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Main Boards => The Bowyer's Bench => Topic started by: Dick in Seattle on December 30, 2008, 05:58:00 PM
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Well, the three quivers got made and the garage cleaned up, the snow is gone and I can work on a bow. I'm making a pattern for a riser for my form (it's curved full length, but not very much). Quick question here... I'm looking at two options for a riser... I have a solid piece of clear cherry 2 /14 square or I can lam up a 3 piece using hickory and red oak. I'm shooting for a bow of 25 to 35# with a straight riser, but Lord knows what weight I'll end up with, as this will be the first one to this set of calculations. I'd prefer to keep things simple and go with the cherry, which I'm pretty sure is OK as far as strength goes. Any comments?
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Cherry is pretty light I think. I would be sure to make it out of laminations if you decide on the cherry. Maybe stacked with hickory? I've never used cherry in a riser, but have built some hickory backed cherry bows. I don't think I would use it in a riser unless laminated with some harder, heavier wood.
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Guess that wasn't one of my better ideas. Just went down and looked things over and came up with a 2 1/4 x 2 1/4 red oak. That surely ought to do it. Oak as a riser isn't particularly pretty, but I do have it and it wont' need lamination. Also found a piece of maple, but it's got nice grain and I'd rather keep it for a later bow when I'm more confidant of the quality of the outcome in terms of my work.
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Oak should work well Dick. You could probably get away with the cherry at that draw weight, but I like to err on the side of caution myself. I am but one opinion in amongst many a fine bowyer.
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For such low force of a tension as yours, it is possible to use any integral board for the handle. The cherry will be much more beautiful than an oak, absence of cracks in a board only is necessary. Final force of a bow is influenced with length of the handle and size of a wedge but if to make preparation of a bow with a stock on length and width, trimming it is easy to catch the necessary weight and force.
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Apex and Asafan: thanks for the comments. As we used to say on the charter boats, I guess it's time to fish or cut bait. Being hung up for almost 3 weeks with the weather as I was, I've absorbed way too much information... Not surprisingly, a lot of it conflicts as each person indicates what has worked for them, and I end up with my brain spinning and changing my idea of what I want to build for effort. My foster son, who feels he is full of ancient wisdom since he achieved senior citizen status, likes to say, "It's just a wooden spring, dad. Quit trying to complicate it." Time to just take some of the supplies on hand and make a bow.
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Smart kid there Dick. :smileystooges:
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At that weight,any of the 3 will work,I would use the cherry or maple. If you go heavier,laminating like Marty said would be good.
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When all was said and done, I stuck with my decision not to laminate. I'm holding off on the cherry to use when I am more certain that my end result will come out at the poundage I want or for youth bows. I found a nice piece of Paduk and made the riser out of that. I don't really like working with exotics and don't plan to, but I have a few 2x2x18 pieces of odd stuff left around from a project a few years back where I was doing wood turning. I'll get two risers out of this piece and two each out of pieces of wenge and zebra wood I found on a back shelf.
I got me a Rigid oscillating belt sander... great tool.. and used that to make the curved riser. Definitely did not like that job. When I get to making my own new form, it will be designed for a flat riser. If I do get into a curved riser situation again, I'll set up jigs and a router for it.
Anyway, I'm now ready to laminate... just have to clean up the shop, clear off the errand list and get my head on right for the job.