My caul and how I use it

[DC]

This is my caul. The squares are inches. The small curve is the recurve. I steam this in first. The rest of the curve is glued in(Perry). I do one limb at a time so the bits of tape mark where the handle sat, where the clamps were and any notes about gaps or whatever I think is important. I make the belly side of the handle flat and clamp it to the caul before I put on the other clamps. I test bend the belly piece on the caul before I epoxy because it's an awful mess to clean up if it breaks. Hope it's understandable.

[DC]

And here's a bow fresh off the caul. This one is Boo backed Ocean Spray so I don't really know how it's going to go. It hasn't been tillered yet.

[Badger]

That will be an interesting build, good ocean spray is a 1st string bow wood all the way.

[DC]

I've always had trouble recurving OS so I soaked it for a week and bent the wood the "wrong" way so that the outside of the stave was on the outside of the recurve. It stopped the tension breaking but it split up the middle on the inside. I just went with it and made sure there was lots of epoxy in the split when I put the Bamboo on. Next time I'll make the wood thinner. In the recurve with the boo to support it I can cut the OS about 3/16" or maybe less thick and It's gotta bend nicely then. I can splice on tips but for some reason I rebel against that. Any way soaking it seems to have reset the OS's drying timer and now I have to wait for it to stop losing wait. OS never seems to get thoroughly dry.

[scp]

Looks real pretty; but way too aggressive for my taste and skill. Thanks and good luck.

[bownarra]

Cutting a kerf and working the belly down to one ring and you can bend just about anything

[Sagebrush]

My OS tends to split on bending as well.  I love the stuff but it isnt as fast as yew or VM.  Unbelievable in compression right? You could get away with a very narrow profile.  This should be a fantastic bow with the boo.  Cheers!

[DC]

Cutting a kerf and working the belly down to one ring and you can bend just about anything

OS falls in the just about category . It is extremely stiff. Kerfing definitely helps but even then you can't expect good results. Maybe half will split. I'm not sure how easy it would be to chase a ring. It's a very homogenish(sp?) wood and because a large one is 2 1/2" dia chasing a ring on the belly results in a HLD profile.

My OS tends to split on bending as well.  I love the stuff but it isnt as fast as yew or VM.  Unbelievable in compression right? You could get away with a very narrow profile.  This should be a fantastic bow with the boo.  Cheers!

I've wondered if it's just the weight that slows it down. I did chrysal my first bow(OS) so it can be done. The only problem I've had has been pins on the crown of the back. The boo should solve that issue. With this much reflex I'm a little chicken to make it really narrow but if this one shows any promise I will work toward that. I think OS is a good candidate for a thick boo backing since the OS is heavier than boo. With this bow before tillering the OS is just over 1/4" thick at the fades and the Boo is knife edged and it won't bend.

[DC]

Well I needed a little more wood in the fades. It took a couple of inches of set, almost all in the fades. I may splint them just to see. I got 180fps the way it is but the tips are still heavy. I'll fiddle with it a bit.

[Badger]

 About 15 or more years ago I built an OS 48" recurve, about 1" wide with a high crown and it was drawing 50# @28"  took very little set. I was very impressed with it. I don't remember how I did the curves now.

[Sagebrush]

I cant wait to hear the final specs.  I've started wrapping the pin knots and rawhide wrapping, and or decrowning and backing with silk.

[DC]

I realised that if I glued the new bellies on tonight I could have a fullish day tomorrow so I just got that done. I sanded the bellies to 3/16" thick and the tubes three layers thick wouldn't bend them an eighth inch. Had to sand a curve in it to get it to run up the fades a bit. It'll do for what I want to see. I squeeked a little reflex back but I don't know how it will hold. Tomorrow

[DC]

185fps is the best I could do. The reflex didn't come back so it ended up with 2" freshly unbraced and 2 1/2" rested. I have 6 straight OS billets that will work. The next one will be better built, I'll make the billet taper from 1/2" to 1/4-5/16" so I can get recurves. I may kerf them. I will heat treat it, OS likes that.

[Sagebrush]

Strong work.  I'm still five yew trilam projects deep before I can get to to my OS and bamboo. Can you post some finished bow pics???

[DC]

I could but it looks like just about every other bow I've made in the last year or so. I'll post a couple of pics here.