question about roughing out bow profiles and following the grain

[rcoen2]

So,

I'm still pretty new to bow making and I have a question about following the grain and profiling bows out of staves.  As you can see in these photos here, I've done my best to find straight wood, but pretty much all of my staves that I've roughed out have a S curve to them, or sometimes a C curve.  Not in the sense of a character/snakey grain, but just in a slightly off kilter waviness.  This I feel looks kind of weird, usually, throws off the string alignment, requires heat bending, and makes tillering harder (for me). 

My question is, do people sometimes fudge the grain line in staves like this and just profile out straight bows, ignoring the slightly waviness to the grain line? It seems like it would be so much more ideal to just make the bow profile/staves straight in that way for aesthetics, less work, and easier tillering.  But my concern is that this would somehow compromise the bow in someway or have a negative side effect.

Advice and thoughts??

IMG_4384 by Ryder Coen, on Flickr

IMG_4385 by Ryder Coen, on Flickr

IMG_4387 by Ryder Coen, on Flickr

IMG_4386 by Ryder Coen, on Flickr

IMG_4388 by Ryder Coen, on Flickr

[George Tsoukalas]

I don't know but you should follow the grain. Jawge

[Hamish]

Learn via following the grain. Its not too hard to adjust with heat, if necessary. Get the bow to floor tillered state before heat correcting. The limbs will be thinner and easier to bend.

[stuckinthemud]

Follow the grain, it avoids grain run-out

[Don W]

I suppose it's personal preference, but I prefer my selfbows not be perfectly straight and smooth. I prefer performance over esthetics, but I think some character in a selfbow is good.

I'm not close to an expert, but I've got enough broken bows under my belt to know the more you follow the grain, the happier you will be.

[PaSteve]

Guess I'll reiterate "Follow the Grain"... Less surprises later in the build. Do as Hamish said, wait until floor tiller stage to make corrections. Much easier to move less wood with heat.

[Morgan]

My 2¢. If you’re going to build self bows, you’re going to have wiggles, jogs, bumps, and dips. Just the way it is. Follow the grain, keep the strain even and you will be mostly successful, don’t and you’re wasting valuable time.

[RyanY]

I think it also depends on the wood species as some more than others can tolerate twist in the grain for stave bows. However, you’ll always be risking that being a reason that the bow blows up. Maybe not right away but some point in it’s lifetime. The other benefit of following the grain is that working the wood becomes extremely predictable. Cutting straight through small wiggles makes carving undulating grain a pain with bladed tools a pain.

[meanewood]

Those staves are about as straight as you will get, so you may as well accept that you either need to correct them with heat to attain a centered string alignment or if the bias is to one edge, then leave it and make that side the shooting side and this will reduce the paradox a little.

[Selfbowman]

Those look like good staves. I would rough out following the grain. Rough the bow to about 5/8” thick on the limbs. Heat the limbs straight as possible. Then put desired reflex in if that’s what you want. Finish the back and start the tiller. Floor tiller and then straighten the bow some more if needed put over lays on and then finish it up. Yes I am sold on heat them till they are straight. Shoot better with less shock. That’s the truth as I know it. You will like the performance I promise you. Do you have to do all that no. But if you want a real good one it’s worth the time. Character may be cool but it’s not fast usually. Just an opinion. Good luck with your build what ever you decide. Arvin

[Del the cat]

  ...Those staves are pretty straight!
Following the grain is important with some woods, no so much with others.
Look at it this way, a bow is tapered (generally) so you are going to go across the grain to some extent.
With Yew and I'd suggest Hickory, Elm and some others, the amount of run out on those staves is minimal.
It's a matter of degree.
But on the other hand, they are so straight you may as wall follow the grain and have a little waggle here and there.
As long as the ends and the middle line up, a few waggles don't matter. Leave the tips wide until the bow is back to about 3/4 draw and braced, then you can adjust the tips to correct the string line if needed ( or make a slight heat correction)
Ram rod straight bows are a bit boring.
Here's a couple of staves that really need steam bending to get 'em straight.
Del

[Selfbowman]

Yes Del straight ones are boring.🤠 But it’s been proven they will shoot real good. To each his own. It’s all good. Happy bowing!🤠🤠🤠