Short D bow question (birch D bow buildalong)

[willie]

I've never used birch but I wouldn't worry about that crown. I commonly use wood that is crowned a lot more than that.

I agree, I use birch with crown like you have in the pic. of course birch here may not be like your birch, and a lot depends on the tree itself as for how much it will take. I like your plan, and would watch for set developing as you tiller. you can always lower you weight goal or temper the wood if you run into difficulties.

a follow along sound cool!

you will certainly get a lot of comments and help if you post pics along the way

[Parnell]

X2 on what Pearly is thinking...if a heat gun is difficult to come up with then get some hot coals.  Be all authentic, also.

[burchett.donald]

   Set is not failure, it is natural...It is our nature to fight it though...Can't go wrong with some heat on Birch...My friend Rich made some great Yellow Birch bendy bows...I have one of them that was not heat treated and it has 1" string follow @ 57"

                                                                                                                                                                         Don
                                                                                                                                       

[SLIMBOB]

Don’t know anything about Birch. But a 66 inch working handle bow can be ideal. I agree with DC that the high crown is fine. Preferable in some cases. The most remarkable bow I ever made, so far as my opinion goes is a 66 inch Osage with a working handle. High crown, knots on top of knots. The onlyest way to keep it together was go long and spread the bend out. 70 some odd pounds at 27 inches and sweet as honey.

[zoomer]

Working on it. No vise. My rasp is dull (after rasping ONE bow). Width is about done. 2" mostly. Maybe when I sand it (some places have rather deep hatchet cuts) it would be a bit less. But no taper yet. Now reducing thickness with a chinese hatchet. How thick the handle should be when I put away the hatchet and start using the rasp? The narrowed part on the limb had a significant ring violation. So I decided to just rasp it away. Having enough width, I consider this a correct problem solving. The stave has some twist and deflex also.

[zoomer]

I may heat it on an electric stove. It's big and is in the kitchen so it will be hard to clamp it. I'll try though. Or just keep it over with hands.

[Santanasaur]

If it’s hot enough to eventually scorch wood it’s probably hot enough. It’s better to have something too hot so you can moderate temperature over distance. i’ve bent crooked bows into shape over an electric stovetop, that worked well enough. I’ve never done a full heat treat on the stove but have seen it on youtube before. Can’t remember who it was. Just keep  things moving so you don’t burn the bow.

A rasp should last for many many bows. If you feel like you’re swimming in an ocean of rasping maybe you need a tool that fits between your hatchet and the rasp to remove medium amounts of wood, like a spokeshave or drawknife. Farriers rasps are nice because they usually have a second handle for extra pressure on the cut stroke. Make sure you’re not putting pressure on the return stroke because that’ll dull a rasp much faster.

[zoomer]

I haven't put pressure on the return stroke. The rasp is very cheap. The hand tool market is very poor where I live. I have a German half round rasp, a round one, and a Russian file. The handle on the round rasp is not fit parallel to the iron! Brands from Europe, but made in China...  There are good rasps though (not made in China) online. The draw knife would be useful, yes.

[DLH]

I have a mueller drawknife that’s made in Austria if you see one give it a try. I have one and really like it I got it for $50. Not sure how available tools are there I had to order this one from a supplier not directly through mueller.

[zoomer]

Just found 2 major ring violations. Paul Comstock wrote in TBB v.1, "Other Bow Woods":

It is certainly not to be recommended, but I have made bows like this and leaving in the gashes from the draw knife. And the backs of these bows are in great shape!

Should I leave it as is?

[simk]

i don't see any relevant ring violations - you are fine - sure it's a good idea to integrate that pin on the second pic completly in the back =» as you already did with the pencil lines - leave some extra wood there on the side as the grain flows around that pin  go on!

[willie]

i don't see any relevant ring violations - you are fine - sure it's a good idea to integrate that pin on the second pic completly in the back =» as you already did with the pencil lines - leave some extra wood there on the side as the grain flows around that pin  go on!

I agree with simk, a ring violation is not a natural abnormality, but a damage  on the back caused by carelessness when removing bark.

consider heat corrections when the stave is much nearer  to being  final thickness and width. The up and down in the back is typical in birch and I never try to remove it, I just work with it. Does comstock show a sketch of how? not all twist has to be remover to make a shooter either

[bassman]

Here is some pics of a 44lb,at 26 inch draw Birch self bow I just finished that tillered Ok, shoots 149 fps average with a 425 gr arrow , and is the wonkiest bow I have ever built. Top limb does a nose dive,and strung ,and unstrung profile is horrible. I have put a couple hundred rounds through it. No set, but no reflex . 2 wide at fades to 3/4 at the tips at 58 inches long. Heavy belly heat treat, and built green to finish in less than 20 days. I built it on a uniform caul from the beginning, but this is how it turned out.

[willie]

looks like a challenging bow to tlller, bassman. could you post some more pics? perhaps in a dedicated thread? I would like to comment more, but the OP might feel like his thread is drifting off topic.

[bassman]

zoomer, I asked if I could post some pics. You said it was Ok. Sorry if I stepped out of line. I thought it might give you a little insight on Birch wood. Willie Pm me. Pat B delete the pics if I am out of line. I had good intentions, and was just trying to help a little, and I am glad Pearl corrected me on Hair dryer deal.Never used one ,but it seems like you have lack of resources. Hope your bow turns good, and you hunt, and shoot some game with it. Good luck.