HHB ELB Attempt

[ajooter]

I am attempting an HHB elb.  The stave is just shy of 72"...1.25" for the middle 20" (10" either side of center)...tapering to 1", 10" on the either side of that and then tapering to .5" tips.  I'm going to use a 5/6 depth to width ratio on the belly taper.  I've almost got the bow completely roughed out.  I need to do my second width profiling and then the final initial tapering of the belly followed by the rounding of the entire belly into a d-cross section.  There were some knots in question but I think they won't be a problem.

[Chief RID]

I am awatching.

[joachimM]

good luck with that. My last attempt at an ELB with a white wood failed because the stave bent too much laterally.

[Del the cat]

Don't narrow the tips until it's pulling about 20" The extra width give you some adjustment in case it starts trying to bend sideways.
Del

[ajooter]

I was thinking that myself del....they are marked at .5 " but I can narrow them to .75" for now.  Should I need to put any tip overlay material on while tillering or can I wait till she is bending more....I was thinking adding them at brace.

[Marc St Louis]

You don't need any overlays on HHB even if you want to make a 100# + bow

[ajooter]

Sounds good to me Mark!  May do it for looks but that's about it.

[Springbuck]

Joachim and Del, can you guys tell me WHY it bent sideways?  I've had it happen during bowyering Mollies when I got narrower than wide, but the 8:5 ratio should take care of that on an ELB, no?

[ajooter]

I tapered the profile some more...leaving the tips a little wider.   I also redid the belly taper where it needed adjustments after the width taper.  I marked some lines so I could start the rounding of the belly tomorrow while I'm at work.

[Del the cat]

I'd get it flexing and maybe up to brace before worrying about rounding the belly. The rectangular cross section helps with the lateral stability in the early stages. I tend to just round (or chamfer) the corners off rather than deliberately rounding the belly, later on in the process the scraper will blend it in and all flat faces will go.
Del

[mikekeswick]

Yep round the belly at about 20 inches or so. Use facets during tillering3/16th in from edges.

[ajooter]

what do you mean by facets mike?

[ajooter]

I'm still pretty stiff on this one....if I need to remove wood should I do it from the belly or narrow the stave a little and then adjust the belly accordingly?

I'm looking for 70# or so.

[Ardent]

Faceting is there the corners are flattened, not rounded. They look like the top of a cut diamond. It is easier to make sure that you have removed an even amount of wood from each of the corners when using this technique, in my opinion.

[ajooter]

Now that I see what faceting is I know what to call it...I use that technique quite often.  I knocked off the sharp corners of the facets.  This stave was only cut a month ago so I will let it dry with some weight hanging off it for a couple weeks and monitor the weight.  That's not a full bucket of paint.  There is one knot on the side of the limb that is still present.  I will post a picture of it before I start tillering.  Thanks for all the input fellas.

I watched your elb Buildalong on YouTube Del...that's some great stuff!