Video added :) Bow #2 Kentucky Coffee Tree done

[George Tsoukalas]

I'd leave it too. Have fun. Jawge

[coaster500]

George the tips line up good...

Del I am very impatient. I have to force myself to stop, if I don't I'd just end up with shavings!!

blackhawk, thanks I'll feather the fades into the limb before I put any pressure there...

I think I'll try it with the bumps...  hope it works?

[coaster500]

Worked a bit more on the Grip and Fades tonight...

[Del the cat]

That looks really nicely blended in.
I find the fade area is tricky, often when tillering if I blend it too gently I can't get enough bend near the handle, it's easy to then end up with a squareish tiller rather than roundish.
By that I mean the centre third of the bow is straight, then there is a 90 degree hinge and the tips then go straight down... obviously an exageration, but you know what I mean  .
It's one reason why I decrowned the last stave bow I made ('Twister'),
That's the great thing about ELBs of course, no real grip to worry about.
I'm terribly impatient ,it's my biggest fault (I know 'cos Mrs Cat tells me ) bow making is great for teaching us a bit of patience.
Del

[coaster500]

Thank you for your comments. This being #2 in attempts made by a desk jockey, they are greatly appreciated. It has been pointed out to me by another bowyer that I probably should have waited to do the handle details last in case I decided to flip the bow?

Another nugget for my bucket....

I sometimes have to work until 8PM in the evenings and if I steal a few minutes in the shop working or planning the next stage, well it has a very calming effect on me. You're right it is making me slow down and teaching me patience

Mr. Cat your "Twister" is an amazing bow.... I have gone back and looked at it several times and still can't get over the tiller with all that twist!! It’s one of those things you must take in a little at a time, a beautiful blend of mechanics and nature. Congratulations Sir…..

[coaster500]

Last night after work I visited the stave again and after staring at it for a while I changed my mind and decide to find out how to straighten one. I played with a few clamps and wedges and arrived here.

Should I stop here and start tillering?

The stave actually ended up with about 3/4" of reflex

Before

 

After

[blackhawk]

Looks good to me. If you used dry heat then let her sit for a couple days to rehydrate, then tiller that bad boy out into a arrow flinging machine. 

[coaster500]

Thank you .....  I didn't think about having to re-hydrate the wood? I did this Sunday night with dry heat. Will it be workable Wednesday on my day off?

Oops there's my impatience showing again 

[blackhawk]

It should be good to go by then(as long as u don't live in a desert)

[coaster500]

As you can see in the pictures the string is not centered anymore...  I'm not sure what has made it so but how do I get it centered again? Should I tiller the bow from the strong side? Heat and bend it?

[nyarrow]

Good progress! Looks like the tiller is coming around. The string alignment issue may be from the heat. You could try and correct it a small amount and leave the final centering for while you finish up the string grooves. (by cutting one side in further than the other)

[coaster500]

Well got the string centered and I'm trying to get the bend right....  Not there yet. This Kentucky Coffee Tree stave seems very tough and has not given me one indication that it is not sound....  I'm about 46@26.5 right now so well within my target weight (45 to 50@28). There are some spots in this stave where the wood is much harder and resists tools a bit. I have to be careful not to eat wood around the hard spots. The tiller tree is leaning and gives a bit of a misread in the picture. I shot it a few times, not a full draw of course.... it's hard to know for sure but seem very quick....  I’ll keep posting and if some one seen a goof let me know.

Thank you

[coaster500]

another picture.... The marks on the tree are wrong it's 26.5"s in this picture....

[coaster500]

Added a little Cheese I build my own deep sea fishing jigs and had some blue polish so it's a blue eyed snake...

I used a piece of walnut burl for the tips. It was very brittle I hope it doesn't fall appart?

[coaster500]

The bow is narrower than I planned but the stave kind of led me there....  I hope it holds up? I shot the bow about 35/40 times today and it really pops an arrow down the pipe. This bow is much quicker than I expected and the wood has a very solid feel to it. It tillered out to a finished 48.5@28 and it is 66"s end to end and 63+ nock to nock....  The bows final dementions are 1" thru the handle (no perceptible bend) 1 3/8's at the fades and out to 6"s then tapers down to 3/8"s at the tips....  The bow took about 1 3/4"s of set (I can't seem to figure out how to keep a bow straight) I've got two coats of tru-oil on it and am trying to find the right leather for the grip. The tips are Poplar and Walnut Burl...  So far the bow seems to very strong and this Kentucky Coffee wood looks to be very forgiving. It has to be to work for me I'll try to finish Thursday and post finished pictures and maybe a short shooter video. Thanks for the help and suggestions.....