tell me.

[George Tsoukalas]

I don't understand why you are decrowning. It is difficult to do. Not as easy as it sounds and is usually not necessary. Just leave the bow an inch or 2 longer than usual. Does the string fall on what will be the handle area?
http://georgeandjoni.home.comcast.net/~georgeandjoni/

[youngbowyer33]

its hard to explain, im decrowning because the surface on the back of the bow changes in shape because it was cut out of different sections of the log. And the string does not fall on what will be the handle, rather the string is off by one side by almost 2"

[Little John]

I guess I don't understand why you did not use the centerline if the sapling for the whole bow or why the bow requires decrowning. I did decrown the only pole bow I made because I wanted it to be a flat bow design. The side bend will have to be bent out and I am no expert on the subject, My osage pole bow also had this side bend and I straightened it with a heat gun and side pressure. Hpoefully some one with more experience will chime in.   Kenneth

[George Tsoukalas]

 You mean one limb starts off higher than the other? Can you show some pics? I'm still confused. Jawge

[denny]

I think I understand your problem. I would heat the board or bow as you would call it at this point. I would use a space heater ,heat up the end of one limb and compress between two, two x four boards, that are straight. let cool and check out the other side. I use a lot of heat rather steam , however that is another option. It is important to straighten, before you back as the backing will not straightened the bow or won't hold a re-straightend treatment.By the way I would back it with raw hide or the sorts. wood at this time could cause problems in the end tilling process. Hope this helps. Denny