Any New Bows??

[litekpr]

Hey guys,
Just wondering,,,,a friend of mine does chainsaw carvings, he had a problem of the wood splitting because after shaping down with saw too much surface area allowed too much drying too quick.
He usually uses pine or poplar and sometimes on smaller ones hardwood.
He did some research and found a mixture of anti-freeze and something that he spreads on the pieces while shaping and it prevents the splitting, after finishing and before painting he turns them upside down and drills a hole and fills it with the mixture then plugs the hole.
This prevents checking after.
This mixture doesn't stain the wood or change color at all.
For the carvings that will be inside as opposed to outdoors 24/7/365 he has used Teak oil, and some with Linseed oil these tend to richen and deepen the look of the grain and wood and look very nice...natural.
I have used Linseed on woodwork outside aboard ships and it stands up very well to salt water weather.
NOTE: One of the Linseeds either boiled or raw....after applying with rag, put rags into stove or fire because they will ignite on their own just sitting, in a garbage can especially...spontaneously on their own. Can will have a warning on it...it's one of those warning to heed.
KPR ;D

[archeryman57]

Just wondering---what?

[litekpr]

SRY,
If his stabilizer mix may help with the wood exploding?
KPR ;D

[archeryman57]

The reason why your buddy has to use his concoction is because he is using the whole of the log. Lee Valley sells a product for his purpose called PEG.
The wood explosion is caused from over stressing the wood. When the wood has a low tensile strength you can expect that.

[biggame]

How long do you allow staves to dry? What material do you put on the end of it to prevent checking? and are you supposed to remove the bark before drying.

[archeryman57]

You allow staves to dry til they are low in moisture content. paint , white glue or peg will work on the ends, or leave them a couple of inches long and then cut the checks off later. You can remove the bark if you want or take it off later. It comes off easier when it is green. Some woods will attract bark beatles if you leave the bark on.

[biggame]

With out a moisture content tool, how do you tell it is dry enough?

[archeryman57]

I tell by looking at it and by the way it cuts. Depending on where the wood is stored and for how long will determine the mc.

[alpo]

the first attempt at the yellow birch went BANG on sunday morning!
I had taken it down to almost bow dim's a couple of months ago, and got back at it saterday night, had it bending smoothly with the long string and everything was going along so nice i was thinking about what stave to start on next.... ( note to self, "do the handle contours last, as firewood does not need to be sanded to comfortably fit the hand" )

[huntwisely]

I have two on the go - Yello wbirch is a nice wood - sorry it went bang - any knots, etc to blame it on

Come to New Annand on the Mother's day weekend - and build abow -or shoot in the primitive shoot. This 2 day event is always a good time !

[alpo47]

The stave had lots of character, and apparently a character flaw!
It was salvaged from my firewood, so its just taken longer to get
to where it was originally going anyways.
The built-in excuse appears to have been a little patch of dryrot, not a knot,
altho I thought I had thoroughly looked it over, where the break occured
it does have a bit of a pourous, blackish spot in the 2nd growth ring
from the back.
I have another stave from that same log, and will look it over even more
thoroughly before proceeding.
I won't likely make the New Annand shoot or bow building clinic, altho it
is very tempting, it is also a considerable drive & my weekends are short
enough, and are already over booked.

[sticks]

alpo, you're on the list to be contacted when we have a bow making night. Bit rough getting together during fishing season.
Somebody asked how you know if wood is dry enough.
Weigh it, hang it up somwhere warm to dry (maybe the back window of you car)....weigh it occasionally over the course of a few weeks. When it stops losing weight, it's good to go.

[alpo]

My Bow-building efforts have sort of stalled again since easter-ish, & I have not been fishing enough myself YET, but have baited the hooks for my boys & their freinds quite a bit over the last couple of week-ends, till they get everything tangled & snagged they are quite keen on it, then they tell me where to go retrieve their gear while they head for the house to get other stuff out to play with.

[archeryman57]

At the New Annan Bow building clinic we had good succuss. Eleven students started Saturday morn and the first bow was shooting before 3:15. Five bows were shooting that day and one more was shooting early the next morning. A husband and wife did one together Sat then began their second one Sunday. Some of the others were to tired to complete theirs so we will talk them through to completion over the next month of Wednesdays.
Next years course is already in the planning stages.

[archeryman57]

TTT
Time to get started on the bow for 08. Anyone have a sugestion on what wood to be used? We can do a shaving by shaving pictorial to make this a more of a hands on aproach. It has been awhile since I have carved out a stick and I think it is time to try one. I would like to have other members join me as we build our bows together. We can take this to a new thread so that we may use it as a reference in the future. How about an arrow making session also?