Hickory bow build

[Muskyman]

Okay, I’m working on my second bow and I’ve kinda run into a few things I’d like to ask about.
This bow has a pretty good knot about mid limb. I’m getting close to the weight I’m shooting for an there is some decay on the belly side. About an 1/8th deep but the limb seems stiff right at the hump the knot makes on the back.. should I follow the back with the belly while tillering to get the limb bending right?

[superdav95]

It’s hard to say without seeing the bow. If it were me I’d go a little wider there at the knot and match belly thickness profile with back and see how it goes.  If the knot is near the handle it may not be a problem on a stiff handle bow anyway but again hard to say until we see pics of the bow.  I’ve cut right down past knots and left the limb area a slight bit wider too depending on your style of bow.  I’ve also left solid knots on limbs and been fine.  There’s a lot that can be done with glued and epoxy or ca glue if the knot is troublesome further along too.  Post some pics and should have better idea.

Dave

[Muskyman]

Thanks Dave. I’ll take a few pictures and post them later.
As far as design I think it’s 70 inches long tip to tip, I’ll double check that.
1 inch handle 4 inches long 2inch fades to 1 1/2 inches half way down the limb tapering to 1/2 nocks

Probably isn’t as free of moisture as it could be. About 14 percent on the pin type meter I have.
Did have some reflex but after working on tillering yesterday it lost some of that. Probably to much moisture to bend it the way I did. I have no patience. Need to learn to have some. Really beginning to see that now.

[George Tsoukalas]

I try to leave a little extra wood on the width. If there is not enough there then I leave extra on the belly.

I tiller the knotted area a little stiffer than the rest of the limb...just a little.

Jawge

[Muskyman]

Thanks jaw getting. Went out to my shed and took some photos

[Muskyman]

Trying to rotate

[Muskyman]

Last one, the limb with the knot is by the clamp

[Muskyman]

Another picture

[Muskyman]

Just to show knot location

[superdav95]

MuskyMan.  If that knot is solid I would proceed and even heat treat the bow to induce a little backset and then have another look at what your tiller looks like.  If it’s not very solid and is little punky in spots you could saturate with super thin ca glue and proceed.  If you go this route and are thinking of heat treating this bow do the heat treatment first then use the ca glue otherwise you’ll melt it.  From the pic to me it looks like it’s mostly staining and seems pretty solid.  It’s tough to tell exactly from the pic.  Also make sure you slowly heat this bow up to drive out the moisture to below 10% before actual heat treatment process otherwise you’ll get checks in the limbs.  It won’t do too much to hickory as far as performance but it’s unsightly and could develop into longer checks if not addressed with glue.  If it were me and it was solid and not punky or soft at all I’d try clamping the bow it to a form and do a heat treatment on it to get a great performance bow.  What draw weight you hoping for?  Also consider that the heat treatment will increase your draw weight too so you’ll likley need to scrape down some anyway which may eliminate more of that knot discolouration area.  Just a thought.  Best of luck with it and let us know how you progress. 

[Muskyman]

Thanks Dave, really appreciate the input from you. By the way, the hickory horn bow is truly a masterpiece.

Posting the best closeup picture I have of the knot. I’m thinking I’ll try to make it the top limb.
By ca glue I’m guessing you mean the thin/original super glue?
I’m shooting for around 50 lbs at 30 inches for draw weight
Also I had planned on heat treating this bow over a charcoal pit on a form. I’ve probably already done damage to the bow by drawing it to about 29 inches on my tillering rack.. at least I think I did, can’t remember for sure. I been fooling around with some other bows. I’m hoping fire hardening will help it some. Also hoping as I proceed most of this knot will get removed.

Thanks again for your thoughts..
Mike

[Muskyman]

Close as I can get to the knot

[Muskyman]

At 18 inches draw

[superdav95]

Thanks muskyman!  The close up helps.   Don’t be discouraged by that knot.  It looks little punky in the hole but don’t  loose hope I guess is what I’m trying to say. Try the heat treatment and go slow then fill in with some super thin crazy glue to really saturate that spot and see where your at with the tiller.   I usually don’t go to full draw before heat treatment but I have done it before on some of my earlier bows and they shot just fine.  In fact you can bring some new life into tired bows if not stressed too much with some heat. I’ve made bows in the past and shot them in and then added the heat treatment later to see about 5-10 pounds draw added.  Doesn’t happen this way all the time but I think you be ok here.  Some guys on here use a heat gun set up to do the same thing and as they move along down the limbs belly they add a pine pitch type resin sealer and melt it right into the heated belly as they heat treat. I’ve done this with some good results too.  Marc st Louise is the master at this.  Look up some of his posts for a good guide on how he does it.  I use the hot coals fire pit method and I can get 3-4 bows done at once.  To eachs own.  What poundage are you at now at 29”? 

[scp]

I would put it away and start with a clean stave. If you must, you can come back to it after making a dozen or so selfbows. Good luck.