Help with a lumpy Osage?

[jesswprater]

Hey guys! I'm in the middle of scraping to a ring on a stave I purchased. This thing has 3 fairly serious, close together knots at near the middle of the stave. I think the stave is 74" OA. I was wanting a 68" bow which could put my center line close to either the 3rd knot or shifted over to the thin side of the stave. I hope you can see my center lines marked on this photo along with the target ring (*) and one or two rings above. Would I be better off having those knots cut at the handle or shift the center until those knots were right in the middle of my working limb?  Also, do I take the knots down to my target ring (*) or leave a layer or two (+ 1 or + 2) around the ring? They are pretty tight, whether or not I leave extra wood, do I need to expose the target ring between the knots? Sorry for all the rookie questions at once. I was hoping for a fairly wide Meare-Heath type design.

Best regards,

Jess Prater

[Badger]

  You don't really leave extra wood over the knots, You carefully chase the ring up the sides of the knot without taking the top off the knot. You may have to experiment with what tool works best for you on knots. I use my draw kife and scraper but just go slow and easy when removing the wood around the knots. I don't worry too much about knots as long as they are not on the edge of the bow. If they get too close to the edge I try to build the bow without them but still follow the radial grain lines as they snake down the limb.

[duke3192]

if you can put them in the handle, then do so.

[Newindian]

keep them close to the handle and as far away from the edges as you can, don't leave rings over the top of the knots and don't try to remove the entire ring from one direction (if that makes any sense) this can cause the grain to tear out some on the opposite side (a cosmetic problem).try to remove all the material under the knot without you cuts passing over the knot and then work off the material at the top, so that your ring chasing meets on top of the knot.

[jesswprater]

Thanks guys! This all makes perfect sense.

[jesswprater]

I can, mostly, put those knots in the handle and fades. I guess I questioned whether cut knots would be weak, but if that is a nonworking area anyway--. I can keep that area thick, it should be alright! Thanks for the help again.

[Drewster]

Hey Jess, I was working on a stave today and shot a few pics that may help you out.  I use a draw knife and goose neck scraper like Badger.  Work carefully with the draw knife close to the knot then switch to a scraper.  You will often have to work "down hill" with the grain starting at the knot and scraping away from it so you don't tear the grain. 

This knot is fairly small but hope it helps you get the idea.











This knot is about 1/4" wide and sticks up about 1/8".  It will likely be in the main working part of the limb.  If it was cut flat there is a high probability that it would raise a splinter......not good.  Hope this helps you out.

[jesswprater]

Yes Drew, that helps a lot! I'm getting the whole bow down and then will return to the knots. This stave has very thick rings and I have been leery of the drawknife since this is my second bow, but it is taking forever with just the scrapers. This afternoon I broke out the drawknife and lord it saves time. I'm still a little scared of dipping into the ring so am taking it slowly.

Jess

[jesswprater]

Am I crazy for wanting to make a Meare-Heath style bow out of Bois d'Arc? Those are usually made from White Woods. My son hunts Elk in Wyoming and he wants bows that will penetrate and carry a heavy arrow a long way downrange. He says the Primitive Archers in WY say they usually use a bow with a 65 # draw. I figured that I can use Osage with a width of 1 3/4" instead of the 2" plus width called for with this design.

[George Tsoukalas]

Drewster, excellent photos. Jawge