Elm bow design

[Crogacht]

Hi guys,

I'm trying to come at this elm stave from a different angle than I did the first time, with a very clear picture of what I'm aiming for and how I'm going to get to the finish line. I am also planning on doing a lot of corrections with dry heat so that hopefully all I have to deal with are the knots, which are all small and solid looking.

My stave is 59 inches in length and has plenty of width and depth for any design. I'm aiming for 45#@26".

I've done a lot of searching around for potential designs and have found a couple that look really nice.

Rich's bendy handle red elm: http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,46217.0.html

k-hat's stiff handled cedar elm flat bow: http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,44774.msg604880.html#msg604880

I feel like I'll have a much better chance of getting a working bow if I have something like these to aim for. I'm not sure which one to go for, but I think I'd go 1.5 inches for bendy and 2 inches for stiff. I'm certainly not going to set out to match their dimensions, because I know my tillering skills is miles behind those guys.

It would also give me a shape to tiller towards, as I'm having a lot of trouble figuring out where to remove wood when I'm not even sure what sort of bend I'm even trying to achieve. I know my stave is not the same as theirs and I need to pay attention to the properties of my particular bit of elm and consider knots and so on.


And no, I'm not going to make a thread EVERY time I start on a new stave  ... just until I get a working bow ...I'm joking.

But I keep coming up with more questions, so I'm forced to keep bothering all the nice folks on the PA forums. So, sorry in advance 

[DarkSoul]

But I keep coming up with more questions, so I'm forced to keep bothering all the nice folks on the PA forums.

Forgive me, but I don't see a single question in your post

Since your stave is only 59" short, you should go for a bendy handle bow, IMO. Really, the best recipe for a successful bow that won't break, is simply to leave it long. With your draw length, a first bow that is 68" long would be a good start. So that is a whopping 9" more that this stave... The knots make your effective length even shorter.

[Crogacht]

But I keep coming up with more questions, so I'm forced to keep bothering all the nice folks on the PA forums.

Forgive me, but I don't see a single question in your post

Since your stave is only 59" short, you should go for a bendy handle bow, IMO. Really, the best recipe for a successful bow that won't break, is simply to leave it long. With your draw length, a first bow that is 68" long would be a good start. So that is a whopping 9" more that this stave... The knots make your effective length even shorter.

Dang, can't even get that right 

Yeah, I was trying to lay some dimensions out on my stave earlier, but once I had the stiff handle and fades marked... man there really isn't a lot of limb left, so I wondered about a bendy handle, and that halfeye, rectangular one looks really really nice.

Hmmm, I do have some longer staves, but they're native wood, and I'm not sure... Maybe I should strip the bark off one of them and see what it looks like. A longer one WOULD be easier, just a bit of prop twist to deal with on those, but otherwise pretty clean.

[SLIMBOB]

I think DarkSoul is right in that you would be far better off with a longer cleaner piece of wood but, that's not what ya got.  Don't know what the knots look like and that is key, but 59 inches for a bendy will get it done for a 26" draw.  Post a few pictures of the stave.  Get the tiller right, keep the weight reasonable and elm will get 'er done.

[JW_Halverson]

I think the advantages to a bendy handled bow for you are more than just limitations of the length of wood you are working.  Consider the tiller profile of a bendy: circular.  That means you almost always have something on hand you can compare the bend against to see where you are stiff or hinged. 

Once your bow is on the tillering tree, you put a little bend on her, hold up a cd, coffee mug, coffee can lid, or anything circular and line up the two profiles.  By moving the circular object back and forward objectively, you will eventually get the perspective matched to the bow.  A circular tiller is much easier to assess and judge than elliptical - the tiller you would tend to see on a stiffer handled bow. 

That's my opinion, put whatever weight to it you wish to assign.  It's your wood, it's your dog in the fight.  By now you have figured out we will help you thru whatever decision you make.  Well, that's not true.  We shall shun you, hang you in effigy, and never speak your name again if you chose to use (whispers) fiberglass.

[Crogacht]

I think DarkSoul is right in that you would be far better off with a longer cleaner piece of wood but, that's not what ya got.  Don't know what the knots look like and that is key, but 59 inches for a bendy will get it done for a 26" draw.  Post a few pictures of the stave.  Get the tiller right, keep the weight reasonable and elm will get 'er done.

The knots looks solid, and I can avoid most of them with a narrower bendy handle design I think.

I think the advantages to a bendy handled bow for you are more than just limitations of the length of wood you are working.  Consider the tiller profile of a bendy: circular.  That means you almost always have something on hand you can compare the bend against to see where you are stiff or hinged. 

Once your bow is on the tillering tree, you put a little bend on her, hold up a cd, coffee mug, coffee can lid, or anything circular and line up the two profiles.  By moving the circular object back and forward objectively, you will eventually get the perspective matched to the bow.  A circular tiller is much easier to assess and judge than elliptical - the tiller you would tend to see on a stiffer handled bow. 

That's my opinion, put whatever weight to it you wish to assign.  It's your wood, it's your dog in the fight.  By now you have figured out we will help you thru whatever decision you make.  Well, that's not true.  We shall shun you, hang you in effigy, and never speak your name again if you chose to use (whispers) fiberglass.

That makes a lot of sense, circular sounds pretty appealing right now. Ew fibreglass, no way I'd rather make a bow from an outhouse and back it with toilet paper.

Thanks guys. I need to buy a heap of C clamps and knock something together for straightening this elm out then I can start scraping.

I started removing some bark from my nice native stave, but its not going to be suitable. I might attempt to rip it into a board, if its wide enough, or just lathe it into something cool.