Never judge a book? (pic heavy)

[tanner]

More like never judge a stave by it's log.... First it looked like this:



Then it looked like this:



Then this:



Annnd..... after chasing a ring and getting a good rasp and draw knife workout - it has become a beast:







My point with all of this slowing down your page loading with tons of pictures is that I really had my hopes up with the original log and quarter that it was going to be a somewhat straight-forward build, but now I'm amazed at how crazy the thing turned out to be after reducing. I'm not sure I have the skills for this one yet. We'll see how I feel after a little more reducing. This is a 70'' piece of red mulberry btw.

[Pat B]

You can see the swirling grain in the bark in the first pic. That log should have been split instead of being sawn. You may find other problems, not visible now, as you continue on with the process.

[tanner]

Hmmm - would it have come out less snakey had it been split rather than sawn? My misjudging the stave makes sense (I'm a no0b), but I'm still not sure I get the split vs. sawn thing in terms of what would have been different with the layout if I'd have split it.

[osage outlaw]

When you split the log it follows the grain of the wood.  When you saw it you cut through the grain if it doesn't run exactly straight.   

I hand split all my staves. 

[Carson (CMB)]

I prefer to hand split staves. But looking at your furst pic, the bark looks pretty straight, so I think your cuts will be fine.  If it twists during the next couple days of drying then, it was not cut along the grain, or it was and the grain is more twisted than it looks.

[tanner]

I guess my question is: If I split the log and the grain is swirly then wont it just split directly into the snakey monster  have now whereas if I saw it then it wont show its snakey self until i reduce it down following th grain? If thats true then I've only traded splitting pain for reducing pain, but in the end the stave is still the stave it was destined to be by natual grain. Please understand that i really dont know - just trying to make it make sense.

[DarkSoul]

I guess my question is: If I split the log and the grain is swirly then wont it just split directly into the snakey monster (...)?

Yes, it would, and that is exactly the reason WHY you want to split a log. If, just by chance, the log splits in a 180 degree twist, you'll immediately know you need to dump the log and use it for firewood. But if the log splits in a 45 degree twist, you can still use the wood by straightening the roughed out stave with heat or steam. A straightened, split stave will still follow the grain (whereas a sawn stave won't) which translates to the strongest possible wood.

In some situations, you can still decide to saw a log instead of splitting it. This could be the case if you will be backing the bow anyway, or if you will process the log to boards and/or laminations. Another possibility is if the log could yield two staves if sawn in half, but splitting might result in a run out, ending up in only one stave. Smallish logs (about 3" diameter) could be used for that. I've personally also sawn a yew log in half (as opposed to splitting) when I KNEW the grain was slightly but not dramatically twisted. I didn't want to straighten the stave, so I chose to saw the stave straight, because I knew the slight twist (maybe 45 degrees) would not hurt the low drawweight and strong wood species. But this is risky business and requires a 'feel' for the wood - not something I would recommend a beginner.

[osage outlaw]

Split the staves and let the wood talk to you.  If it twists or snakes, correct whats needed and leave the rest.  You can use heat and/or steam to straighten a stave out once its reduced down rough bow dimensions.  Check out Dean's build-a-long.  That is the grain of the wood that makes the stave snake like that.  If he would have cut that stave out with straight lines, it would have probably been worthless because of all the grain violations down the length. 



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