problems with chasing a ring. Need help!

[youngbowyer]

I started chasing a ring today on an osage stave using my drawknife and it has taken me 1 1/2 hours to chase 5 inches. I start at the end of the stave and work my way down. Am i doing anything wrong? Another thing is, i use a drawknife for this and it is removing wood like a scraper even if i put a lot of pressure into it. The edge is razor sharp but it wont shave the wood, it just scrapes it. Any advice?

[Pat B]

Start working on the end nearest you and go out 6" to 8" and remove the ring back towards yourself. When that is done go out another 6" to 8" and do the same and continue to the middle of the stave then start on the other end. Looks like you have about half done from the pic.
  I use a draw kinfe with the bevel down. I can control the depth by rocking it back or forward. If the rings aren't too thick I try to follow the early wood under the ring. You can feel and hear the difference between the early and late wood. Don't try to get too much at once though. It can easily tear out through to the next ring. 
  My draw knives are relatively dull and I have no problems(except the regular ones  ) chasing a ring on osage. It is probably the angle that you are holding the blade to the wood.

[youngbowyer]

thanks pat!

[nclonghunter]

That stave has some tight rings. What you have scraped looks good to me. I would have to guess that you are holding the drawknife at or to near a 90 degree angle to keep it scraping rather than cutting. With those rings as close as they are, I would be careful lowering the edge and cutting rather than scraping. Looking down the length of the stave it also looks (to me) that the ring you are chasing is about five rings down. The top four rings you could take a little more bite to remove, but again be extremely careful when getting close to the fifth ring, then go back to scraping. One ring is a lot easier to scrape off than five.

I have a flat bar of metal that is about a 1/4 inch thick and three inches wide and maybe 12 inches long with sharp square edges. The square edge makes a great scraper for chasing the last ring. Having a real sharp drawknife is scary on the last ring in my opinion.

I have not made many self bows, so others may have a different approach. Just my 1 cent worth.

Good Luck

[gstoneberg]

Nice looking osage.

I do it the same as Pat.  It's a learned skill, you'll pick up speed as you get experience.  The guys that just learned in my shop took a couple Saturday afternoons to do their bows.  Eventually they (and you) will be able to go much faster.  It isn't a race, take your time and if it starts to frustrate you take a break.  The end result is worth it.

Good luck my friend.

George

[youngbowyer]

thanks george. I saw a guy on youtube start at the handle and go back like that. Anyone ever try that before.
I'm getting a spokeshave some time this week, might be easier to use for chasing a ring, i'll just take my time.

[Pat B]

Will you post another pic of the end grain showing the rings.  From what I can see I would go to the first ring I uncovered cleanly. I don't like to chase too many rings if I can help it.

[youngbowyer]

i had to go down several rings to get rid of borer damage. Ill post a pic in a minute

[George Tsoukalas]

See my site for some info. Jawge
http://georgeandjoni.home.comcast.net/~georgeandjoni/

[gstoneberg]

It's my fault Pat, I gave him 2 staves to play with.  One I took down to a growth ring and I believe I went down 7 heartwood rings.  The other one he wanted to use his new draw knife on.  It isn't the easiest wood to learn on.  But, if he masters this, most of the rest of the osage he'll see will seem pretty easy.

George

[Stringman]

I'm by no means an expert, but as they say, "its all in the wrist!" My technique,once mastered, makes short work of ring chasin. That havin been said, I also aggree that this is not a race. But let's face it we all like to see results and my experience (30or 40 osage bows) is that this is a part of the process one can get through quickly, and then spend time on the details.

I like to "open" a couple of rings on one end or the other. _sually go down 2-3 rings out to 6 or 8 inches. At this point I stand the stave up and lean it against my work bench or the crook of a tree, whatevers handy. Then take your drawknife, bevel side down, and start "peeling" the wood under the bottom ring that you have exposed. I have rarely had any trouble with my drawknife cutting down to the next ring, but this is a feel thing. You will soon start to see and feel the difference between the rings and the early growth. If that line doesn't stand out you can use a scraper (or drawknife on edge) to scrape the back till the lin stands out a little more, then continue to peel up the ring. The drawknife is designed for you to use it as a lever to pop the wood up if you feel that you have a pretty big bite. This will help you to keep from going to deep. If you get a chance to see someone do this it become obvious how easy and efficient this is for chasin rings

Hope this helps.

[youngbowyer]

here is a picture of the end grain for pat.
How do you use a drawknife bevel side down? My drawknife's handles are placed differently so if i try to use bevel side down im holding it straight over the wood.

[Pat B]

Hold the draw knife just like it is in the 3rd pic.
  If it were me...I'd take the back down to the next ring and start building a bow. No need to go farther unless you screw that ring up.

[youngbowyer]

If I hold the drawknife like in the third pic the blade doesn't even touch the wood because of the offset handles. I'm kinda getting the gang of it now. Thanks

[Pat B]

I point the handles however they need to be pointed to get the edge into the wood.