Re: Maple stave-Now it's blown!--what have we learned?

[dylanholderman]

retaliative beginner here but i have made a few bows from maple, i think it should be fine. the knots worry me more than the dents do. just my 0.02cents   

[bushboy]

It would be better if the knots were cut very squarely and the sharp edges rounded slightly.i now use caution when limbing with a chain saw not to cut the limbs to close to the trunk because a lot of times the branch will split deep into the back.i would try to clean up that knarly one with a file or something to try to get it a bit more uniform.good luck!

[jeffp51]

pulling 40# @ 16" with a just tight tillering string.  I am showing the tiller with the sides flipped in the last two pics. what do you think?  The limb is 2 inches wide at the fades, for what it is worth.

[PEARL DRUMS]

Rigfht fade is ok for now, get the rest of the limb caught up to it. The left limb is much stiffer from fade to tip. Looks like it needs attention about 6-7" past the fade. Id get a very low brace on it myself. Lots of things change when you start pulling inward and downward.

[jeffp51]

PD, I will assume you are speaking of the final picture when you mention right and left, since one picture shows the bow from one side, and the other from the opposite side.  But when I ran my tillering gizmo over it, it shows a stiff spot about 6-7" out the left side and the right limb stiffer from the middle to the ends.  This stave will teach me plenty, I think.  What I think will be the top limb is straight, but full of knobby knots.  the bottom (left side in final pic) is clean but with a gentle curve to the right all the way out to the tip.  after heat bending, the tips and the grip all line up pretty well.  I will post more as the tillering progresses

[jeffp51]

Ok,  the kinks in the upper limb are confusing me some, and I appreciate all the eyes I can get.  this is 45# @ 22"  and nearly full brace height.  Pic one is top on right (knobby side), and pic two is top left.  Unbraced has not changed significantly from the original picture.  It is harder, because I don't think it is sitting level on the tree in the second pic,  and I have never got the hang of the mirror method.

[jeffp51]

Either no one saw this, or no one has an opinion (rare on this site),  but I could use some extra eyes.  To me the top limb looks stiff under both protruding knots (@12" and 20"), and the bottom limb is stiff between the middle and final third.  Am I seeing it right?

[JoJoDapyro]

The knot may be throwing off your eye. I can see what you are seeing, but the knot really does throw it off. What are you shooting for? It looks really good to me. Knots throw off the tiller, not only by eye, but because how hard they are. I would keep at it slowly.
The left limb in the last photo looks good to me until after the knot, and then the last bit of your limb looks stiff. 

[PEARL DRUMS]

Trust your straight edge 100% on this bow. Run your scraper on edge from fade to tip on each limb. If you see the gap narrow even a little, mark it and scrape it. That gap should be consistent from fade to say 6-8" short of the tip tops. For the record, your right side mid is flat. Left limb looks good.

[jeffp51]

Chris you are talking about measuring while flexed, as in with a tillering gizmo, right?

Joe I am aiming for 45-50# @ 29"   I have about 7 more inches to go.

[JoJoDapyro]

Maybe this helps.

[jeffp51]

That makes it look like it needs a little work right out of the right fade.

[JoJoDapyro]

But isn't that the side that has a bit of natural deflex? I think it looks pretty darn good.

[PEARL DRUMS]

 

Chris you are talking about measuring while flexed, as in with a tillering gizmo, right?

You can use a gizmo, I don't like them at all. A straight edge works better for ME.

[PEARL DRUMS]

That makes it look like it needs a little work right out of the right fade.

Nope, leave that fade be. Get the center bending more and it will change how the rest bends.