Author Topic: Osage Bow (that hopefully doesn't take 10 months)  (Read 60825 times)

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Offline Marin

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Re: Osage Bow (that hopefully doesn't take 10 months)
« Reply #255 on: August 12, 2017, 01:53:55 pm »
Sorry, you don't have to add anymore if you want.
I think I may have figured out something that might work  I ll give you guys updates.

Offline Stick Bender

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Re: Osage Bow (that hopefully doesn't take 10 months)
« Reply #256 on: August 12, 2017, 04:14:00 pm »
Marin you can put nais in your board and put a flexible yard stick to bend around them to get the arc you want I recommended Gary Davis DVD because he has great forms and how to make them you want the most of your arc in the mid & outers on your form verry little from fades to mids !
If you fear failure you will never Try !

Offline xin

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Re: Osage Bow (that hopefully doesn't take 10 months)
« Reply #257 on: August 12, 2017, 05:31:55 pm »
I don't mean to sound unsympathetic to Marin, but I somehow find it difficult to believe anyone is as helpless as he appears to be.  In fact I suspect Marin may be " putting us on" with his helpless act.

Offline Marin

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Re: Osage Bow (that hopefully doesn't take 10 months)
« Reply #258 on: August 12, 2017, 06:53:45 pm »
Yep, I'm completely helpless. I don't know how to do anything right. It's not like I've chased a ring and shaped an entire stave from a limb.  ;)
Xin, I'm not trying to play anyone and I'm sorry if it comes off that way.
Sorry guys for all the questions.  I'm trying to be prompt and quick and you have all taught me so much. Thank you all if I haven't said it already.


(Update: I've got the caul ready and I'm going to use a heat gun this time. I might use live flame some future time.  Hopefully will have update on at least one limb by tomorrow)

Offline Marin

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Re: Osage Bow (that hopefully doesn't take 10 months)
« Reply #259 on: August 13, 2017, 02:58:13 pm »
Okay, so I made the caul yesterday and used it. I just decided to freehand and cut with a jigsaw. The bending occurs mostly at the tip. I clamped the limb handle down and heated the limb with deflex before clamping it down and waiting until the next day to unclamp. it was  sucessful! I'm not nearly as intimidated by heat treating as I once was but I'm kind of stuck on how to get the reflex out of the other limb. Their is some reflex in the heated limb but not nearly enough to match the other. Could I perhaps clamp down reflexed limb and place a piece of wood underneath it to make it "deflex" while cooling or could I leave the reflexed limb untouched? It certainly isn't as bad as deflex so maybe it's fine to leave it.
Here's the photos

Offline Stick Bender

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Re: Osage Bow (that hopefully doesn't take 10 months)
« Reply #260 on: August 13, 2017, 04:09:50 pm »
Your caul actually looks good to me just do the other limb at the same position on the caul to match the profile  did you heat the entire limb ?  If not it's probably best to heat the whole limb so the belly is the same consistency , it took me a while to get the feel for heat treating and had a couple corrections come out not using enough heat !  If you can get the other limb to match you should be good to go !
If you fear failure you will never Try !

Offline Marin

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Re: Osage Bow (that hopefully doesn't take 10 months)
« Reply #261 on: August 13, 2017, 05:06:53 pm »
I heated the entire limb, yes. I was just conflicted about doing the other limb as there is some reflex at the tip of it. If I treated it like the other limb, wouldn't the reflex just get more pronounced? I've attached a picture to show the reflex in the limb: it's only at the tip but already very pronounced, more pronounced then the reflex that I've now put in the other.

Offline Stick Bender

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Re: Osage Bow (that hopefully doesn't take 10 months)
« Reply #262 on: August 13, 2017, 05:56:18 pm »
Marin if you put the other limb on the form and clamp the handle down  and start from the fades out and start heating the limb and add some clamp pressure ahead of the area being heated once you get the heat above 350 Deg the wood will plasticize and become easily bendable  but don't force it , it will bend with very little pressure  providing your limbs are thin enough work your way down the limb and your limb will take the shape of your caul basically with some spring back , you can add wood shims  in areas to get the limb to match  it's kind of a play it by ear thing no real paint by numbers way as each stave is different  but don't worry if it's not perfect on the first go you can always reheat it on the form the better you match the limbs the easer the tiller going to be , it's a little awkward at first but you will get the feel , some times it's easy to over think bow making but the more time in the shop trying it ,it will get easer !
If you fear failure you will never Try !

Offline Marin

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Re: Osage Bow (that hopefully doesn't take 10 months)
« Reply #263 on: August 13, 2017, 09:06:55 pm »
Okay so I tired he other limb. I'm going to unclamp it tomorrow. I think I may have found a solution to matching the limbs which was to shim up the reflex part and clamp down the parts on either end of it. This has put a lot of stress on it though as it saw a crack on the belly in is area that is small.
I hope is works

Offline Stick Bender

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Re: Osage Bow (that hopefully doesn't take 10 months)
« Reply #264 on: August 14, 2017, 04:19:32 am »
Looking forward to seeing your profile pic before you take it off the form get some thin crazy glue and saturate that area and  losen the clamp right away if it's the one at the apex of the bend looks like it's on the outers there ? How wide is it there & how far from the tip ?  Marin this is kinda like the blind leading the blind I have only been making bows in earnest for the last 2 years and only working on my 11th bow but can only help you to the point of my limited exsperience ! But what helps me is I'm a compulsive reader with bow books , & then I go to the shop and try what I learned , but if people here hadn't helped me I wouldn't be at the level I'm at now ! But your doing good bud keep it up !
« Last Edit: August 14, 2017, 06:24:30 am by Stick Bender »
If you fear failure you will never Try !

Offline Marin

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Re: Osage Bow (that hopefully doesn't take 10 months)
« Reply #265 on: August 14, 2017, 12:50:39 pm »
Okay I unclamped it and found that the heat treatment got rid of the little bit of deflex at the tip but now the entire tip is reflexed. Should I just leave it be or could I bend it the opposite direction and heat? I was thinking about doing this bit or might just cause the limb to be deflexed, something I don't want.
I think I might have to re heat the other limb though. When first unclamped it was pretty straight but now it has taken a slight deflex. I hope that's normal . 

Offline Marin

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Re: Osage Bow (that hopefully doesn't take 10 months)
« Reply #266 on: August 14, 2017, 12:56:12 pm »
Stick bender, the area with the cracks was about 4" from the tip and 1 1/8" in width.

Offline Stick Bender

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Re: Osage Bow (that hopefully doesn't take 10 months)
« Reply #267 on: August 14, 2017, 02:04:31 pm »
The crack shouldn't be a issue that far out you can narrow your tips there to avoid it , sense this is your first stave bow I would put it back on your caul and try to get it to match your other limb but it's up to you , once you get it bending and thiner you can always reheat the profile you want but this is one of those calls that needs to be made by the guy making the bow , the more those limbs match each other the easer it's going to be to tiller making stave bows are a different animal compared to the board bow you made before like a good friend of mine says bow making is nothing more then problem solving 101 !
If you fear failure you will never Try !

Offline Marin

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Re: Osage Bow (that hopefully doesn't take 10 months)
« Reply #268 on: August 14, 2017, 08:49:00 pm »
Reheated the first limb and waited 5 hours. That seemed to fix the problem but ill do it once more tomorrow. After that, I heated the reflexed limb and tried something else. I just placed a block of wood under the reflexed portion but did not clamp the very tip to reduce stress. I don't Want to get rid of all the reflex, just some of it.

Offline Marin

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Re: Osage Bow (that hopefully doesn't take 10 months)
« Reply #269 on: August 16, 2017, 11:42:05 pm »
Okay i think I'm going to start floor tillering again. The deflex is mostly out and the reflex has been reduced enough. I figured out that if I thinned out the limb that was deflexing, I could get it to bend more which worked a little but now the limb reflexes but has a slight deflex in the middle. I think I'll just floor tiller and once I get  to short brace  try to reheat it.