2 questions for new white oak bow

[chasonhayes]

My next bow is from a white oak stave. I have removed the bark to the sap wood and rough shaped and dried it.
1. Should I back it? I have loads of deer skin raw hide.
2. I want to use some deer antlers for the string nocks. Does anyone have any resources describing how to do this? I didn't see anything in The Bible.

Thanks.

[Pat B]

White oak is a very strong bow wood. If the back hasn't been violated, no need for the rawhide backing. When you get to the time to add tip overlays get back with us and someone can walk you through it. Don't forget the pics as your build progresses.

[chasonhayes]

Will do.
Is it common to leave the bow a few inches long when doing initial tillering with the temporary nocks then cut off the temporary nocks before doing the overlays and making the permanent nocks or do most people incorporate the temporary nocks in to the final nocks?

[RyanY]

You should tiller with nocks at the same point from where they will be when you finish the bow. I don’t necessarily have temporary nocks for tillering. I often leave my limb tips a bit wide and then narrow them when close to final tiller where I will cut them deeper or shape them with the overlay. You could have nocks further on the limb and cut them off but you won’t know if you’re over stressing the bow or if tiller will behave the same way. Not much of a difference but it seems like extra work for no good reason.

[Pat B]

Leave your tips wide and add temporary nocks but like Ryan said keep it the same as your intended length. For temporary nocks I use a chainsaw file and make the nocks perpendicular to the limbs with a slight relief on the belly side and just deep enough to hold the string. Once you get to first brace and see how the string tracks then you can reduce the tips and add permanent nocks. However you don't need finished tips or handle to tiller a bow.

[chasonhayes]

Here are pics of my current progress. I roughed it out so it would dry faster. The current dimensions are 67" long, 2" wide full length, 2" thick at the handle and between 1-1 1/2" to the tips. For the belly wood removal I used the cut/split method and did not try to follow the line of the sapwood on the back which undulates a bit so some areas are thicker than others. Is this a good dimension to use for drying before trimming it down more?

[BowEd]

I personally would shellack the back just in case while drying.Probably over caution but at this stage I would want everything to go right.
Nice looking stave.Good luck.
White oak is on my to do list.Seen some fine bows out there made from it.

[Don W]

You could get it closer to floor tiller if you wanted. It would dry a little quicker. Letting it dry as it is wouldn't be too bad either.