Character Osage Build - Now a Takedown - Finished!

[Diligence]

Stick with it....this will be a beauty

[Postman]

Good luck! - this is a really interesting thread

[gstoneberg]

I'm sorry it's been so long since I've updated.  My wife asked for a pergola for her birthday so I've had a different kind of woodworking project keeping me busy...and tired.  I'm secretly hoping it rains this afternoon so I can get back in the shop.  I know it's off-topic, but here's what I've done for her so far in the last few days.  George

[HatchA]

 

That ain't a pergola...  it's a small to medium comercial building site!!!

Nice job, George!  Your wife should be very happy with that and you should be damn proud!!

(and yes...  bring on the rain... )

[gstoneberg]

No rain, but the pergola is done.  Hopefully I can get back in the shop now.

George

[gstoneberg]

Well, I put the bow on my tillering setup and 2 things were instantly apparent.  One, is that I'm waay too heavy yet; and two, trying to pull the bow imposes a significant sideways torque on the handle.  I've always used a loop of rope to hold the bow under a bow scale and that does not work with this one.  I'm going to have to create a different attachment approach (which I should do anyway).  I'm happy that the bow is still so heavy, I'll be able to take quite a bit off the limbs and make the bent part flow into the rest of the limb without a width change.  I had the camera with me, but I didn't get enough bending to show any tiller yet so I didn't shoot new pictures.

George

[gstoneberg]

Well, this bow intimidated me so bad I ignored it for a couple months.  Tonight  I finally sucked it up and began to work again.  First I had to make a U-shaped clip to hold the bow on my bow scale for tillering without letting it twist.  Then, I started taking off wood.  The straight limb is normal tillering, the crooked limb is something totally different.  It was doing all its bending in the crook, so I treated that like a hinge and haven't touched it.  I took it very slow and at the end of the night I think it is bending enough to cut string nocks and make a string for it.  I don't have the string running through the handle so I fired up the heat gun and bent the straight limb a little.  In the morning I'll bend the other limb.  I still have a long way to go, it pulls 45 lbs at roughly brace height.  I didn't realize when I took the pictures that I wasn't pulling from the center of the bow.  For the purpose of getting a string on the bow I don't think it matters.  I think both limbs are too stiff in the tip, the crooked limb more than the straight limb.  There's a knot just outbound of the crook that's making it tricky.

George

[youngbowyer33]

wow great job so far, the tiller is coming a long nicely

[gstoneberg]

Well, the bow broke today.  I was afraid it might when I started and it did not disappoint.  I had it tillered to about 26" so it was close.  I was pulling it trying to see how it was bending through the crook when it went "bang".  Interestingly, neither limb appeared to fail, it just got easier to draw.  I felt the failure in the lower limb but didn't find a thing wrong down there.  However, when I looked at the crook I discovered it had cracked clear through the bow, back to belly.    The crack is about 6" long and nearly centered in the limb.  It looks a little like a weather check when the bow is unstrung, but opens up when the bow is strung.





I did take one picture of it strung, but I didn't get any pictures drawing it.



I could glue the crack back shut and sinew back it, but my suspicion is that it wouldn't be that good a shooter and could still blow up in that crook.  I'll probably order a set of sleeves, cut the bow just north of the handle and build another limb to match the still good lower limb.  I have a sister stave to this one that is in the first picture of this build, it would be a good match.

George

[youngbowyer33]

maybe just wrap it and glue it then make it a bow with short draw?

[HatchA]

Damn...  shame it went and did that...  Was enjoying the build along

[Diligence]

Too sad!  I really was pulling for that bow to survive.  It has the most severe curves I've seen.

D

[gstoneberg]

It is too bad, it was an interesting bow.  I did learn that you cannot align the string through the handle without the bow strung on a bow this crooked.  I put the bow stringer on one limb, pulled the string through the other limb tip and saw that the string was 2" outside the handle.  So, I got out the heat gun and bent the straight limb till it lined up.  Then I strung the bow and the string moved an inch sideways...I'd bent it too far.  Had the bow survived I would have had to take half the bend out of that limb tip.  Oops.

I'll mourn the death of the bow for a bit, then work another limb up for it and either splice them together or build a take-down.  I've nver built a bow with recurved tips and might try that.

Thanks for the kind words,
George

[Postman]

This was a very interesting buildalong - Sorry it blew up on ya    good luck with the next one.

[gstoneberg]

I ordered a takedown sleeve from 3Rivers and have had it for a bit.  With hunting season approaching I got back in the very hot shop today and began the process of turning my blown up crooked bow into a takedown.  I started with the sister stave to the one I used for the crooked bow and sawed it down to just the straight section:



Then took it down to a growth ring, lots of insect damage.  I'm beginning to think it'll be a short sinew-backed recurve.



Finally had to take the sawsall to the crooked bow...first time I've ever done that.  Kinda painful.  You sure can tell they're sister staves.  Gonna have to take some of that bend out I put into it.  Feel good about it so far, sure was hot though.  Summer in Texas makes it tough to get in the shop.  Interesting how much the wood has darkened on the bow.



George