Author Topic: Hickory Self Bow...with a knotty character  (Read 8737 times)

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Offline huntersteve

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Hickory Self Bow...with a knotty character
« on: January 11, 2010, 02:13:06 pm »
alright guy's....I've started working on a Hickory self bow.......it has a very large knot with a pin hole all the way through it....I have the stave worked down to where it's bending about 4-6 inches.....what I need help with is how to proceed from where I'm at....how to deal with this knot....I tried to follow the grain and leave plenty of wood around the knot....I'll try to post some pics....thanks for any and all help...Steve

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Offline huntersteve

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Re: Hickory Self Bow...with a knotty character
« Reply #1 on: January 11, 2010, 02:15:30 pm »
a couple more pics....

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Tryon,N.C.

Offline huntersteve

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Re: Hickory Self Bow...with a knotty character
« Reply #2 on: January 11, 2010, 04:07:10 pm »
Here are some close-ups of the knot.....

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Offline artcher1

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Re: Hickory Self Bow...with a knotty character
« Reply #3 on: January 11, 2010, 05:41:50 pm »
If that's worm damage I'm seeing in your last pic then you should just move on to another stave. ART

Offline billy

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Re: Hickory Self Bow...with a knotty character
« Reply #4 on: January 11, 2010, 05:59:09 pm »
awww...screw that knot dude.  Hickory is some damn tough wood.  Just tiller it carefully and slowly.  It should be fine.  I have a hcikory bow I made with a similar knot (though not as large as yours).  And it's fine.  I can shoot the hell outta that bow with no problem.  Now make a damn bow out of it!!! 
Marietta, Georgia

Offline El Destructo

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Re: Hickory Self Bow...with a knotty character
« Reply #5 on: January 11, 2010, 06:17:21 pm »
Steve ...in the Last Picture that You posted ...there are some tracks in the Wood...are these Bug Damage...or is this just the texture of the wood? If that is the Wood violated by either Bugs or tools....I would Nix this Piece of Hickory...but id this is Natural Grainage....then don't let that Knot scare You...looks like plenty of Meat around it...so go slow and tiller this Puppy out to a Badassed Bow...and remember ...more Pictures!!
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Offline huntersteve

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Re: Hickory Self Bow...with a knotty character
« Reply #6 on: January 11, 2010, 07:29:32 pm »
I think the "tracks" your talking about were made by me....tool mark...I lost 10 oyher staves out of this group because of insect damage...only saved this one and 2 others....are the tool marks going to spell the end to this stave...that would really stink.....I think I'll try to tiller it anyway for the practice......it's really stiff in the knot area...do I remove wood from the belly of the knot?? Any and all guidance here will be appreciated...thanks...Steve
Tryon,N.C.

Offline El Destructo

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Re: Hickory Self Bow...with a knotty character
« Reply #7 on: January 11, 2010, 07:47:42 pm »
If this is gouges and tool marks going through the back of the Bow...yeah...I would either throw it out...or back it with at least Silk...more like Sinew to protect it and keep it from Failing....JMO

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As a species we're fundamentally insane. Put more than two of us in a room, we pick sides and start dreaming up ways to kill one another.Why do you think we invented politics and religion.
Think HEALTHCARE Is Expensive Now,Wait Till It's FREE
Do Or Do Not,There Is No TRY
2024...We Will Overcome

Offline akila

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Re: Hickory Self Bow...with a knotty character
« Reply #8 on: January 11, 2010, 07:55:50 pm »
HI,,,to be onest i wouldn think aboute that tool mark to  much.....iff its not to deep, i think it should be fine... that area will be stiffer aniway, so i dont think it should be a problem.....the know u should leave it alone on the back.....just tiller the bow on the belly.....and dont aspect  the limb to bend to much on that  knot area...that zone will be a little stiffer thenn the rest of the limb.....i would  put that limb with the knot in it, to be the lower limb ...this way u can make that limb a little stiffer....its just my opinion....good luck with that..

Offline artcher1

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Re: Hickory Self Bow...with a knotty character
« Reply #9 on: January 11, 2010, 08:19:19 pm »
Even if those aren't worm tracks your wood looks dull, dry and pithy. Pretty much what you would expect to see in wood that's deteriorated. Have you any scraps lying around to do a bend test on? ART

Offline huntersteve

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Re: Hickory Self Bow...with a knotty character
« Reply #10 on: January 11, 2010, 10:11:14 pm »
thanks for all the responses.....I had already planned to put the knot on the lower limb.....i think I'll keep working on the tiller just to see if it's capable of making a bow....I hate the thoughts of just tossing it out without at least trying.....Time will tell....thanks again...Steve
Tryon,N.C.

Roger

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Re: Hickory Self Bow...with a knotty character
« Reply #11 on: January 11, 2010, 10:56:47 pm »
Prolly got huge rings....sand paper is your friend...

R.

Offline Pappy

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Re: Hickory Self Bow...with a knotty character
« Reply #12 on: January 12, 2010, 06:56:43 am »
Go for it,just leave that area a little stiff like others have said and it should be fine,Hickory is tough as lone as it was kept in the dry while curring and isn't dry rotted. :) That is a mighty big knot so you won't want to to bend right through that area much at all,Just get some weight off of it but leave it thick enough not to bend.Good luck.
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Offline huntersteve

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Re: Hickory Self Bow...with a knotty character
« Reply #13 on: January 12, 2010, 07:18:22 am »
This will be a whole different ballgame for me....so used to trying to keep both limbs bending evenly on all the other bows i've built...and now having to tiller a bow where you know there will be stiff spots that you have to leave....I'll post more pics as it goes....thanks...Steve
Tryon,N.C.

Offline Pappy

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Re: Hickory Self Bow...with a knotty character
« Reply #14 on: January 12, 2010, 07:36:31 am »
Just get it bending a little before the knot and just passed the knot and it won't be that bad.
Be careful not to get a hinge in those 2 spots,kind of like coming out of the fads.  :)
   Pappy
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TwinOaks Bowhunters
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