This ALB is made from a knot free and clean stave, only a few pins are on the belly. A drying crack on the back of the inner half upper limb was unavoidable. Fortunately it was running clear with the grain. It was filled with runny super glue – no problem. The stave needed onlyRead more
asymmetric
This was a very clean stave, no knots or holes, but had a deflex (upper limb and a reflex (lower limb) right at the handle portion. I decided for an r/d bow and heated the lower limb from reflex into deflex. It was quite a way to travel, about 11” measured at tips. This causedRead more
This is not a real ELB, it has a narrowed handle and a flatter profile. Nothing special, just a quick made stick bow. The stave was marginal quality with lots of knots, one big crack (at handle), changing crown and twists on both outer limbs. This twists caused the asymmetric shape of the nock overlaysRead more
The local bio junk container from the local community is a never ending resource for staves. Always find the most curious things there. Someone has cut down his thuja hedge. I found a trunk with a lot of branches just on one half side (obvious exposed to the sunlight), the other side was clear (obviousRead more
The next few bows will be ELB style, here’s the first made from osage. Staves like this are from free standing young trees, full of branches. They make very characterful bows, in this case with lots of holes. Some going through, some not. The wood is gnarly with a wavy grain and changing crown, lookingRead more
This bow comes from a marginal stave, but full of character (or imperfections in other words). It needed some heating and steaming sessions for corrections. Here is the documentation of the process. In the end it is now a fine bow with a lot of character remaining, what makes the tiller looking weird from someRead more
The draw length of this bow is limited to 26”, as the stave was a crooked thing about 62½” and about 2½” thick. Only one side (half) of the stave was useable. You can see the pith in the fade area. It was also twisted like hell. Last but not least it has a changingRead more
The stave for this little bow came half from the trunk and half from a branch (see sketch). I found the whole little tree in the bio chunk container and couldn’t resist to take that golden chain tree with me. All the corrections and curving was done with the heatgun. The deflex of the upperRead more
This little sapling with only 1” diameter at handle came from my garden while clearing the hedge. It was cut last autumn. Two huge knots, one I could layout in the handle the other is lower midlimb. Some minor knots are on the upper limb. I let the knotted areas stiffer and accepted a shorterRead more
This was a super nice stave from dark osage, very dense wood. Nearly flawless, only some marginal pin knots. Bad thing was it was very crooked and twisted, so it needed some time and several sessions to bring it line and balance. At handle section an additionally ring allows a nicer curve and more comfortRead more