Elm Build-along (Pic Heavy!)

[Zion]

Hey guys, i've decided to attempt a build along. A while back, (maybe a month) i got two pieces of chinese elm off of a fallen tree that some workers had cut down. (They also destroyed about 4 other trees, all of them quite large...) One of them had been sitting on the ground, and a large chunk had been ripped off the front when it had fallen. It was quite straight, so i took my axe and cut it off. I let both of the staves sit in my barn for awhile, and today i split the one with the chunk ripped out. It split very well, and now i have 2 beautiful, ( from the outside) staves. I'll post the pics of what i got done today.

[Zion]

When i removed the bark i found quite a bit of rot and bug damage, but got the back cleaned up with my drawknife and pocket knife.

[Zion]

I began to do rough work on the belly.

The only thing that concerns me for now is the potential failure of the back since it was damaged by so many bugs... i might have to get rid of this ring of sapwood and chase a ring. For now i will let it dry a bit. The stave is 59" long, and i'm going for a flatbow type design, mostly because of the sketchy back. I'll keep it plenty wide for now and see what the back does.

[ionicmuffin]

Very cool! cant wait to see how this one turns out! Good luck 

[Dean Marlow]

Before you take much belly wood off I would clean up the back and get rid of the bug damage. You might need some of that belly wood in your handle. It all depends on how deep the bugs chewed on it. Dean

[Marc St Louis]

Yes I would also chase a back ring to get rid of any damage, easy enough to chase on Elm

[Zion]

OK, i started chasing a ring. The rings on this are quite thick, so i'm glad i have something easy for my first ring chasing....

However, though the rings are thick, my mind/knife coordination is just as thick.  I cut through the ring i was chasing a few times after trying to rush it, and i had gotten 3/4 of the back done too... oh well, i'll just chase the one i cut into now 

Here is a pic narrative of my progress:


And by the way sorry for being so slow, i have quite a few projects going right now, plus i want a nice elm bow for my 'collection.' 

[ionicmuffin]

looking good! keep it up!

[randman]

More! More! I wish I had gotten the addiction at your age. Looks like you got a barrel of rough shaped staves to work on there for the winter. Try turning your drawknife over and using it bevel side down. You'll have more control, can shave paper thin shavings and can bend it up out of a cut if it starts to rip too much of a splinter. Bevel side up it wants to wedge itself down deeper into the cut. Also honing or polishing the beveled edge (after the grinder edge) with a nice waterstone will give you a razor sharp and smooth edge for slick shaving (it also makes it much less work). Coarse stone first then a super fine stone for a mirror shiny finish on just the very edge. You can see the saw tooth like marks the tool is leaving on the wood because if you look at the edge of your knife with a magnifying glass, you'll see a saw tooth like edge. Just my humble opinion from someone who's used edged carving tools for many years. You do great work!

[Zion]

Thanks Muffin, i'm pretty hopeful for this one.

Randman, thanks for the advice! I guess i haven't paid much attention to my drawknife's edge. Now that you mention it,  turning the drawknife over makes a lot of sense for this application! I'll get down to a nice ring soon, and then i can focus on making the bow....

[Jodocus]

Interesting. Keep going, I'll watch. 

I like the bows you posted so far a lot. Great work, good to see how you do that.