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Author Topic: spiraling staves ?  (Read 2389 times)

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Offline dmenzies1950

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spiraling staves ?
« on: August 15, 2012, 06:45:20 pm »
I just cut down a truckload of beautiful cascara staves. Boy was I excited! Then I split the first one and it spiraled 90 degrees. I tried the next one and it did the same thing! I just moved to Washington State from Montana where I built a million bows out of mountain maple. All of them spiraled. All I did with those was draw the design of a bow on the back, corner to corner ,so to speak, and started flinging arrows, never even backed one! I'm sure cascara would never hold up to that. I planned on backing most of these bows with rawhide anyway. Will Backing them keep them from exploding the first time I come to full draw?  Does anyone out there have suggestions for what I might do short of having a really big bonfire this winter? Any suggestions will be most appreciated. 
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"His bow remained steady, his strong arms stayed limber, because of the hand of the Mighty One, the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel." Genesis 49:24

Offline toomanyknots

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Re: spiraling staves ?
« Reply #1 on: August 15, 2012, 07:07:19 pm »
I hate when that happens.
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"The way of heaven is like the bending of a bow-
 the upper part is pressed down,
 the lower part is raised up,
 the part that has too much is reduced,
 the part that has too little is increased."

- Tao Te Ching, 77, A new translation by Victor H. Mair

Offline JW_Halverson

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Re: spiraling staves ?
« Reply #2 on: August 15, 2012, 09:58:33 pm »
Have you ever tried taking the stave down to bow dimensions and then using heat to straighten and take out the twist?  I have removed upwards of 120 degrees from a particularly nasty piece of osage before.  Just heat 6-8 inches at a time and take out a few degrees of twist. 
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Guns have triggers. Bicycles have wheels. Trees and bows have wooden limbs.

Offline dmenzies1950

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Re: spiraling staves ?
« Reply #3 on: August 15, 2012, 10:56:47 pm »
yeah, I have done that, but I dread doing that to my next 100 bows. Thanks for the imput, thats probably what I'll have to do.
                                                    Dale 
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"His bow remained steady, his strong arms stayed limber, because of the hand of the Mighty One, the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel." Genesis 49:24

Offline toomanyknots

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Re: spiraling staves ?
« Reply #4 on: August 16, 2012, 01:21:52 am »
When this happens I typically just make a "corner to corner" bow too, no matter what wood it is. I have never had a problem yet.
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"The way of heaven is like the bending of a bow-
 the upper part is pressed down,
 the lower part is raised up,
 the part that has too much is reduced,
 the part that has too little is increased."

- Tao Te Ching, 77, A new translation by Victor H. Mair

Offline Pat B

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Re: spiraling staves ?
« Reply #5 on: August 16, 2012, 01:30:34 am »
By studying the bark of the tree you can tell if the tree is growing in a spiral. With some trees it is very easy to see and with others you really have to look but the bark tells the story.
 I did the same with a 20" sassafras I cut a few years ago. I got three straight 7' logs from that tree. When I split it out it was all spiraled. It made a very nice split rail fence.  ;)
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Make the most of all that comes and the least of all that goes!    Pat Brennan  Brevard, NC

Offline dmenzies1950

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Re: spiraling staves ?
« Reply #6 on: August 16, 2012, 02:15:08 am »
Toomanyknots,

I'm pretty sure I'll try corner to corner and back with rawhide. See what happens!

Pat,

I checked out the bark before I cut the trees, but there was no indication from the bark that there would be a problem. Cascara has very smooth bark, and doesn't give away secrets about the nature of the wood.

Thanks for the input guys,  Dale
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"His bow remained steady, his strong arms stayed limber, because of the hand of the Mighty One, the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel." Genesis 49:24

Offline deerhunter97370

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Re: spiraling staves ?
« Reply #7 on: August 16, 2012, 02:25:51 am »
I usually end up with staves that are straight for 3/4 of the wood then the only knot gives it a 90 degree turn for the rest of the bow.
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Always be ready to: Preach, Pray, or Die. John Wesley
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