bumpy...lol
only around large knots,and mostly flat.
lots of tricks to make "any" wood good bow wood.
....DONT wait till all moisture is out of the wood...rough shape and fill open pores of wood with bearfat/deertallow/grease...and in stages to slowly remove the last bit of moisture in the wood.
....make sure to compress wood cells every day you open up the pores to work, then seal every day you work on them...
....DONT BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU READ IN BOOKS ABOUT BIENG PERFECT.EVERY BOW THAT IS MADE BY HAND AND I BELIEVE EVERY BOW THAT IS MADE ON EARTH BE IT COMPOUND OR RECURVE OR SELFBOW...HAD SOME GUYS HANDS ON IT ....SO IT WILL HAVE DIFFERENCES, EVEN IF MINIMAL...THEY WILL BE DIFFERENCES.
i made this because there are alot of folks who say they just dont have bow wood around.
there is wood and scrub EVERYWHERE.
with selfbows, you dont need tape measures,hanging weights,sandpaper,3 different scrapers,a tillertree,a calculator,or a graph chart,or even a moisture meter.
you need to know wood.
know the difference between 2 different staves and why one "could" be better than the other.
it doesnt have to be pretty to shoot.
if you make the finest bow in the world and dont know how to make arrows/choose arrows you might as well make a spear out of the stave and chuck it at it instead of shooting an arra at it!
natural bows twist, will always twist,and will in the future twist....get over it its natural.
you all can boo hoo me off this thread about me breakin all the "so called basic rules of bowmakin" but i let the facts speak to me.
and the fact is...try not to make it MORE COMPLICATED THAN IT REALY IS!
you can spend a ton of money on the best staves,and tools, but truth is....sometimes when you walk out to get your mail....in the ditch there may be the finest piece of "junk wood" that will probably lay dorment and either get cut down by the power company or yourself as it is a nussiance to your front yard!
mbg
