thin ringed Osage, just me?

[Tradslinger]

First off, I've had a cornea transplant since I last tried to chase a thin ringed Osage stave but it was murder for me to see the ring. I was actually chasing a ring on two separate pieces that I mean to make into one bow. on this particular Osage, I was struggling just to see a ring for sure much less chase it. When I got done and had joined the two pieces together, I was certain that I had been guilty of man slaughter in the violation department. So in order to salvage it, I took it to the belt sander and made the back as flat as possible then laminated some raw bamboo to the back. I ended up with a light bow that will be great for the older kids and it has shot just fine. So was this fix considered a "solid" fix or long term fix? I know than many of you probably shuddered hard at what I did at the time but I just could not see those tiny thin lines. I am already sure that my eyesight will be much better the next time but I kind of like the thicker rings. being a newbie with the Osage anyways probably made it harder but the blurred vision in my left eye really sucked. That bow was just an experiment to see if I could even do it with two pieces with my eyesight. I have a lot better grasp on things now. Jerry

[bassman]

Good combination of wood to do that with.  If you are not seeing that well, and your glue line had gaps here, and their  you  would have been better served using smooth on rather than a wood glue. Epoxy has gap filling properties. Wood glue not so much. If you did the glue up with epoxy it should be a long term fix. Lots of guys on here use wood glue for what you did, but their glue lines are next to perfect, and it works just fine for them.

[mutt]

Tradslinger,
I chased some super thin Osage rings a while back. It takes really good light and I don't mean an LED. I'm talking sunlight at just the right angle. I sometimes had to go outside the garage with the stave and walk around until I could see the ring, mark it with a pencil, go back in the garage and scrape till I got lost and do the same thing the next day because of clouds, sun position, time of day....number of beers, etc. took forever and still ended up backing with rawhide just to be safe. Morale of the story is....good sunlight and patience is the key. Can I get an Amen?

[Tradslinger]

Good combination of wood to do that with.  If you are not seeing that well, and your glue line had gaps here, and their  you  would have been better served using smooth on rather than a wood glue. Epoxy has gap filling properties. Wood glue not so much. If you did the glue up with epoxy it should be a long term fix. Lots of guys on here use wood glue for what you did, but their glue lines are next to perfect, and it works just fine for them.

actually i scored both the Osage with a hacksaw and the bamboo. then applied the TiteBond III to both and let it soak in before adding more then clamping. That part I was pretty sure of.  I had seen this in several videos and knew that it was very important. yes, that glue job is very important for sure

[Tradslinger]

Tradslinger,
I chased some super thin Osage rings a while back. It takes really good light and I don't mean an LED. I'm talking sunlight at just the right angle. I sometimes had to go outside the garage with the stave and walk around until I could see the ring, mark it with a pencil, go back in the garage and scrape till I got lost and do the same thing the next day because of clouds, sun position, time of day....number of beers, etc. took forever and still ended up backing with rawhide just to be safe. Morale of the story is....good sunlight and patience is the key. Can I get an Amen?

I bought a 500 watt shop light just for this at Harbor Freight this weekend. but the eyesight problem was pretty bad, made a pencil line look all over the place. a sagging cornea is just awful. but hopefully the next time there will be no excuses.

[bownarra]

Good combination of wood to do that with.  If you are not seeing that well, and your glue line had gaps here, and their  you  would have been better served using smooth on rather than a wood glue. Epoxy has gap filling properties. Wood glue not so much. If you did the glue up with epoxy it should be a long term fix. Lots of guys on here use wood glue for what you did, but their glue lines are next to perfect, and it works just fine for them.

actually i scored both the Osage with a hacksaw and the bamboo. then applied the TiteBond III to both and let it soak in before adding more then clamping. That part I was pretty sure of.  I had seen this in several videos and knew that it was very important. yes, that glue job is very important for sure

NO, no ,no.....forget the videos and prepare the surfaces as the glue manufacter suggests.....TB must have tight fitting, perfectly mating surfaces.  It might hold after what you did with the hacksaw but it might not. No need for it to 'soak in 'either. All modern glues are excellent at wetting the surface. Just apply and spread it out. Clamp pieces together asap.

[Pat B]

If you point an osage stave towards natural light, in the direction of and not directly at the sun, the early rings will jump out. What I do is when I can easily see the early ring lines I will use a pencil to draw along these lines. I also mark the islands through a ring and put a big "X"  so I know where not to scrape.
 I've made quite a few osage bows with very thin growth ring and actually prefer them. If I am at all uncertain about the back ring of a bow I will back it with rawhide.
 Tradslinger, did you thin the boo to it's ultimate thickness(1/8" at the crown, at the handle area) before you glued it up?

[Tradslinger]

If you point an osage stave towards natural light, in the direction of and not directly at the sun, the early rings will jump out. What I do is when I can easily see the early ring lines I will use a pencil to draw along these lines. I also mark the islands through a ring and put a big "X"  so I know where not to scrape.
 I've made quite a few osage bows with very thin growth ring and actually prefer them. If I am at all uncertain about the back ring of a bow I will back it with rawhide.
 Tradslinger, did you thin the boo to it's ultimate thickness(1/8" at the crown, at the handle area) before you glued it up?

actually, I mainly got it flat the whole length with no places for gaps for in the glue. Ir was 1/8 and a little bit more at one end. but mosty around 1/8" at the crown of the boo. this was a salvage bow and a learning bow with the boo. I wish that my boo grew just an inch bigger in diameter than it does but it is what it is and it is free. I need to saw the boo lengthwise instead of splitting it because it does not split straight. I try to start off with the thickest thickness and diameter to get a usuable piece for the length of the bow. I also lightly sand some of the skin of the back to accept a stain. I may sand the nodes lightly to get the sharp ridges off but I leave them pretty much alone. I like the looks of them anyways. I am a hands on guy and learn a lot by actually doing somethng versus watching someone else. however, I also tend to research a lot (a gut thing) before I commit to doing it. I did this before the brain tramau but now really have to do it. I also tend to see how others are something and then weight all of them to get what I think and hope to be my best route. Years ago, six of us were trying to figure out how to tackle a problem at a CNC machine, we were going to have to build some things and somehow get them into position on this huge enclosed machine. This went on for several hours as we tried to think it out. the janitor with barely a 5th grade education stopped and suggested something. Everyone laughed after he left but I realized that he was right, and that was how we did it. Lesson learned, listen and weight it out.   

[bradsmith2010]

im a big fan of rawhide or sinew on thin ring,,