What to look for when looking for a stave

[just longbows]

Hi guys i was thinking about looking for a stave of spotted gum or red ash and i was wondering what to look for in a good stave.

Justin

[Bill]

Hello Justin,
are you asking as in a hardware store board or going out and cutting down an Osage Orange tree and splitting it out to get a stave.

[just longbows]

Hi bill, i was wondering about cutting down a tree a splitting it.

Justin

[Stickbow Hunter]

With Spotted Gum you might be best to go to a sawmill, if you have one near by, and get the flitches they cut off when cutting the logs up for timber.

With the Red Ash try and get a nice straight tree and as big in diameter as you can - 200 plus mm diameter. Don't damage the outside of the tree as you can use the wood directly under the bark as the back of the bow.

Jeff

[just longbows]

Thanks for that jeff i will ceak out the sawmill.

Justin

[Dennis La Varenne]

Justin,

In addition to the above advice, if you want to make a bow from a felled tree and make an 'under-bark' bow using the surface of the wood immediately below the bark, then you will have the growth rings running parallel to the surface as in the following looking from the end of the stave -

The-original-Holmegaard-artifact.jpg (22.58 KiB) Viewed 2203 times

This picture is from a known archaeological artifact of an ancient flatbow design, but clearly illustrates the growth ring layout in a bow made from a felled tree.

If you use a milled board from a timber merchant, try to obtain a quarter-sawn board which has end-grain similar to that in the picture following -

Quarter-sawn-vs-Board-sawn.gif (241.29 KiB) Viewed 2203 times

The vertically alligned growth rings will show as lines on the wide surface of the board. This layout maximises the ability of the bow to resist bending and retain its 'spring'. Back sawn boards almost inevitably break with the exception of American Hickory.

[Fanto]

gday

Dennis, if I'm thinking about a self bow in the holmegaard style, what size stave should I be starting with please?

and same for the board option, is 50mm x 50mm enough?


thanks in advance

[Dennis La Varenne]

Fanto,

If you add up the 10cm increments on the Callahan schematic I posted above, you will see that the whole comes out at around 180cm long. However, we do know that these measurements are incorrect and that the original is in fact much shorter in the order of around 165cm.

However, as a first timer, you are not making a museum standard replica . . . you will be making a reproduction of a style of bow (and a VERY tricky one at that). The thickness dimensions of your board will be fine. Just get the grain orientation right, ie quartersawn, for a first time attempt. When you have gotten a bit of experience, you can go to an underbark tree stave. Keep it as long as you possibly can. If it turns out a bit on the weak side, you can just shorten it and the draw weight will go up proportionately.

If you look up the index to the Traditional Crafts board, you will see a sticky of my "how to" on building a Holmegaard (Møllegabet as we now know it to be) bow which will give you some direction on how to proceed with your project.