Ozbow

This isn't exactly making bows, but it does contribute to making bows so I thought that some on the forum might be interested.

A few months ago I was fortunate enough to purchase (for a very, very reasonable price) a small 5.5HP petrol-powered horizontal bandsaw mill at a local clearing sale. With a bit of tuning & suchlike over the last month I've had some success at milling boards from logs I've been able to rescue from chipping & landfill.

Please excuse the mess in the workshop - in the last couple of weeks there's been a significant clean up!
I've got a significant quantity of Ash & Silky Oak still to mill and a large pile of London Plane & Ironbark that will be, for the most part, processed into boards. Not all will be suitable for bows or bow projects but I am sure most of us here undertake other carpentry projects from time to time. The timber will also need to be seasoned but I'd never get close to having the time to use for a few years anyway.

Anyway, I've learned a lot from the process of using this piece of kit and am still working out the finer details on getting good cuts & holding the timber in place. Next up I'll be building a steel frame to lock the logs into as the saw runs along it.

what a score!!! I'm envious!! Would love something like that myself. Got a couple large diameter logs I will have to take to rural sawmill around here.

Cheers, Bob! When I saw the purples, greys, yellows & blues in the Black Wattle I immediately thought of you glass bows and how good it would look in one of yours - I might have to send a piece up.

My nearest mill is an hour or so away, which isn't too far, but the guy who 'runs' it is pretty unreliable, so for a few hundred dollars to have my own set up is great.

I had a piece of black wattle few years ago I made a bow out if, and I picked the limb up off the track at a shoot. When it was turned with the light it became almost translucent and had a shimmer of all the colours you mention. A good piece of black wattle is as good as any bit of timber.Goes great as lams too, even if on the heavier side and adding more mass.

Good stuff mate!! That's a crazy score!

Love the look of a nice slab of timber hey! Got some massive Ironbark ones and also some Rose gum ones seasoning here at the moment that me and my brother milled a while back.

I have a chainsaw mill that does virtually the same thing (little more waste but very portable and easy to use).

Bob, I'd be happy to come up mill the logs for you in exchange for a cool drink and archery/bow making talk afterwards. What did you have in mind for them and how large are you talking?

Cheers,

Colin

Jeez col appreciate the offer but reckon the chainsaw mill has too big a cut and losing a lot of the wood. I hope to take them to a sawmill with a Canadian saw or similar The 2 logs are about 16'' dia and about 4 ' long and are Burdekin plum. It would take about 50 years to season at the moment!! I hope to just get them cut into 2'' thick slabs and then I can rip them with my bandsaw.