Osage static build (session 5 (the last) added)

[simson]

This is a making of a new static, how I usually do it.
I'm aiming for about 60#. The stave is very nice, but a little twisted and a sabre.





One side shows growth rings absolutely o.k., the other a bit thin – but I have to go with it. The stave was worked down to a growth ring several months ago, but there are some deep drying cracks on the outer limbs going through at least three rings. I hope, I could avoid them.

The stave is 61” long.




After the first clean up:




Lay out of handle, 1” above, 3” under center. Fades are marked 3” from handle. The limbs are divided in 10 parts and marked with a pencil. Of course the parts are different length in lower and upper limb.

I do not mark a center line lengthwise the stave. I let the draw knife search the line. Using extra sharp blade makes it easy finding the grain. The result is a parallel stave (front) from fade to tip. From there on I make the side taper by fading out with long draws with the knife.

First one limb is worked out, how I like the front profile, then the parts (pencil lines) were measured and the other limb is made the same. I work here very exactly.  My measurements are made with a vernier caliper. The thickness is only rough worked down to a parallel thickness, for orientation a parallel line is drawn on both sides of the stave. The limbs were tapering out to the tips to a square of about 5/8”.














here is the left over from the first reduction




 Now for the recurving. The next pic shows my boiling machine, made from an electric cooker (from grandma), a cooking pot, an old plastic salad pot and a flex plastic tube (allows even boiling character staves). The stave is fixed in the tube with some cloth, so the steam and the heat remains in the tube. I heat the thing for about 30 min.




here is the simple caul (made in 2 min) from a plywood board. On the stave you can see the green line for rough thickness.




I use two short cauls for the recurves, this allows doing both recurves in one session. I let them cool down over night.

[IdahoMatt]

Very cool build so far Simon.  Can't wait.  I like the steamer

[ssgtchad]

I love build alongs I just hate waiting for them to finish.  Thanks  for sharing the knowledge.

[Peacebow_Coos]

Awesome a Simson buildalong!

[Will H]

I'll be watching this one closely. 

[Danzn Bar]

I'll be watching this one closely. 

Same here ....Will H
DBar

[Badly Bent]

A Simson build along....., I'm in for seeing every bit of this one. Go slow Simon, I'll be taking notes.

[dwardo]

Going to look forward to the updates
That steam bending rig is brilliant. Is the bendy tube heat resistant? I imagine it is if so whats it called so i can look some up?

Thanks.

[Aaron H]

yep, I will be keeping an eye on this one...

[Pappy]

Looking good so far,nice looking wood you are working with.
  Pappy

[George Tsoukalas]

Looking good. Never heard of that wood. Jawge

[simson]

Thanks Gentlemen,
today no time to continue, maybe tomorrow!

Going to look forward to the updates
That steam bending rig is brilliant. Is the bendy tube heat resistant? I imagine it is if so whats it called so i can look some up?

Thanks.

Dwardo, this is a HT- Pipe.  HT= high temp., it is used by the plumbers for installation. I got mine from IKEA for cheap. The clou is it has a fitting for a horizontal pipe, which I use for boiling inner parts of the bow. When I find the time I will make a pic from that equipment.

Looking good. Never heard of that wood. Jawge

Thanks Jawge, the wood is osage. Perhaps you meant the wood from the other thread which is cornus mas, a kind of dogwood. It's called cornealian cherry

[simson]

some pics from my boiling machine, here with the horizontal pipe used for boiling midlimb or at handle







the flex pipe allows boiling snakeys or character staves




here is a quick sketch about the layout, should have made it in session one …  just to clarify the system




Now let's go on:

I don't trust in the old chased ring, I go for the next and let portions from the old on handle (allows to round out on the back) and tips (perhaps I need them, we will see).








looking down the stave you see the limb is off about 2-3”. forgot to say: most of the twist was corrected with the recurving job.






The string alignment was corrected with boiling midlimb, did come along nicely, but still 1½” off. I will do the rest with dry heat .

I will go for a deep handle on this bow, but the stave wasn't thick enough. The handle is planed down for a glue up.




I found a nice piece of plum heartwood, which I also prepped for the glue line …






a few rough rasping …





a bit sanding ….










Now for the thickness. Here is a pic  were a green line is drawn parallel (about 11/32”). you the mark “fade”, I hav egiven up the short fades (3” from handle) and decided to go for long fades (looks much better). So graduation mark 1 has become my new fade.








Working out very carefully to the green line, of course from fade to tip. I try to get a smooth transition from handle to fade. The tips, and recurves are let thick, this is a job for later. As said I use a razor sharp draw knife with a thick blade and a steep angle. This makes it easy to work exactly to a given line and you can get nicely curls




as you see above, working down the thickness to the parallel line creates an automatically taper from fade to tip.

Here is the leftover from session two




And this is how it looks like now










with all the interruptions for taking pics I (fool as I am) have forgotten doing the heat correction. I usually do this at the handle, but I have already glued on the plum! Only chance is bending in the fade. After measuring string alignment with a piece of cord it shows a bit more than 2” off. The handle is secured with alu foil to protect it from the heat.








the ruler shows me how long I have to heat. After the bending job, I let it cool out for at least 2hours.

[simson]

I know it sucks to wait for the next session, but perhaps I can do it upcoming weekend

sorry for the wait

[Will H]

Looks like it's coming along nicely! Couple of questions for ya.
1. How long are your fades now. I too like the looks of longer fades but usually consider 3"-4" long by my standards.
2. Did you seal the handle area or fade before steaming? In my experience not doing so results in many unsightly checks.

Again I love your work and only ask to learn from your ways of doing things.