help with red oak board bow please.

[goatfarmer67]

i have broken 4 other bows that i have started,out of white oak.after posting some pics of the broke pieces it seems that maybe that wood had some
issues.so i found a likely piece of red oak at a big store and started on it.it is 68" long,1 1/2 wide at the fades,7" handle of curly maple glued on wit tb3.
66" n2n with 3/8 tips at the very end.side nocks because the board was warped from side to side like this ) .and 68" was about all i could get out of the 72"
board.in the pics it is braced to about 3".and pulled to 21" and about 48 lbs.it dont look right to me,but i dont know what to do now.any help would be
appreciated.right and left are the same in both pics.and i am shooting for 50lbs @27".sorry about the pics,the best i can do with the camera i have,
thanks,ken
 

[George Tsoukalas]

Looks pretty good. There are  a few things to watch. Looks like that limb on the left in the top pic about 12 in from the end is developing a hinge so be careful there.  Work from the fades out and  get the near handle wood moving out to just past mid limb. Have fun. George

[goatfarmer67]

thanks george.i thought it looked hingy too.a little band saw misshap.i seem to be on the verge of needin bi focals
and it plays tricks with me when i stare at a fixed point for a bit.i've marked that spot so as to  not remove wood from
it,i'll work on the inner limbs.it seems to have a little string follow but after an hour of being unbraced it is about
1/2" on the top limb and 3/4" on the bottom, is this normal for what i have? or am i rushing things.when can i go to full
brace.
thanks everbody,
ken

[hillbilly61]

Looks good. I think what you are saying don't look just right, is what George is saying. Looking forward to the finished pics.

[PEARL DRUMS]

Right limb looks great, left limb is at the brink of hinging as Jawge noted. One thing I feel about about red oak, or any oak. If you dont back them you need to keep them a little wider than you would otherwise. I try to stick to 1 3/4" or more most often, regardless of the length Im building. It seems to stand straighter unbraced, and set seems to be lesser. Just my findings. My last oak was 2" wide and 70 ntn, it has 1/2" of follow after an hour unbraced, it has become one of my favorites.

[goatfarmer67]

ok,so,i'm going to try to allieviate th impending hinge and work up to full draw.
P.D. i kept it as wide as i could,starting with a 1 3/4" wide board. one side was in an arc because it
was warped ) i just tried to get the string in the middle. if it starts to get too much follow or set
can i "flip the tips" to help it?.i am trying to take my time,but to be honest,its all i can think about.
i am very anxious to build a bow that shoots decently.any of ya'll ever been in that boat?
thanks,
ken

[bubby]

have ya got a tillering gizmo, it will help ya a ton tillering a bow, not so much with a character bow but work great on everything else, Bub

[scp]

I would wrap the impending hinge with black electrical tape. To "flip the tips" I usually leave the last 12 inches at least 1/2" thick and do it after I have reached the full draw. As the tips appear to be already rather thin, I would just brace it to 6" and use scrapers and sandpapers to finish the bow and see if the bow "shoots decently." If not good enough, you can consider heat treating and tip overlays.

[George Tsoukalas]

Leave the bandsaw for successful bow # 6. I forgot to mention how to fix it. Just remove some wood from above and below the hinge but leave it alone. Jawge

[Mister D]

have ya got a tillering gizmo, it will help ya a ton tillering a bow, not so much with a character bow but work great on everything else, Bub

i got one of these recently and it has made a HUGE difference to the last bow i made

[bubby]

when cutting out on the bandsaw if ya tip the stave a couple deg. ya wont have as many cutting errors, just a little more rasping, Bub

[Arrowind]

Not sure what else I would say that hasn't already been said.  As for using a band saw it's a good rule of thumb to cut outside of your lines and then sand down to the line. If you make an error while sawing it...well you can very easily ruin your plans for that bow.  Very easily.  It will make you want to cry...

As for making bows in general just keep doing it and you will learn from each one.  One of the most important lessons I've learned (still learning) is to GO SLOW.   I really have a lot to learn but It seems I've learned from everyone I've made.  You will too.  Jawge's site is really good and I also like poorfolks bows.com.  Lot's of really good tutorials on both. 

Remember the tillering rule "take wood off where it doesn't bend and don't take wood off where it does bend." Repeat that over and over and over in your mind until you wake up at night from repeating it in your sleep!     Don't touch that hinge.   Your bow needs to bend more in the first third near the fades as others have pointed out.  I hope you don't mind the repetition.   

As for pics....take that bow out into the sunshine but shoot your pictures about an hour before the sun goes down or in the morning in the first hour of a sunrise.  In photography terms these two times of day are called "golden hour" or "magic hour" it will make pictures even from the worst camera look ten times better...you'll be surprised at how nice your pictures will turn out! 

[JW_Halverson]

What takes me 45 minutes with a drawknife and spokeshave I can utterly screw up in 10 seconds with a good bandsaw.

[goatfarmer67]

thanks for all the help everyone.been working on the bow some today.got it out to my draw lenght,
and a little heavy,nearly 60lbs.i dont mind the weight,just dont want to have it over stressed.i think i got rid of
the hingy area.i dont have a tillerin gizmo so to speak,i use a 5" long piece of cedar along the belly,and make
marks on the side of the bow for reference.ya'll are right about the bandsaw.you can goof in a hurry.i was tryin to
hold the bow over a few degrees when sawing it out,so as to leave a little crown in the belly to be sanded out later.
i just goofed at one point.like i said,nearing the need for bifocals,i cant really explain it.my eye Dr,laughs and says," i
aint going to make you get bifocals,i'm going to make you beg for em'"
i'll take pics around sundown tonight,thanks for the photoghraphy help too.
ken

[goatfarmer67]

well i couldnt wait till close to sundown for the pics,got somewhere i need to be.but here is a full draw,
brace,and nock,and the curly maple handle with white oak corners.got the bow sanded out to 220 grit
need to stain and finish it,possibly some tip overlays.it shoots alot faster than i thought it would,and has about 1 3/8" string follow
right after un bracing,about 1" set after an hour or so.let me know what you think of the tiller.i know the pics aint
that great,despite the advice,i try to do better when i finish out.
thanks,
ken