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Offline bobbykelley

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red elm knot
« on: December 12, 2014, 09:30:32 pm »
Hey guys. I have a red elm with a knot in the limb and was wondering if I took too much wood off the sides where the knot is. It is a little over an inch wide at the knot. Thanks for any advice.
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Offline Thunder

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Re: red elm knot
« Reply #1 on: December 12, 2014, 10:00:08 pm »
Hey bobbykelly,
How about a little more info and a couple more photos of the knot and limb?
It might not be much of a problem but its hard to tell. 8)
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Offline SLIMBOB

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Re: red elm knot
« Reply #2 on: December 12, 2014, 10:02:24 pm »
Don't know where the knot is on the limb.  If that is near the fade, may be a little narrow.  Near the tip, you might be fine.  I will typically leave the area swelled around a knot like that and bring it down to finished dimensions at floor tiller.  Better to follow the grain a little more carefully as opposed to squaring the edges up like you have done.   
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Offline bobbykelley

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Re: red elm knot
« Reply #3 on: December 12, 2014, 10:44:04 pm »
Sorry I should of given more info. It is 15" from the tip. Here are two more pic's. Yeah I knew the knot was there just wasn't watching when I took off the sides. It's easier with board bows. But I'll get a good bow out of a staff yet. I'm not going to give up.
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Offline SLIMBOB

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Re: red elm knot
« Reply #4 on: December 13, 2014, 07:53:07 am »
Take a pencil.  Draw a line on each side of that knot starting at the widest spot, right on the edge (should be at a right angle to the center of the knot) and follow the grain carefully, going both directions, both edges.  That is what your profile should be.  Measure between the lines and see what you have.  15 inches from the tip puts it very near mid limb.  You will be under 1 inch wide, handle side of the knot.  Understand that with any width taper, there will be necessarily, some violation of the grain that is perfectly acceptable and unavoidable.  The angle of that violation is the key.  Around a knot like this, the angle will increase sharply at spots, and that can be a problem if your not careful.  Draw the lines and see what the degree of violations will be. Touch up the lines if you need and see what you end up with.  Needs to stay a little stiff (flat) at that knot in my opinion anyway, so you might be ok with it.
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blackhawk

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Re: red elm knot
« Reply #5 on: December 13, 2014, 08:50:58 am »
You need to follow the grain that goes AROUND knots....you didn't. IF(big if) that is red elm it might be OK as its a subtle violation and elm is strong in tension,and you also have long length on your side as well. DONT REMOVE ANY MORE FROM THAT AREA!!!
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Offline bushboy

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Re: red elm knot
« Reply #6 on: December 13, 2014, 09:18:52 am »
Hard to tell from the pics,but I leave the branch part of the knot stand out bravely by about 1/2".also a good reason to be careful when using a chain saw for limbing ,more often than not the branch will split right down into the mounded growth rings.i cut them   long with a saw then trim with a sharp knife in upwards strokes in a tree standing orientation. Hope that made sense?
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Offline PEARL DRUMS

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Re: red elm knot
« Reply #7 on: December 13, 2014, 10:15:22 am »
Bushy is right on. If you leave a stub at the knot, its more likely to stay intact. That type of flattened knot is more likely to crack. Personally? Id put rawhide on the whole bow after seeing that. I don't care for how flush it is, and I can see several rings down around it, its half the limbs width or more, and right where the limbs bend most. Just not a good knot to leave bare in my opinion.
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Offline Springbuck

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Re: red elm knot
« Reply #8 on: December 13, 2014, 11:28:39 am »
Some good advice already given, but let me simplify even more for you.  Mark out the profile you are going for on the back, like where you want the tapers, etc, ignoring the knot.  When you are happy with that, go back to the knot, and measure how wide it is on the belly.  Add that amount to the limb width and draw rounded lines to blend it into the taper.
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Offline bradsmith2010

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Re: red elm knot
« Reply #9 on: December 13, 2014, 04:15:41 pm »
good advice given,, the lighter you make the bow, better chance of success,, overbuild the bow as far as the draw length is concerned,,
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Offline bobbykelley

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Re: red elm knot
« Reply #10 on: December 13, 2014, 04:34:27 pm »
Thanks guys. As with most of my wood I got them from someone else. So I didn't cut it. This bow was 2 pieces that I spliced together. I did put the knot in the middle but I didn't leave enough around the knot. I will try and make the bow around 35# to 40#. I was already thinking of wrapping some sinew around the area or putting raw hide on it. I've had a large raw hide for some time now but just haven't used it. Now that I look at the back more there are some cuts near the handle and by the knot so I guess I should clean them up and try my hand at the raw hide. Again thank you.
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