My first Warbow!

[bearded bowyer]

Thanks Wills
I've got another one on the go at the moment and am thinking the same thing about that one. The outer limbs are very stiff...We are off on holiday so will put pics of it when I get back. Im trying to get it quite a bit more powerful than this one, so time will tell...

 

[bearded bowyer]

Compression fretts!!!!!!!!!!
Back from holiday and.........
Just got the ash warbow to 80lbs at 32" and the dreaded lines have appeared about 6 inches above the handle. They are only in the third and final layer of the ash laminate.
What to do?
Any advice?

 

[WillS]

Not much you can do. It's often surprising how deep they actually go. You can't sand them out, that makes it worse unless you bring the entire bow down the same level.

It's purely because that handle is bending too much compared to the outer limbs.
Your options are to leave it and start a new one, reduce the entire bow so that the limbs are bending better, or cut a slice out of the belly and patch with a new piece to replace the chrysalled area. If you do the latter, make sure you retiller so that the bend is better and more even.

 

[Deleted member 7654]

WillS has pretty much said it all.
Taking off the whole belly lamination and putting something better on will do it... Ipe, Yew, Lemonwood, Boo?
Laminates aren't really my bag, but carefully rasping off a lam' isn't as hard as it might seem.
My commiserations.... chrysals can easilly go 4mm deep. They are garanteed to make you feel sick to your stomach. But if it's any consolation I've seen 'em on expensive bows from good bowyers (bow replaced without question)
Del

 

[bearded bowyer]

The chrysals only go through the topmost laminate. so i could rasp out the top layer.
A question just out of total ignorance......
I understand that the wood is collapsing in on itself, but is it dangerous to the bow? I've shot well over 100 arrows through it just to see if it would get any worse, but it didn't. I know that ash bows are prone to chrysals, but does this mean that the bow will break, or just loose power?
I.E is it safe to give to a buddy?
The first two layers are fully intact as far as I can tell......

 

[WillS]

How do you know for sure the chrysals are only one layer deep? It's unlikely they've continued through the glue line as the wood and glue will have different properties, but you need to be certain and I can't see how you could be without first removing the lamination. It won't necessarily break, but it will get progressively "soggy" and take a lot of set, lose power and untreated at a high draw weight it probably just isn't worth the risk.

 

[bearded bowyer]

OK
I've got beech, more ash, some oak and hickory. Which, do you think is less likely to get chrysals?

 

[WillS]

Ash is pretty prone to chrysals (as you've found out) but to be honest any wood can develop stress fracture if you don't tiller it properly. You could take the most stunning Italian yew stave and with lazy tillering cause stress lines all over the thing.

Ash makes excellent warbows when handled properly, so don't worry about the wood species. Just make sure the bow is bending evenly.

Chrysals are a pain in the butt but they're par for the course when starting out making bows. Learn from this mistake and try not to replicate it next time. Next time, let something else go wrong

 

[bearded bowyer]

Right......
I have rasped off the back layer and stuck a piece of oak on it!!! no idea how this will work, I just had it lying around! Lets call it an experiment.....
And I've got another heavy ash stave ready for the tiller.
I think the problem befor was getting carried away at about 24 inches of tiller and rushing it!
More movement universally, especially at the tips which I do often neglect.
Warbow 2 and 3 here we come!