1st Bow tassie Oak

[pdccr]

I made my first bow out of tassie oak to get the feel for shaping the bow the other day. It was the only wood i could get my hands on at that very moment, it broke like i was told all first bows do (especially tassie oak). The grain was perfect and my tillering was probably the only fault in it.

I think this becuase when i tried floor tillering the bow one limb snapped, i then fllipped her over and tried the other limb, they broke in near perfect cuts and nearly in the same spots. This is where my tillering comes in, i rasped it down too far as i was getting virtually no bend.

The left limb broke 26cm from the tip and the right 33 from the tip, i had backed it with linen and sellys woodglue.

The handle, unshaped, was 5cm wide and tapered to a 2.5cm tip.

I got my hands on a few dusty old pieces of ash and red ceder (i think). Also a friend told me that they had some "quandong", not sure about the spelling but he said it was a very flexible wood and i was wondering if it had any qualities for backing.

If anyone has any help with what kinds of woods are local to qld and are good for bows and possible help with my next bow, tools and any other information that may help please let me know. I have read the first 2 books of the bowyers bible so i have a very small knowldge on making bows.

Below are some of the pictures of it after snapping, i thought i better record everything i make to get professional advice with what to do and what went wrong.

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[Alex]

That's good time to start the second .
Better luck on the next one.
Perhaps spotted gum would be a more reliable bet on self bows.
Just my 2 cents.
Alex.

[pdccr]

Ok i am going to run down to bunnings when i get time and see if they have any spotted gum. Thanks for the help mate!

Cheers, CCR

[Glenn]

CCR, that is probably not your fault but a natural fault in the timber, it could have grown that way or happened when the log was felled. It's called a shake an can make even structal timber break like a carrot. Large shakes are visible to the naked eye but some you wont see until perssure is applied to them, everyone will get that when building selfbows sooner or later. I have seen hardwood studs break straight across like that on houses I have built. When timber fails from stress it should fail length ways and not straight across like that...Glenn...

[pdccr]

Ahhh thanks glenn, i didn't know that. Would any fault be on the backing i used or should i continue to use linen?

[Glenn]

That's the risk that we all take when making all wood bows. I would try the quandong for backing, can't hurt. Just prepare the backing first and give it a bend test before gluing, but normally thin laminations will bend well anyway...Glenn...

[pdccr]

Ok and would i use 1 or 2 strips on it for backing if its really flexible, i also have a few bamboo trees shooting up on the farm except i would need help with how to cut and prepare them. Thanks for the replies

[Glenn]

One strip 1/8" thick for the backing, you can taper it down a bit if you need to once it is glued on. You can try the bamboo but I wouldn't rush into using it at this stage as bamboo needs a lot of preperation and shaping to do it right or it will over power your belly timber.
I wouldn't make your bow so wide either, I would thin the next one down to 40mm next time as a wide flatbow like yours in a lighter poundaged tend to become too thin from back to belly. You will have a bit more meat to play with with a 40mm wide bow

[pdccr]

Ok, yer sorry i forgot to mention, the next bow i want to have a go at i want to try maybe 35-40#. Also isnt ironbark and spotted gum a very hard wood to work with?

[Glenn]

If the grain is good on hardwood it will work easily enough, it's just hard. If there are any mills in your area ask them to save you some flitches with sapwood and some hardwood on them. I use to get them off the burn pile once but these das they are sent off to be CCA treated and used in landscaping. They might let you have a pick through them before before they send them away...Glenn...

[pdccr]

Alright i'll scoop around to see if there are any lumberyards or mills around with some possible staves in them. I have 2 staves in the shed, 1 of Mountain Ash and 1 of red ceder. I am looking around for the best design for them. I went out to dads place and he has a stack of both so i have a few more possible staves coming out of them.

[Graeme K]

Doubt that Mountain Ash or the Cedar will make a good bow - The ash will be very similar to the Tassy Oak you tried and the Cedar while it is probably possible to make a bow from it it would require quite a bit of experience to get it to work.
Where do you live in QLD and what are the native trees around your area -- there are quite a few Acacias that are suitable as well as crows foot ash, red ash, yellow heart and many more -- depends where you live.
If you start with green timber and rough out a bow shaped blank then seal it and tie it to something you can get it dry in a few weeks.

Graeme

[pdccr]

Would i have to use a particular wood or just anything thats green?

Cheers, CCR

[Glenn]

If you obtain green timber you can rough out a stave and then leave it to dry, the stave will dry out quicker. Go to the local sawmills or timber yards and you will be able to buy locally sawn hardwood. Try a few different species but most of what you buy will be green. The sawn timber will get you into building bows at least. You can buy spotted gum decking for bows as well, it's only 19mm thick so you might want to glue a handle on from the offcuts. The decking will get you started while the staves are drying out but even some of the decking can hold moisture. Cut a couple of inches off and have a look at the endgrain and very often you can easily see the moisture in the timber, that's why it is best to rough out a couple and let them stabilise...Glenn...

[pdccr]

Ok what would be the dimensions i would rough them out too?

[outbackarcher]

http://www.ozbow.net/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=7484

im using these mearsurements from grahame a to try and make a spotted gum bow.

lewis

[pdccr]

Great! I'll try cutting out one of these as soon as i can. I will try as many woods as i can and probably both ELB and board bows but i was told to do my first ones in board bow style.

[Glenn]

The decking boards are just a quick and easy way of getting into making selfbows and there is plenty of it, and they will make good selfbows as well. Kimall put up a very good post on another thread about making selfbows out of bamboo flooring...Glenn...

[pdccr]

Ok so this should be enough to keep me going for a while then

Thanks guys for all the replies!