A 58" european hornbeam stave...

[nowhereman]

Hello,

I'm working on the above stave, 3" wide fairly shallow crowned but a bit of twist - just a couple of issues on it...

a) I'm going to try and get it to roughly complete, as I'm not sure its worth waiting at least a year for it to dry so, in working the limbs this way does it accelarate twist? I'm obviously going to keep full width throughout and let it dry as I work it...also, its cold and damp conditions from now till whenever so no chance of overheating..

b) Has anyone got any ideas on how to use a vice or a form to remove twist, and at what stage should I attempt this? The outer ends and tips seem to have the twist, after splitting one half has developed this into 90 degrees (sigh) the other about 15  -

c) After working this wood previously (its actually very good) to make bows in the region of 30 35lb-from much narrower thinner and shorter stock (50 - 54"), does anyone think its feasible (assuming I tiller correctly of course!) that 50lb - 60lb could be coaxed out of this stave? I think I can go to about 2.5" wide max and going to tiller as strong as possible or overbuild due to it having more depth than previously worked staves of this type, and as its still green... I'd like to get 50lb to make it worthwile...

d) The bark is nails even green - i was thinking of steaming it or something similar? Anyone tried this for bark removal?

Regards all who read this, any info appreciated

V

[bubby]

it'd be nice to see the stave before offering up any advice, Bub

[Del the cat]

You could work it green then strap/clamp it to a former with the twist is taken out (proabably need to clamp it twisted slightly the other way to allow for some spring back) then put it somewhere warm and airy to season for at least a month and then have a look at it.
I worked a very wobbly English Hornbeam stave a while back, it didn't seem to like heat bending. I was was trying to correct a huge sideways bend and I'd not used Hornbeam before. It broke on the tiller in the end, but it was a knotty experimental stave. I may well have been too impatient or maybe steam would have been better.
Here's a link to the start of the relevant entries in my Bowyers Diary
http://bowyersdiary.blogspot.com/2011/08/hornbeam-bow.html
Hope it might be of some help...
Del

[nowhereman]

Hello,

Got some pics - just got to upload...


Del - is the bow that broke the same one as the link? Thats a nice challenging stave anyway, did you manage to straighten it any? thats the length stave i was looking for as i really want to try elb attempt with same wood. Yeah i've noticed the smell when sawing green, and also when working cured,its really fragrant kind of put it in between white wood glue and apples, yeah bit nutty too...

I've just got the bark off with my advanced fingertip scraper-plane (peice of knapped flint;-) ) looks fine with just one big knot off the the side 2/3 up one limb, wish it had been a centralised knot would have been nice, as this wood as i'm sure you've experienced finishes beautifully - i used linseed on all grades of wire wool, deer leg bone burnish then further burnishing with liquid beeswax and a piece of leather, though you have to be quick or the wax can start to set - i found the trick is to keep moving and use very sparingly. I did a 50/50 linseed oil/beeswax 'paste' which works a treat.

Just got to draw the layout, then trim it and set aside really...want to keep it primative, hence flint tool bark removal (flint is so good on green wood, it never ceases to amaze), made an attempt at a holm with hornbeam and it went well, seems to suit the wood type, but in your opinion do you think a 58" holmgaard will yield 50lb?

regards

V

[Del the cat]

Yup the one in the link broke. In my Bowyers Diary, I blog the failures as well as the success, so if you read the later entries you'e see a pic of it broken.
I got it pretty straight and had started tillering.
I think the main problem was probably impatience on my part.
The blog is hopefully a resource for people starting out and wanting to see how other people do stuff, I think it's important to show that we all get it wrong now and again, and that failure is a great teacher... well that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
I find I refer back to it myself to check how I did things too.
I'm hoping to to turn it into a movie with Johny Depp playing Del the Cat and Kierra Knightly as Mrs Cat? Sorry, drifting off into fantasy land again
Del