Hey everyone,
I'm brand new to the forums here, as well as the realm of primitive archery. I am interested in learning as many facets of making my own equipment as possible. I don't know how many of you frequent tradbow.com, but I'm on there some, too, by the same name.
I have a juniper self bow I have been working on, though I am stalled currently, due to time constraints with work and family and some other personal stuff. I have it basically roughed out, and have been talking to a few friends of mine off and on, getting advice and tips from them as I go. I cut the bow blank myself, from one of 2 or 3 8' sections of juniper I brought to Texas from Montana when I moved here in 2011. They were allowed to dry very well in the back of my truck under a bed canopy for almost a year and a half before I did anything with them.
I split the first log, and when it popped in half, I found myself with two 8' sections of juniper that had a full 180 degrees of twist in them. The rest of the tree I assume will have the same result. Anyway, I split one of the halves down farther, until I had a piece I decided would be a good size to carve on. Not too big, so I wouldn't have a huge amount of scrap shavings, but not so small that I ended up with a toothpick.
Anyway, most of the roughed out bow is pretty straight, until I get to within about 8" or so of the tips. The bow is currently 60", tip to tip, and I would like to keep it as close to that as possible, as I have a relatively long draw length, at about 29 1/2". Where the wood began twisting, I tried to follow the twist with my draw knife as much as I could, to keep the grain intact. The twist is probably no more than about 20 to 25 degrees off of square. I haven't tried straightening it yet, as I wanted some advice on the best way to do that. I have been told to use heat, but nobody has really given me details on how to do it. Also, I was told by somebody that once I back the bow, depending what I end up using for glue, I won't be able to heat it if it twists back after straightening, without ruining the bond of the glue. Which brings me to another question...
I have access through my dad in Oregon to pretty much whatever kind of rawhide I want for backing bows. Deer, elk, antelope, moo-cow, maybe moose, buffalo...he deals in hides, furs, rawhide, etc. What would be the best bang for my buck for rawhide to use? I understand that rawhide will help add some draw weight to the bow, but I also understand that if I go too heavy of hide, it will add more mass to the limbs than would be productive. So where is the trade-off? Also, what glue is best for what kind of backing? i.e...TiteBond II or III works best with what backing material, hide glue works best for what, etc?
And one more question for now...I think...one friend of mine told me to leave as much of the cambium layer on the back of the bow, whereas others have told me to scrape it all off, and even take the wood down one to two growth rings from the surface of the wood. Advice, ideas, opinions...it's all useful for me in the learning stages of my entry into this aspect of archery. I am enjoying building this bow so far, and I would really like to see it succeed if possible.
Thanks for having me on here, and thank you in advance to anyone that has advice, ideas or opinions about how I should proceed, and what I should use. Have a great night and an awesome weekend!
