Oak bow from old barn stored oak **pics***

[frankg]

My other oak bow , 3rd bow Ive done in this learning process turned out ok except for some limb twist. Well here I go again since there was enough left in slab to get another cut from it . After cutting a blank , drawing it and cutting close to dimentions I notice on one end of a limb the grain runs proper side to side but at other end of bow , that limb tip has grain running up and down through the tip  I think this hunk of wood makes a 90 deg spiral from tip to tip !

Am I going to be wasting my time other than just getting more hands on shaping , tillering experience ? Or will I be lucky to have a working bow from this spiral growth wood ?

This is a real stiff piece 72" tip to tip, 1-7/8" wide at fades and 5/8" thick then after 6" tapers to -1/2" x 1/2" tip , handle 1-1/8"w x 1-1/4"t and 6" long. Havent started floor tiller yet but will soon. Think it will work out ?

[bubby]

do you mean the grain goes to quartersawn? is the profile a straight taper like a pyramid bow, if it is i would go with 15/32" straight thickness to the fades and work from there. got any pics, that will help a bunch, Bub

[frankg]

One tip is  llll direction other tip is = , Ill try an get a pic  up.

[frankg]

After sanding endgrain for pic I see grain does appear qtr sawn ! What I thought was vertical grain was saw marks. Heres some pics and pic of hole that goes clean through limb I plan on filling with Acraglass . Handle is 6" , tapers outward for 2" from its 1-1/8" width to 1-7/8" at fades,goes straight 1-7/8" for 6" then tapers to 1/2" at tip.

[JW_Halverson]

My biggest concern would be that big ol spoiler knot in the middle of the working limb

[deepsix406]

Knot might be doable in a stave, but not a chance on a board.

[frankg]

Plugging the knot hole with acraglass wont save it ?

[deepsix406]

Not sure what acraglass is...but that is one massive knot its a solid ball of ring and grain violation.  id say stop now and find a new board.

[aznboi3644]

I've never seen a board bow with a knot on the back survive.  Usually grain needs to be perfect...especially on red oak.

[JW_Halverson]

AcraGlass is a wonderful product, I love it, believe in it, and use it on all my flintlocks!  On bows...not so much. 

You could drill out the knot and fill with acraglass, but that doesn't change the fact that the wood around the knot has really swirly grain and as it's a board those grain violations are deal breakers!  If it was a stave, you could chase a growth ring and avoid all kinds of problems.  But once those growth rings have been violated the bow is already broken, you just haven't finished the breakage. 

It is possible to sinew the bow, but that's like putting a $20,000 paintjob on a 1973 Chevy Vega thinking it's going to go faster.  Finish it as a wallhanger and start a new bow.  George Tsoukalas has a website that shows quite a few tips and tricks for board bows.  I've done probably 75 board bows and still learn from Jawge's experience.  For about $7-10 you can get a good red oak board at a Home Depot/Lowes/Menards store and turn out a bow worthy of packing into the interior of Alaska for that hunt of a lifetime. 

To quote Red Green, prophet and guru to the real men, we're all pulling for you!  Don't quit now, you are learning!

[frankg]

Alrighty then ! It just became a pattern after I cut out handle to fade portion ! Not a total loss I reckon . Ill get another board from HD , Im thinkin Maple this time .
The red oak I made died a horrible death ! It developed a crack on side of limb like runout . Before that the limbs were taking on a lot of memory and acting real sluggish.

I cut tips off before it developed the crack seeing I didnt have nothing to lose but lots to gain in learning Anyway , the grain looks strange ! Growth rings are flat through limb side to side as they should be but then there are these little light colored lines going verticle through the tip .At any rate the wood turned out to be bad stuff !

[JW_Halverson]

Sorry to hear that, but then it looks like you take the constructive route with this hobby -  learning from everything that happens, the good as welll as the bad.  Keep scrapin'!

[frankg]

Heck ya ! So far Im 50/50 1st board from HD didnt pan out but I know what to look for now besides good horizontal grain . 1st one from a scrap plank is a workable bow even with a little propellor in one limb 1st ever bow from an old gnarly osage fence post is a snappy little 50# @ 27" critter So I got two outa four ! Im grinnin and havin fun learning ! Got a bunch of Juniper limbs drying for passing the winter months along with smokepole projects ! I try an keep the to do pile , piled high

[randman]

If I had that piece of wood and really wanted a bow out of it, I would drill out the center part of the knot, glue in an equal size oak dowel and back it with an 1/8" thick strip of hickory (not as much work as sinew would be) and you could probably get decent shooter out of that thing. Would probably help any grain runoffs on the side as well. Worth a try. Just wouldn't be a self bow anymore.  JMHO

[frankg]

I may yet randman. I have some hickory ramrod cutoffs that would suffice for a plug. Just need to find some veneer for backing.
I was gonna try for a 40-45# with this one.