Limited space

[TimBo]

Wow, that looks like a nice log!  Hopefully it splits well for you - elm can be a bit resistant to splitting.

[Ricardovanleeuwen]

Almost debarked it now, tomorrow i will cut groovesin it with an angle grinder   (i know its not the safest option but its stikl an  option) ) and split it...
IF this log will split  cleanly in half,  would the diameter be big enough to quarter it?

[Eric Krewson]

Yes

[Weylin]

Your space is definitely workable. I spent all of last year working full time making bows professionally in a 12x12 shop with my staves in the ceiling. I even have a giant bandsaw taking up a quarter of the shop. I had an old sturdy picnic table screwed to the wall as a work bench with a couple of bench vises clamped to it. I use a Stavemaster made by Keenan Howard for most of my day to day tillering work. I had room for a tillering tree on one wall and room for all of my tools. It was tight but I made it work fairly comfortably. Here are a few pictures.

[Stoner]

Weylin , hope your ceiling joist are strong. Looks like the straw that broke the camels back. LOL

Jus' kidin' I use to do the same in AZ. John

[bjrogg]

really nice use of your space Weylin. I just did a long overdue cleanup of my space. It always seems a lot bigger after I'm done
bjrogg

[Weylin]

Weylin , hope your ceiling joist are strong. Looks like the straw that broke the camels back. LOL

Jus' kidin' I use to do the same in AZ. John

It was stronger than it looked but I eyed it warily sometimes.  I'm in a different, bigger shop space now and I'm not sitting directly under a thousand pounds of bow staves.

[aznboi3644]

From the video interview of Ed Scott he works on his bows in a shed lol.  It’s doable.

[artcher1]

With the heart of the log being off center you'll have to deal with lateral issues if you quarter your log. I would try for one stave off the compression side and one from the tension side. I would split like this...…...

[artcher1]

Can't repost your picture for some reason. Anyway, look close at the heart of the log and you can see the drying/tension crack starting. Just follow that crack...….Art

[artcher1]

Will try again!

[Eric Krewson]

I made my first 50 or so bows in a 5X7 area in the garage by the water heater. I had a 6' workbench, on the wall over the workbench I had my drying box and a rack for staves and bamboo, I had a tillering tree on the wall at the end of the workbench.

I stored my stave collection under the house, I tried the attic first but my staves checked badly, lesson learned.

I had 12" Craftsman bandsaw, a table top jointer and belt sander that I took outside to use, either under the maple tree in the front yard or on patio out back. I put dolly wheels on two legs of the bandsaw so I could tilt it onto the wheels and roll it about.

All this was before digital cameras and i don't think I ever took a picture of my work space.

Here is my first workbench and junk collector after I moved to a new house and built a nice shop and a new workbench. I put it up on Craigslist for free and a guy came and carried it off.

This workbench occupied most of my work area in the garage, I had about 3' between it and the wall. I had a vise and post arrangement to hold staves like I have on my new bench. It is hard to imagine all the bows I made on that bench, I had it bolted to the wall to keep it from walking across the floor when I was doing some heavy drawknifing.