another white oak shorty

[Jodocus]

have gone nuts building bows.

Obviously. That's some nice bows you posted. And an impressive output!

[lesken2011]

Real nice shorty, Howard!! You braggin on white oak all the time is what made me try it. It sure is good stuff!!

[burchett.donald]

   Unbelievable bend! Wow......
                                               Don

[danny f]

thats a little cracker. you got some real bend in that, well done.

[H Rhodes]

Thanks a lot fellows.
 
JonW,  I sure appreciate your comments - your bows have been an inspiration for me and I can see that the belt sander is the way to go.
 
Kenny, I think that working with that good Mississippi white oak will spoil a fellow when you compare the difficulty of working with almost any other white wood.  It splits good, bends good, and heats good.  It's holding high on my list.

I am getting back to the yellow wood pretty soon though.  I have a fine looking stave roughed out and drying....  stay tuned - more to come!

[Hamish]

Nice bow! Did you need to put much reflex into it before tillering?
             Hamish.

[H Rhodes]

Thanks Hamish.  Actually it was made from a half split of a four inch sapling and it dried into about three inches of reflex, all of which pulled out during tillering, leaving me with about an inch or so of set.  I did flip the tips a little during the heating process, to help with the string angle some so it wouldn't pinch my big mits while drawing the string,  which left the bow right at zero after shooting in.  White oak without the heat tempering process is tension strong, but can be very prone to taking set - heat treating it is the key to getting the most from this species.    I have had best results with toasting it right after low bracing the bow for the first time.  I have a sister to this stave that I am trying to figure out what to do with...

[Josh B]

Oh my! What a bend you got there! . I've made some white oak (actually burr oak) bows in the past and I was always happy with the results. After seeing this, I can see that I was seriously sand bagging on pushing it to its limits.  Very impressive, very impressive indeed Sir!  Josh

[H Rhodes]

Thanks Josh.  I have had really good luck with swamp chestnut oak and  burr oak, but my best results have been from true white oak - quercus alba - it's the stuff.   Toast it and pull the hell out of it - you won't be dissapointed.