Growth rings on da belly...

[ajooter]

How much attention do you pay to the growth rings while creating your thickness taper on the limbs?  More or less depending on design?  I'm working on a hickory bow right now..65" tip to tip...1 1/2 wide to midlimb then tapering to half inch tips.  Just wanted to hear some opinions.  Thanks in advance.

[bubby]

Zero, but i do like to get one ring in an area for statics

[bowandarrow473]

No need to pay any attention to any growth rings on the belly, only time I worry about growth patterns on the belly is when you have knots running across the belly as those can get compression cracks if treated the wrong way

[huisme]

I use them to determine rough starting thickness with the machete, then establish a rough taper with the draw knife by eye, then they go out the window for tillering.

[Pappy]

I don't pay much attention to them except on a good straight piece then it is a good indicator
that you are keeping the sides even if you keep the points as you work down the limb in the center as they fad out. Like arrow heads pointing toward the tips. Not really useful on wood with a lot of character or knots but still just one more thing that helps if you watch it.
 Pappy

[Del the cat]

+1, good indicator, but not too much else.
Islands can indicate a thick spot but only if your eyes and fingers tell you the same.
Del

[Pat B]

When I started building wood bows all the books said to pay attention to the grain "feathers" on the belly as an indication of limb thickness, taper and evenness. After working on staves I realized that wasn't the case. If staves were perfect it would matter, but they are not. Now I use my thumb and fingers to feel the thickness of the limbs both lengthwise and side to side. I do use the "feathers" in some cases to see a difference of thickness because the "feather" will sometimes bulge to one side on thicker areas but I go mostly by feel.

[Badger]

  I like to use them for roughing out my bows, sometimes the thickness will not allow it. I have found when bringing a bow down from a raw stave to approx thickness pulling the wood off the belly one ring at a time with my draw knife goes very quickly, maybe 1 minute per ring. So I bring it down one ring at a time until I get just a little flex in the bow and that point I pay more attention to the actual tiller. Very often the rings will be uniform and when it works out that way I use them but you can't count on them being uniform.

[ajooter]

I was leaning the same way you guys are.  The hickory stave I'm working had the cambium left on and I think the little islands I'm seeing are from some little humps and bumps under the bark because the thickness seems to be tapering nicely using the finger and ocular calipers.  I'll try and post some pics.

[George Tsoukalas]

Please explain your last post, ajooter. 
Cambium is close to paper thin. I don't know how it could affect belly wood.
I agree. Photos are in order.
I seldom use growth rings on the belly.
Like Pappy does I may glance at them if the stave is perfectly straight.
Jawge

[DC]

I look at them from a "it would be nice if" point of view. If I'm tillering and i notice that the flames are starting to develop I look and see if it would be possible to do. I think it would look great to have a "nice flame job" on a bow but it's for aesthetics only. I haven't hit one yet.