I've spoken to the guy for whom I am making the bow and he really wants 40-45# so I'm making the other half of the log into a bow. I'm not using the draw knife this time, it's straight from bandsaw to spokeshave.The stave has a nice feature, a deep ridge on the back of the upper limb, at mid limb. To get this area flexing I've scooped out the belly making it concave to match the ridge, it will look great on the finished bow.
An alternative approach would be to de-crown the back, e.g. To plane off the top of the ridge, however this would run the risk of the back lifting splinters. De-crownibg can be done but it needs to be even and consistent along the whole back, not just at one point.
It's tricky to get a decent picture showing the ridge, the scoop shows better.
Here's a video of it on the tiller.
https://youtu.be/yZM62-__NzY
As the bow is being tillered the bark starts to crack off where there is most movement, this is like nature's strain gauge. If the cracks are evenly spaced along both limbs, it's a good indication that the limbs are both working in balance.
Hi,
ReplyDeleteIf I tick "explain more" , I'm not trying to wind you up. I just mean to say all of this is very very intersting, so not to skimp on the tidbits for us watchers. Great stuff as always Deerek. Power to your arm.
Cheers:)
ReplyDeleteThe tick boxes seem a bit hit and miss at the moment.