laying out a bow on a snakey stave

[onemississipp]

Here is something I came up with last night.
It is probably not a new idea but here it is.

When I was trying to lay out my taper from fade to tip, I thought why not use the staves profile for a crooked straight edge.

Lay down some kind of thick paper, I had contruction paper, then trace the stave profile.
Cut this out and use it as a crooked straight edge.

 
 
 
 

Here is the crooked straight edge laying out from the fade to mid-limb. 1 1/2" at fade to 1" at the mid-limb.

 

Here is the taper laid out. Of course you use the corresponding side of your pattern to lay out the tapers. UNLESS your taper are running to one side of the center of the stave. Meaning if your tip is going to be to the left of center of the stave. Then you would use the left side of your pattern to lay out the tapers from mid-limb to tip. hope you can make since of that.

 

[Pappy]

Is that the belly you have it laid out on ? I don't see why that lay out won't work.I have never tried it but make sense.I just free had the center line and measure off of it,the more snaky the more measurements.
   Pappy

[onemississipp]

Pappy,
  That is the back, I laid it out on the back because I have yet to chase a ring. I like to reduce it before ring chasing, less scraping involved, seems like it anyways.

I actually had you in mind when I came up with that. After seeing some of your bows, and thinking that must have been a real pain to lay out.

How do you lay yours out?

[Pappy]

I was hoping you hadn't chased a ring yet,that is why I ask.I seen the swirl in the one limb.
I will freehand the center line following the longitudinal grain and then depending on how snaky it is I will draw 1/2/3 inch lines across the limb and measure off of it as I go down,dropping width as I
go to get the tapper I want.I usually make mine the same to mid limb so that part is pretty simple.
Just measure 1/2 of the limb to either side of the center line.Then drop a 1/16 or what ever you need to make it work out at the tips.If it is real snaky you can add more lines and drop less in the measurement.if it ant to snaky you use less lines.I have a friend that dose it the way you are doing it and it works great just takes a little longer.Thanks for passing it along.
   Pappy

[onemississipp]

Another question..

Do you do your lay out completely down the center line or will you move your tips left and right of the center to get the string to bisec the handle?

I may not have asked that well, so have a look at this and it may help

http://onemississipp.googlepages.com/number3

In this pic the tips are left of the staves center....any problems with doing that?

[snedeker]

Here's my strategy for snakiness.  I set up the bow design so that a line from tip to tip will bisect the handle.  I then draw than line using a string.  then i go through the snaky areas and mark by eye where the center shoulg be, putting dash marks with a pencil at close intervals.  Then I connect the dots, and this becomes the new center line.  Then mark out with dots along it to define the width of the bow.

Dave

[onemississipp]

snedeker,
  That is right along the lines of what I'm doing, some times if you laid it out on the staves center, without checking sting alignment at the handle, you would have a ton of heat straighting to do.

The weighted string can save time.

So your saying you will lay a bow out with the tips not being on the center of the stave? If I read it correctly.

[Pappy]

I just lay it out by eye following the grain and then heat and line up the tip if I need to.I usually start with a little wider stave than you have showing in the picture. :)Here is a pair laied out
note the arrows on the limb,that is the way it will need to be bent and the limb that will
need it.
   Pappy

[attachment deleted by admin]

[onemississipp]

That is a nice stave pappy!!!

Thanks for telling us how you do your layouts.

After a lot more practice I hope to be able to lay it out by eyeing it..

That stave in my pic is this guys big brother...This one started out only being 1" wide.

[onemississipp]

I can see what your talking about lines every 1,2, & 3", that looks like it would make it easier also.