Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: jrmeza on December 13, 2014, 07:00:03 pm
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Hey there PA forum, quickly I'm running out of day light! I am trying to chase a single growth ring on an osage stave and i just can't get a smooth single ring. Ill get like 50% and then ill notice small violations in the ring i had running. I theorize this is because i have a cheap stainless china draw knife which already has some knotches in the blade. Any quick fix for finishing off a smooth growth ring? I already got 90% of the work done but i cant do any fine tuning with this dinged up blade. Thanks guys as always!
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I never try to chase a final ring with a draw knife. I'll rough down the back with a draw knife then switch to a straight or goose neck scraper to chase the final ring. You'll have much better control with a scraper. Unless the ring is very flat and uniform, a goose neck scraper is indispensable for me. Others may use other tools, but my scrapers work great for me.
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I use a spoke shave and scraper on the final ring.
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take a file or stone and take out the dings,,
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Yep, use a scraper. You can probably get to the crumbly early growth ring with the drawknife, but resist the temptation to keep going! (I have to have this conversation with myself regularly when chasing rings...)
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Also, just because you TOUCHED a ring barely enough to mark it doesn't mean it's ruined. Obviously, you don't want to cut deeply into it, esp across. And if you can see the next ring down, , or knocked down a knot, you messed up. But hovering reverently over the winter ring above the one you want and rubbing laboriously down to it with 280 grit paper isn't necessary.
A tiny, barely visible, longitudinal tool mark simply might not be a problem, where a transverse nick or gouge likely would.
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JR,,, are you sure you are using it properly?
Not trying to insult your intelligence here.
I use a draw knife with the taper of the blade up when roughing out a stave.
When you chase a ring, flip the knife so the taper is on the back side and you can use it as a scraper.
I have done this many times to remove a winter ring, and have not violated a ring yet.
Also get you a fairly large fine stone and get rid of those nicks in the blade.
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+1 BowJunkie. Bark to back with the drawknife, flipping it bevel side away from me to use as a scraper. Lite sanding to remove the tool marks.
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You guys do it differently than most of us. Bevel down on the drawknife all the time for the most control and no gouging works for me and all my bow making friends. If you you have to take the final grain off with a scraper all the time the you aren't using your draw knife properly.
I wouldn't attempt to follow a grain with a nicked up blade drawknife, I would straighten it out on a belt sander, or toss it and buy a good one off evilbay or at a flea market
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I agree with Eric here, bevel always down. I might turn it over now and then for something odd but for the most part bevel always down. I find the draw knife best for chasing the final ring but you obviously can't get into dips and valleys with a draw knife so you will need to switch to a goose neck scraper. I round the corners on my card scrapers for this job.
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Draw knife all the way for me as well
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I would never consider using a drawknife upside down as "normal". I've never had trouble chasing a ring using a drawknife in the manner it was designed for.
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I would never consider using a drawknife upside down as "normal". I've never had trouble chasing a ring using a drawknife in the manner it was designed for.
Me neither works better that way too more controll
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I don't know what upside down is with one. What I do know, is that bevel up I can hog bark, sap wood and heart wood off in a hurry. Bevel down for the finesse work, and bevel out with the blade at a right angle to the back as a scraper. For me this is just using the tool in different ways to maximize it's effectiveness. If it's a bit unusual, well I am left handed so most things are somewhat unorthodox to start with.
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You can chase 1/16" rings with a drawknife just fine. The trick as said is using it bevel down. This is not true on all drawknives but most. use the scraper to cean up as you go on the final ring, sometimes its hard to tell wisps of early growth siting on to of the ring from a whole other ring.
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Wow this really erupted into quite the debate!!! I suppose i do have a number of methods i can go about. I would have to agree with the folk who use the draw blade in the "normal" manner as the bevel on my blade is really steep, so if i flip it upside down, its just rubbing a round peice of steel on the wood. I would agree that i "should" be able to do it all with my draw knife but the original problem is that my knife sucks. So im gonna give the scrapers a go around because i dont have a means to fix the blade at the moment. Thank you so much for all the help guys!
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Sharpen it and keep it sharp. Buy or make a cover for it(split a chunk of garden hose). I have two knives, one is as sharp as I can get it, the other is dulled for bark removal. When I say dull it's a controlled dull, a few swipes with a stone, not bounced around in a tool box dull. Even the dull one is smooth, no nicks. Both of them have covers.
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I used to wade into the bevel debate with my battle flag flying and sword swinging. Fact remains, it doesn't matter a lick. Draw knives fall into two categories, one where the handles are parallel to the flat of the blade and one where they are not. And even that does not matter, because everyone can shift their grip on the handles to accommodate the tool to being bevel up or bevel down.
What matters is TOOL CONTROL. Do you have enough strength in your hands, fore arms, shoulders, and back to control the tool while exercising enough force to do the job?
Secondly, a nick in the blade is not going to gouge deeper into the stave than the rest of the blade. You would need something projecting out from the blade to do that. If you leave a mark on the stave, it will be a raised bit of wood that can easily be removed with a lite lick of a scraper tool.
Now, for the debate on sharp versus dull, I am a commissioned officer in the ranks of the sharper is better army!
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Right there with you. Never let mine get dull. The sharper it is the less muscle I put into it and the more control I have.
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Not to interrupt your thread but I have only used mine with the flat bit on the bottom(bevel up I guess)?and gentle prying up the wood as I go.that being said I have only made a handful of osage bows so i'm no expert to say the least!
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I don't sharpen mine very often but I found out a few weeks ago they hold an edge for a long time through a lot of bows, somehow I ran my thumb across it gently and it sliced the hell out of me. I seldom ever use a bandsaw to rough one out anymore, I use the draw knife right up to final tiller then switch to a scraper and a rasp.
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I don't have time to just sit and scrape to a ring, drawknife everything until actually attempting to floor tiller. I've found what works for me, but definitely get those dings out. I buy most my bow making tools at antique shops and flea markets/garage sales. They really don't make stuff like they used to. Go on the trade section and maybe u can work something out with someone. If I had an extra I'd send it to ya. Tools make the man, the man makes the bow, and the bow makes the meat
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JW has it right and I was a little hasty in my conclusion. Lots of drawknives of different configurations out there. All of mine are straight blade with the handle on the same plane as the blade. I have picked up curved blade and offset handle drawknives at flea markets and relegated them to wall ornaments because I couldn't get them to cut worth a hoot.
I guess one would adapt to what ever you start with and make it work for you. In my case it is a huge, straight blade debarking drawknife that I can really make hum, I have stripped off somewhere between 200 and 300 osage staves with it.