Violated?

[PatM]

One molecule deep is a violation in my book.

 
Really ?........ Pat M
DBar.........

Yep.

[mikekeswick]

One molecule deep is a violation in my book.

 
Really ?........ Pat M
DBar.........

Yep.

Agreed 100% 

[mikekeswick]

Just think about it. What is wood composed of?
Dean Torges book Hunting the Osage Bow has the best description of how to chase a ring that i've read anywhere.

[DuBois]

Thanks to everyone who chimed in on this.
Hey Kevin  Yes it has been a while. Got a little busy and bumpy for a while but all is pretty much well.
Hope you are doing great yourself bud.

Pat M and Mike, I could see how it could be called violated at 1 molecule but then wouldn't all bows be violated once sanded? And, would it mean you would scrap it or back it then?

I am gonna keep going on this bow and just try to feather it as Sleek and Okie said.

Hello again Pat B, and I agree. For some reason super glue has some magical reassuring quality so it's getting a dose of that too.

[PatM]

 No need to sand the back if the bark is removed properly. When working to a growth ring you can stop with a dusting of the early growth and sand that off without going into the next layer. The point is that it is pretty easy to work a back without slightly gouging it and calling it good.

[DuBois]

Yep, I do like peeling bark off and have a lot of wood that is un-violated in that manner. That to me seems easy.
Pat, you must have sharper eyes and subtler hands than mine. I guess I am a butcher sometimes  I did real good on all of it but had that one moment of not being 100% clear in the lighting or sure of the stroke, and the hands just went ahead and did it before the brain stopped em.
Know what I mean folks?

[Badger]

  Unless a back is perfectly flat or oval you need to use a scraper along with a draw knife to chase a ring. Once you hit late wood if there is early wood left in grooves you can take it out using a scraper with rounded but sharpened corners on it.

[Marc St Louis]

If it's a white-wood then using wood right under the bark is the way to go, unless there is some problem with it.  I have chased a ring on many Elm and it's not a problem "violating" a ring if the rings are thick enough, as long as at least 50% of the ring is left.  With Osage I generally try to just remove the early wood but sometimes when removing a ring with a drawknife you will get some tear-out and as long as there is 50% of the ring left then I don't worry about it. 

The thickness of the ring has no bearing on percentage but very thin rings are too sensitive to ring violations.

[DuBois]

Thanks Marc. I have over 50% left there for sure.

[mikekeswick]

No need to sand the back if the bark is removed properly. When working to a growth ring you can stop with a dusting of the early growth and sand that off without going into the next layer. The point is that it is pretty easy to work a back without slightly gouging it and calling it good.

Again 100% agree.
If I gouge a piece of the ring i'm aiming for I give myself a smack on the head and go for the next ring. Like most things with wood bows you can go a bit fuzzy on the edges of 'the rules' but for me a perfect ring on thee back is an absolute necessity before carrying on with the bow. I don't like investing time into something I know isn't 100%.

[George Tsoukalas]

Just wondering how one would know if he/she has gone a little way into a ring but not through completely?
Jawge

[PatM]

 Obviously early growth is exposed on a completely cut through ring.

[PEARL DRUMS]

Im with Marc.

[Marc St Louis]

Having a full ring is always preferred but sometimes that is not the way it goes and chasing the next ring is not an option.  When that is the case then using what is left of the ring will work as long as you don't cut through.  Having a full thickness growth ring with some wood species is the only way to go though but not with Elm, Osage, Hickory and perhaps a couple other species.  They are strong and/or elastic enough in tension to tolerate this.

[PEARL DRUMS]

I sand out and blend slight tear outs on nearly every osage bow I build. Who wants one?