need advice on character bow

[tattoo dave]

Ok, so I'm workin on my trade bow. But while glue is drying, I thought I would give this one a go. My bows are all board bows, but I have made a few attempts at staves, none successful yet. Anyway, Rich gave me this hophornbeam stave last year, Thanks again Rich It was actually a small log, I got two staves from it. This is the first. She is 58" ntn. A little reflex on one side, and you can see plenty of knots too work around. I've never ventured into this territory before, so I would love some input from you more experienced folks on how the tiller is lookin. Because these knots have got me a little baffled. So, how am I lookin so far?

Tattoo Dave

[randman]

Well, I don't know about the being more experienced than you Tatoo BUT I do know what I like and that is that kind of bow. That thing is awesome lookin. Love those gnarly bows. Looks like it's going to be center shot too, eh? Can't wait to see it finished.

[lesken2011]

I'm with Randman. I have no experience with staves, yet. I'm a board guy too, but from what I can see, you are doing quite well, so far on this one. That is a way tougher stave than I will try for my first, for sure.

[Pat B]

Very nice Dave. So far it all looks good to me.     With staves like this it helps to squint your eyes when looking at the bend. It eliminates the details so you can see the bend of the stave.

[Del the cat]

My only real advice is, don't try and be too greedy on the draw weight or length (it ain't goona be 60# @ 30" ) and keep it as wide as possible.
A bow with huge knots is always going to be carrying a bit of extra weight so don't expect too much performance.
You can't leave too much extra stiffness around the knots else the rest of the bow gets overstressed, it's all very touchy feely, your fingers are prob' the best tool for feeling the thickness.
I feel the danger area is often not the knot itself, but the transition between where you leave a bit extra and the rest of the limb, so it's easy to go thin at that point, a bit like doing a fade.
Lookin' good so far.
Good luck.
Del

[soy]

Keep on keeping on man, looking good from where im sitting it will tell you what it wants, follow the grain and like dell said smooth transitions and it will all work out

[tattoo dave]

Thanks everybody! Good advise Del, and Pat! My biggest concern area is the spot in between two sizable knots There are two about 6" apart on the limb on the left of the draw pic. It gets real narrow in between those nots, and it appears to be a stiff spot from knot to knot no matter what I do to it. I'm hoping for 40-45# @ 26-28", would prefer 28", but I'm not counting on it.

Tattoo Dave

[Pappy]

That is looking good to me, like others have said,go slow and you might try flipping it from one side to the other as you tiller,sometimes they will look flat or to much bend in a spot and you can flip it and it looks just right or just the oppsite of what you thought,I also sometimes look at the top of the limb as it bends instead of the belly,this helps a lot for me with character staves. I watch the limb as I am pulling it on the tiller tree instead of just pulling it to a certain draw and holding
and looking.
   Pappy

[George Tsoukalas]

Good advice!  To add, when possible. Try to leave the knots just a little flat. I know there are a lot of knots but do what you can. Jawge

[bubby]

dave sometimes i'll use the shadow under the bow to look at the tiller, for me it eleminates all the whoop-te-do's, Bub

[tattoo dave]

Thanks everybody! I'll keep ya posted. I have the sister stave which is almost identical in terms of knot placement. If they both work out, maybe one could be the trade bow. I'll have to keep my first character bow though.

Dave