load of fence post

[bradsmith2010]

heat gun and maybe steam for sure,, I took mine down another ring,, looking pretty good considering how it started,,just out of respect for the work Randy did to get the wood here,, I gonna try my best to shoot an arrow from it,,not going to try to re invent the wheel,, just a nice simple bow that shoots,,,

[bradsmith2010]

made a little progress,, I was not expecting it to turn out this nice,, I thought there was some wood in there,, but this piece exceeded my expectations,, it was fun to find the treasure in that post,, now if I can get it to bend,,   I have enough wood to go down more rings if I want,, almost enough to get a bow off the belly,, but trying not to get greedy,,I have ruined staves before trying to get too much from it,,

[bjrogg]

That's looking really good Brad. Just think how long that bow has been waiting for you to find it and bring it to life. I think this is awesome.
Bjrogg

[RandyN]

Brad that is looking great. I knew that stave found a good home with you.

I ran into a bit of an issue today. I think as I continue shaping the bow they will both resolve themselves. One of the limbs has a check between midlimv and about the 8" mark. I think I have an idea how to get rid of it all together and still have a mid limb that will be about 1.25" wide. Take a look.

[RandyN]

If you remember in an earlier post I decided to work around a couple knots. I found this in the center of one of the knots today. It is close enough to the fade area so I don't think it will be a problem if it falls out, which I expect it to do. If it does the plan will be, leave that are thick because the limb will be down to about 1" wide in that area.

[bradsmith2010]

where is that knot in the bow,, non working part?

[bjrogg]

Don't like that knot. It's running through at a bad angle. Hope it's not a bend area.

How much wood flows around it between it and back of bow?
Bjrogg

PS I might be looking at it wrong if it's more than one knot

[RandyN]

Ever run into a problem making a bow and think you will just sleep on it. You wake up at 3:15 with a clear picture so you drift off to sleep again only to wake up and go, What was I thinking. Well that happened to me this morning.

Maybe a little better description of what you are looking at in the pic of the knot. The darker wood, concave side is the side of the bow. The round knot itself is the belly of the bow. Since I have not decided on a length to make the bow, this area can definitely fall into the fade and be a non-working part of the limb. It would work out quite nice doing that because that could be the arrow side of the bow for a right handed shooter, which I happen to be.

Now to bjrogg question,,,there is a strong 1/2" of wood over the knot. The total thickness of that area is 1 1/4". The limb width at the knot is 1 1/4" wide. So I think I still have options.

The options I see right now, after lack of sleep are;
Continue to work the bow making this area part of the fade.
Cut the bow off just above the knot and make a shorter backed bow.
And ?

Brad will be getting a visitor today and we will talk it over.

[bjrogg]

I'm thinking if you got a good 1/2" around it for your back that either option should work.
Make it what you want.
Bjrogg

[RandyN]

I went to Brad's today with the stave. He thought maybe a better pic of what I was talking about might help others see what's going on. So here is the pic. you can see the knot above my hand. The pic is of the belly side of the bow. My hand is where the handle will be. So the area with the knot will still be in the fade and non-working.

Thanks again Brad. It is so nice to able to talk to Brad and let him see what I'm talking about and then get the best input I could ever ask for.

No bow work today. Hopefully I'll have some time tomorrow. I am having trouble resizing the pic tonight. I will try again tomorrow.

[Hawkdancer]

Oops!  No pic !  I'm following this because I have a couple of Osage that should at least make a kid's bow, and hopefully a bow foe Little Fiddle Woman!
Hawkdancer

[RandyN]

Sorry for the delay with the pic. I could not get ti to load last night. Here it is. Does not look as bad in this pic.

[RandyN]

OOOPS. It would help to slow down and attach the pic.

[bradsmith2010]

just as a side note,, my stave started to check a bit more when I got it down to a nice ring, I think the climate here is so dry that even a cured stave can check,, anyway I coated it with paint and will go down another ring, I have plenty of wood,, at that point I will just work with what check are there, as they are in the middle of the limb and not going to cause a problem,, I just got carried away trying to make it look nice,,probably gonna sinew back it anyway,,, what was I thinking,,

I think putting the stave inside,, was the main cause of checking,,and the climate change,, it came from up north close to colorado,,must have been more humid there,,

[RandyN]

I noticed a few checks in my stave as well. I never imagined a post lying on the ground for a long period of time, that had a ton of natural checks, would check some more after I removed what was left of the bark, down to a single ring. Still learning something new with each bow I make.

Brad was worried about his art work on the back of my bow. I spent maybe 5 minutes with a scraper and removed it. No damage done to the ring. However, I am headed to to the Mayo Clinic in AZ tomorrow with my wife so no more bow work until next week. I will see if the checks get any worse while I'm gone. If so, I can take it down at least to the next ring if I have too. I still have plenty of wood.

Here is the pic of a clean back stave.