Saturday 4 February 2012

Teasing out the Bow

It's damn cold in the garage, but I can't stand being stuck indoors all day.
I've been tinkering with the stave, that blind knot has been rasped away, leaving the stave fairly thin. I then made a mistake and went a bit wild with the draw knife, it bit deep and started to split deep into the stave about 1/3 of the way along one limb. I was drawing toward the tip of the bow, but obviously the grain wanted to go into the limb. I stopped and used the spokeshave to cut in the opposite direction until I'd taken the split right out.
The limb is very slim now and I don't have any spare length in the stave.
That's why it's best to work a stave about 6" too long, if you meet a nasty feature or make a mistake you can saw 6" off and re-position the bow.
It's probably be ok, but will have to be for one of my shorter, lighter commissions.
On the up side, a slim deep limb section is inherently lighter than a wide shallow one so it may be nice and fast.
If the limb is deeper than it is wide there is a risk it can try to bend sideways, so it's safest to keep the depth no greater than the width.
It's down to me to tease a bow out from between the knots and swirls of this stave, and that's what makes it interesting. By the time I've finished I'll know every inch of the stave like the back of my hand.
Worst case is it's too light and short for what's required, in which case I'm sure I'll find it a home as a ladies / junior or club bow.
Only time will tell and just for the record, I'm aiming for 55# at 28" which may be a tall order.
On the other hand, what looks dangerously skinny now having just built a 90# bow, may well be perfectly ok.
Anyhow time to step away from the bow and have a cuppa, it's a wise man who knows when to take a breather.
It doesn't look quite so worrying after a cup of tea, and I can probably loose 3" off the thin tip and keep it about 69-70" long as the guy it's for is about 5'9" and that will still look ok.
Maybe some pics tomorrow or Monday.

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