Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: bootboy on March 21, 2008, 09:19:48 pm
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Im making another longbow this one from hickory. However I have encountered a knot it the wood in a few spots. Any suggestions.
Photos to come soon.
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You beat Me to it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! >:D >:D >:D
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heres some photos of the knot
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and another view of it.
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That is nasty. That already has a crack in it. I think you should choose another stave. Jawge
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Part of the knot also appears sawed off. I usually leave those knots wide. Let the grain swirl. But you can't do that with that stave. Jawge
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That is nasty. That already has a crack in it. I think you should choose another stave. Jawge
Yes, what George said. The knot is too close to the edge and the crack hits the edge, it is doomed. If you had even 1/4" of good wood on the outside of the knot you might have a chance. Justin
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What George and Justin said....this Piece of wood is destined to be Firewood....that knot is in the edge...it has been sawn in two....and the thing is already cracking into the Belly....even Backing this Bow would not suffice....I would quit wasting time on it and get a new Stave to work on....Sorry that I have no good words for this Stave...except maybe Goodbye :(
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I would fill the crack with glue, then wrap sinew around the knot... 1-2 layers going with the length of the bow, then 1-2 layers wrapped around the stave. this should hold the stave together. Another trick is when tillering the bow, keep this area a little stiff and tiller more above and below the knot. It will still shoot but it will releive a lot of stress on that area and your bow should stay together.
good luck
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Personally, I wouldn't waste any more time on it. You could spend many hours on a marginal piece of wood like that, and end up with firewood. Pick another stave, and relegate that one to the burn pile.
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What if I where to drill it out, then add a dutchman's plug , then sinew it??
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You are the One that has to make the Final Decision....but look at the People that have given you advise....and weigh it in....there are a few of them that have been doing this for quite a while now....I think you will make the right decision.. :-\
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Personally, I wouldn't waste any more time on it. You could spend many hours on a marginal piece of wood like that, and end up with firewood. Pick another stave, and relegate that one to the burn pile.
Like the man said "Gotta know when ta hold em an when ta fold em !"......bob
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Personaly I would make a new handle for my mallet or chisel Handels cause that stave is inviting injury. :)
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If I wasnt in need of a bow I would try to fix it like Bowstick said just to see if I can. Joel
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Meh, I chopped it down from 7'2" to 67" Its still pretty hardocre.
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I went through 14 BL staves over the course of 3 years before I got my first shooter about 1992 or so. There were several reasons for that. First, I had access to very little info then. No internet. Not many books. I had some help from Bog Holzhauser at Silver Arrow Archery, my mentor. He helped me evaluate my tillers. Second, I didn't know how to pick good bow wood. I was cutting my own at the time. Third, I was learning by my own mistakes on how to work knots and twists in wood. As a beginner, I just didn't have the skill level to work some of those staves. Some of them are propping up tomatoes now in my garden. LOL. Honestly, I am not sure I could get a bow out of that stave unless I backed and wrapped it with sinew like Bowstick advise. If I'm going through that amount of work on a stave it will be on a pristine stave. Not that one. Haing said this. Go ahead and work it, Bootboy but do use a tillering tree so you an stay away from it when it is bending. . Make sure that knotted area doesn't bend much. Wrap it with artificial sinew set in glue right after floor tillering. You'll learn from it but the chances of getting a bow from it are pretty slim. Jawge
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thanks jawge.
I completely removed the knotted area of the stave the rest is pretty much clear. I think its bending around 90lbs rough guestimate.
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I could't really see anything on here about how to avoid a knot. So would someone help me out with this. Do I carve the knot somewhat its a ball sticking off the side of the bow?? and then remove from the other side. Thats somewhat the understanding I have of it. But I dont know how much to remove or from were. How much do you leave. This is all assuming that you can't avoid having that knot in your stave to begin with.
What do you say about someone helping out us beginers, and possibly doing up a "how to" in the forumn.
It would be super cool if someone did that.
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You need to study the Knot...figure out the Grain around it and leave wood accordingly....always leave more meat around a knot especially one that is on the edge of the Bow...also always try to lay out the Bow where you can miss them completely...when possible....here are a few of them on some Osage Bows of Mine that I have finished...see how there is more wood left around the knots??
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(http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d124/NorthShoreLB/super%20snake/PA%20bow%20Month/DSCF0006.jpg)
(http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d124/NorthShoreLB/super%20snake/DSCF0004.jpg)
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I would probably cook brats with it,but I have plenty of wood so if it was the only piece
I had like bowstick said you can probably fix it with sinew and glue.It is always a risk and to
me not worth it unless you are just looking for something to do.Myself I have plenty to do
so I wouldn't wast my time.Like others have said if you have the option leave some meat around the knotnext time and maybe a little less bend it that area and they usually work out fine. :)
Pappy
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wow awesome photos mates! thanks for all the help. This stave I had would have been high poundage, so i guess I did the right theng and piked it by 18 inched MWAHAHA!
Seriously though fellas you're all a priceless resource and a great help to me thank you all.
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If the knot is solid you can just build a bow around it. You don't have to remove it. If it is loose or rotted you can do like Manny and Yankee and get rid of it.
The problem with trying to patch something like that is it is less than 50-50 odds and when you sinew or wrap a limb you cannot tiller that area and will wind up with a hinge on either side which is almost as bad (or maybe worse depending on who you ask) than a broken bow. :-\ I think you made the right decision. Unlike Pappy I don't have an unlimited supply of wood, in fact it is pretty scarce around here. But I have learned that I can make 2 bows in the time I can break one like that by messing with it. Time to work bows is harder to come by than wood most of the time. Justin
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Here... Here....I agree totally....No excess of Wood here...but I would rather make less Bows that work....than to mess around with a Bow that is destined to failure!!