Faux bow trade 2022

[Allyn T]

I want to make a drying box for that and to keep moisture down on the summer.

[Black Moshannon]

I get that, I had one with light bulbs. The thing is im going completely non-electric as that is the point of bow building for me anyways, so I put mine down by the fireplace and later will do a mild to medium heat treat over coals. Here's the dry hickory, 61" long. I started crowing the back and reduced width some this morning.

[aznboi3644]

Good work guys. I wish I could join but something is wrong with my lower back and I can’t do much.  If I can get it figured out I’ll try and join in.  I have a maple stave itching to make some shavings

[WhistlingBadger]

Cool idea, guys.  I'm carving up a lot of juniper but getting lots of lateral knots and not at all sure if any of it will make a bow. 

Anz, I hope your back heals up!  Stinks to be down with an injury.

[BetterTrees]

It does stink to be injured. Hope you're better soon, Aznboi.

I got around to working this stave down today... I'm leaving sapwood over back of the handle. The earlywood under the last two rings of sapwood is an amazing green/yellow/brown swirl that I have to manage to show off when this thing is done.
I've never tried it, but I figure if I give it a heavy coat of poly covering the back, sides, and exposed end grain of the sapwood it should hold together.

[BetterTrees]

I got excited to share and should have put this picture on my last post, but I couldn't wait until I made it that far.

[Allyn T]

Dang man I hope your back gets better

[aznboi3644]

Come hell or high water I’m gonna chop on some wood next week.  Got two steroid injections in my butt cheeks this morning.  The inflammation has gone down a lot and a weeks steroid pack coming up.  Maybe I can he man through it and get it floor tillered soon

I’ve heard of edd Scott doing that to his handles.  Leaving a few layers on the back of the handle to build it up.  He made some amazing stuff.  Wish I could have bought one from him before he passed RIP.  His stuff was top tier like many of the guys here.

[Allyn T]

Don't hurt yourself, you have plenty of time to get a bow done.

[BetterTrees]

I didn't get it floor tillered. I was racing the checking sapwood as I chased a ring and decided to leave it about 3" wide for stability and seal the back heavily with some work left to do all over, but it's down to about 3/4"-1" thick in the limbs and a bit more in the handle area. Now it gets to dry.
I'll be back here in mid-late April and I'll cut out the profile and check the moisture in the center.
I'm skipping the garage, so I'm hoping for 10-12% by then.

I have seen pictures of handles like that, and it's super aesthetic. The goal is the best bow I can make, so I'm pushing my limits a little.
Y'all have fun, and you don't hurt yourself worse, Aznboi.

[Black Moshannon]

I got my piece strung today and tillered to 43 pounds at 26". It has 1/2" of reflex immediately after being unstrung. My goal with this is to have a light between 40 and 45 pounder to play with when im ready to start shooting again in mid April. Next im going to do another small heat treat on the belly and see if I can drop some weight and get the handle area moving a little more. Its currently weighing 13 oz.

[Allyn T]

Man you are cruising along Kenneth, that's a super light bow!

[Black Moshannon]

Man you are cruising along Kenneth, that's a super light bow!

Yea it’s an easy one, going to be good  for getting my form into shape once I get back to shooting. Hopefully I can get the mass weight down to 11 oz and keep the rested reflex at 1 1/2, that’s where it’s at now.

[mmattockx]

Just to keep this rolling and to show I am actually working on a bow along with all the other stuff taking up my time, these are formed maple lams I will be gluing into static recurve tips along with the forms I am using. The tighter radius form on the left was used to pre-bend these close to the final radius. The form on the right is the glue up form.



Glue up pics to follow when I find a few minutes to set it up and get it done.


Mark

[Allyn T]

Right on, I was just thinking about this thread the other day but I haven't finished my garage yet so I can work on anything. Glad to see you doing some bow work