Noob bowyer... Help?

[Stanley2015]

Hey, im new here so hello all! I have a few questions sooo....

1) how long do i have to season bow wood before i start shaping it?

2) ways to improve flexibility? (i tried saturating my first bow (which failed) with veggie oil, seemed to work)

3) help with wood ID? I'll post pics of it as soon as i can.

4) can i shape the bow with a pocket knife?

Any help would be great! Thanks!

[LivingElemental]

A fresh cut tree, depending on size, type, humidity and heat of the environment can take from a few months to a year and a half or more. I live in Georgia, and the summer here gets pretty sweltering. The tree i cut down last weekend, if left in my attic to serve as a kiln baking at 90-100° for a few months, it may be done by August. If I keep it under the house where its dry bbut cool, definitely a year or more.

A pocket knife would take you a very long time to shape and tiller the wood.

Most of the information I've gained has been from the Traditional Bowyers Bible. 4 volumes, not that expensive, and well worth the investment if you're seeking knowledge.

Welcome, btw.

[Stanley2015]

If it helps, i live in southern michigan, i literally cut the wood 20 mins ago (oak i think?), and currently its clamped to a piece of wood down in the basement where its cool and dry. A year? Wow. Thats a while :/   any way to speed it up?

[LivingElemental]

There are instructions on different websites on how to build a hot box. Go to poorfolkbows.com and see if he has one. I think he does. Until then, you can use predried boards to practice with. They're pretty cheap depending on where you go. You can Google different trees to compare and contrast leaves and bark to figure out whether or not it's oak.

[Stanley2015]

I'll definitley have to check it out. Thank you!

[PEARL DRUMS]

Stanley go ahead and start building your bow now. By the time your done doing it with a pocket knife it will be dry enough.

[Stanley2015]

It's ok to start building when the wood isnt 100% straight?

[PEARL DRUMS]

Sure. Hang out here for a few weeks, read what you can and you will answer most all your basic questions quickly. They are covered on a semi-daily basis.

[Stanley2015]

I definitley will, thank you all for the advice!

[DarkSoul]

I'm not trying to be a smart @$$ here, but start reading before you start asking questions. Really, you are asking some extremely basic questions here. Run a search on this forum. Then run a search on another forum called Paleoplanet. Since you have internet, you may even consider using Google for simple questions such as "how long does it take for wood to dyr?" or "how do I identify wood?".

All your questions, any many, MANY more, have been answered in great detail in the book Traditional Bowyers Bible volume 1. Go buy or borrow that book! While your wood is drying, read it from start to finish, and then again.

[Stanley2015]

I will try to get the book, also i've tried MANY google searches and searches within the forum. Never could get a straight answer

[PEARL DRUMS]

Thats just it Stan. There is no straight answer. You will notice as you hang around more that there are six way to do everything. I built a sapling bow from stump to bow is 5 weeks. Some say you need a year to make good bow wood, some say 6 months, some say it depends on your humidity levels, some say it depends on the wood, some say it depends on wether your tempering it or not. Should I temper it? When should I temper it? Can I temper oak? 

See whatta mean?

Your gona love this place I promise. Suck it all up over a few months and refine your methods by picking apart ours. You will use bits and pieces from several folks to find your own way. Remember your dealing with "living" raw material and nothing is the same twice......by design of course!

[paulsemp]

Pearl drums said it perfect. No piece of wood is the same. The best thing you can do is practice and learn to be able to read what you can get out of each piece. I believe the longer it seasons the better but I will guaranty that a primitive man without a bow would wait 1 year to eat because his wood wasn't dry enough. Tiller it down and SLOWLY heat it over a fire or grill and let it be for a couple of days. That will knock weeks off the dry time.

[Stanley2015]

So basically bow making is trial and error? Wow, that's a relief. Also, thoughts about making my stave into a flat Bow? 1 inch diameter at the top and used to be at least 2 inches at the bottom.

[Weylin]

I don't think that's exactly what they were trying to say. There is a ton of accumulated knowledge about making bows that will help you get an effective bow in the end. It's not just a crap shoot. What they were trying to say is that there isn't just one simple answer to the general questions you were asking. If you just wing it and go by trial and error you will likely end up with a broken/poorly preforming bow. The best way to get started is find a friendly, competent bowyer in your area that is willing to show you the ropes. If that's not possible then you should do a lot of reading and ask a ton of questions here as you go along. Darksoul is right about using the search function to find valuable information on here but don't let that completely scare you away from having your own conversation about your bow. That's what a message board is for. You should post pictures of your stave and give us more specific measurements so we can better guide you on a design. Also, we need to figure out what kind of wood it really is.