Holmegaard build along

[PK]

Great build along , Those are going to be pin noks? Nice Band saw, I'm still leanin with my Machete. I will be hoping I don't break my first Holmegaard.

[Keenan]

 Very nice buildalong. Very detailed and discriptive. I can related to those cold temps. We were down to -10 a few weeks ago with the wind chill kicking it down even further.....Keenan

[Wulamoc]

Very good buildalong!  Thanks for letting us share it with you!
Wells

[adb]

Hi, Everyone
Sorry I didn't make any progress yesterday. My wife, Linda, was writing a paper for a University class, and I don't think she would have appreciated me running the bandsaw! The plan is to cut out the profile this afternoon and evening. I'll keep you all posted.

[Easternarcher]

ADB, I'm watching this one with eyes and mind wide open!  I recently decided to give tthis style a try and hope to start sometime this winter.

BTW, I'm in the Maritimes and I have a brother out west.....He's in the oil patch and it's been -40 to -50 for the last few days....I understand trhe cold!

Can't wait to get back to this one!

[adb]

Hi, Everybody,
It's Saturday morning. Shop time. My time. Time to make some sawdust!! Coffee is in, and I'm ready!!
First, we're going to cut out the profile which was drawn on the belly. I usually draw on the back, but I didn't have a lot of extra room on this one, and because the backing strip was just slightly wider than the belly wood, I didn't want to get off the board. Doesn't really matter.
This isn't rocket science. Cut just outside your line, following your profile.

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[adb]

Keep going, all the way around. Go slow. Make your cuts straight. No sense rushing. When cutting with the bandsaw, I wear ear muffs and safety glasses. Safety first. I'm half deaf already from shooting most of my life. Upland bird hunting is another of my passions.

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[adb]

After finishing cutting the outside profile, I'm going to remove some wood from the belly side of the 16" inner working limb portion. I draw a line 3/8" from the belly side, tapering it through the 2" profile tapers. You could do this by hand, but removing some belly wood just saves time. The total thickness of the two boards is 1", so I'm leaving 5/8" to tiller. Don't take off too much belly wood with the bandsaw!! Remember, wood which is twice as wide is 2X as strong, but wood which is twice as thick, is 8X as strong. In other words, you don't have to remove much belly wood, to change the wood's ability to bend. Leave yourself some material to work with. Before cutting these side profiles, this stave bends about as much as a cast iron frying pan.

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[adb]

I turned the stave on edge, and remove the 3/8" of belly wood. Keep the board flat, otherwise your side profile cut will wander, and you may end up removing too much wood.

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[adb]

Do the same thing on the other limb.
The next side profile I'm going to cut, is in the outer non-bending limb portions. From the pin nock, I measure from the back 1/2", and draw the line to the distal taper. Do the same for the other outer limb, and cut them out, keeping the board square on edge, so your cut doesn't wander, and end up crooked.

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[adb]

Once you start cutting out your profiles, you can see the quality of your glue line. The glue "line" is actually a poor term, because you should not be able to see a line at all. If you've done a good job during your glue-up, it should look like two pieces of wood together. You should not be able to see any gaps, or glue. The line should be tight, and straight.

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[adb]

Here are some pics of the finished profile cuts. So, the only original belly profile lines left, are those on the 4" handle. You can see that the osage has already started to darken! The freshly cut belly wood is lighter.

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[adb]

More pics

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[adb]

Pics of pin nock profile, and pic from the backing side.

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[adb]

Here is a hint, for all of you with bandsaws... when you're done cutting, release the tension on the truck (belt). It'll make it last much longer. I learned that the hard way. My saw has an external hand crank to adjust truck tension, so I just crank it loose when I'm done.
Also, you may have noticed I have some burn marks from cutting. This means the blade speed is too high. Osage is hard, and you need to slow down the cutting speed if you're getting burn marks. The last wood I was cutting on the saw was pine, and I had the speed turned up, forgetting to drop it down before starting.

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