Living Primitively

I was aiming at getting a 60 pounder out of this stave. Due to a couple of bad decisions when I removed the bulk of the wood, I may be ending up with a 40 pounder. Not what I want, but it’ll do until I make another one.

To day I started some initial floor tillering. It seems like the wood may be a month or so from being totally dry, but I got a feel of it still. The reason why I don’t think it is totally dry is because it doesn’t snap back, but retreats slowly. The tillering is done by watching the curve while flexing it onto the ground.

The adjustment is made by scraping with a sharp flake on the stiffest spots. Can’t say I am as enthusiastic in regards to this bow anymore, but I will follow it through. Who knows, some extra seasoning, may add a few pounds of draw weight.

An advice for those who are going to make this themselves: Mortise the boards into the frame while the frame is still green. The hazel become remarkably hard to work after it has dried, mortising properly is next to impossible. What I did was to plane the surface down to make it flat and narrower, so that the cordage grips binds the boards more securely to the frame.

Tie the boards down very hard. Preferably with wet cordage, so that it will tighten up when drying and not loosen again when it becomes wet. I may have to redo just that, if it becomes a problem.

The straps are tied under the boards and the frame is now finished.

I’ll arrange 11 courses and one expedition in 2008.

Prices, dates and additional information is found on these links:
Standard courses
Expedition