Privet Stave no good?

[CherokeeKC]

heres the stave i got from the privet log.  i debarked and didnt look to have crooked grain to me so i tried splitting it.  it went good until about half way down the log when it hit a big knot and went around that then it split off course.  So i tried splitting from the other end to meet and that started to go off course so i finished up with the circular saw.  i cut/split the log this way so as to get a stave with no knots.  my question is if there is a way to straighten this stave out before i lay the bow out on it?  As of now i would have to go with a 55 or so inch bow to lay it out straight on this crooked stave.  Let me know your thoughts or if i should just get some more wood.

[Del the cat]

You might just about squeeze a flat bow out of it, it you bend it at the handle region maybe?
I'd mark out with two straight limbs but at an angle to each other, then narrow the handle area and try to steam bend it to line up the limbs.
If it doesn't work then you haven't wasted to much work tillering it.
Sometimes it's the challenging stave that you have nothing to lose by trying that work out the best... It also lets you try new techniques without the fear of ruining a 'good' stave.
Fortune favours the brave.
Del

[JW_Halverson]

I've worked with enough curvy wood that when I look at that piece I think, "Finally...something easy". 

Scrape your one growth ring out fine and sand a little to help show the grain.  Now get up at the buttcrack of dawn over the next few days and sit out on the step with a pencil and draw out the center line of the stave and draw in your limb profiles.  (When the sun is at a low angle and you sight down the limbs the grain just jumps out at you!)  After a few mornings of looking that grain up and down and playing with laying out the bow you will KNOW just where it is going to lie.  Shape your sides, take the belly down to where you are almost ready to floor tiller and then get back to us for some tutoring on heat straightening. 

I think that's a nice looking piece of privet and have a strong feeling there is a bow in there waiting for you.

[sonny]

My concern is that if you narrow the handle section before the wood has a chance to dry that it's possible, and
even likely that the stave will warp even more......I'd put it aside for the winter months.
 
simply food for thought.

[CherokeeKC]

Just to clear some things up this is my first bow.  Also sonny it has dried for over a year so its good to go.  Im also planning on a Cherokee style flat bow bend in the handle.  JW so are you recommending just make it to what length will "fit" in the stave?

Del if I was to try it that way what would be the max safe angle you would make the limbs offset so that i could steam them straight?  Iv never steamed anything so i dont know how much you can bend the wood.

[Pat B]

In general I would make a bow as long and wide as possible because it is a wood I'm not familiar with for bows. I would mark out the bow on the stave as it is by following the grain and reduce that to floor tiller stage. At this point I would try to straighten out the twist and bends. I'm not sure which heating method(dry or wet) would work best for privet. If I had to steam it I would first seal the back and ends with shellac. Shellac can handle the heat and moisture and not let that moisture enter the wood. If dry heat I would liberally coat the wood with cooking oil to prevent scorching.
  A wood bow will shoot fine with some twist in it. You can actually tiller the twist out by making one side weaker than the other.
  If this is your first bow you might opt to set it aside until you have a few bows under your belt. This is going to be a difficult bow to build and at times like this the frustration factor can squelch your passion to build a bow. Find an easier stave or a board, learn how to tiller and how to see proper tiller before jumping on an iffy project like this privet stave. I guess the reason you haven't gotten much input on this bow is because very few folks have made bows from privet.

[CherokeeKC]

Thanks for the advice guys!  Pat if i was to go ahead and mark the bow out following the grain then one side of the bow is gonna be longer than the other side right?  I guess you just mark the ends perpendicular to the grain and whatever side lengths you get from that is what you have?

[Pat B]

Move the center line(of the bow) over so it fits better into the stave. You still have to follow the grain though.

[Del the cat]

Just to clear some things up this is my first bow.  Also sonny it has dried for over a year so its good to go.  Im also planning on a Cherokee style flat bow bend in the handle.  JW so are you recommending just make it to what length will "fit" in the stave?

Del if I was to try it that way what would be the max safe angle you would make the limbs offset so that i could steam them straight?  Iv never steamed anything so i dont know how much you can bend the wood.

You can bend a heck of an angle I've just straightend the most obsinate bit of Yew I've ever met. If I had to put a figure on it I'd guess at 45 degrees, but I'm open to bribery negotiaton.
The bend on that stave is no problemo... it's still a bit of a knack/trial and error to get it right, which is why it's better to do it early when you have some leeway in the limb shaping. If you leave it to when the limbs are shaped you'll need to be more accurate. You can also steam in some recurve at the same time and maybe steam some rice and cod at the same time
Del

[JW_Halverson]

While you can certainly limit the bow to the straightest section of the stave, I recommend using steam or dry heat to straighten the stave once you are down to floor tillering.  It really doesn't look like any drastic bends, more slow gentle bends that are pretty easy to deal with. 

[CherokeeKC]

OK thanks again guys!  I will pick the best grain line to follow and draw a center line and then lay out a rough profile and shape it.  I will probably have to ask some more questions when i get to the steam bend part.  Is there a section in the TBB volumes about steam bending?  I just got all four volumes and im only about a 1/4 done with the first volume.

[JW_Halverson]

After 7 years I am almost halfway thru the chapter on design in TBB I.   

[CherokeeKC]

haha yeh that was a tough one!  It took me about 3 or 4 days to get through that but the excitement of just getting the books pushed me through.  I learned a lot from that chapter though!