American Hickory Flat Bow Full Tutorial Part 3: Tillering the Bow

[@TheLizzardlicks]

Gday from Australia mate , thank's Jim i love ya channel and im learning things as an old fella im still learning thank you .

[@TheTradesmanChannel]

We all learn every day, it's just a byproduct of life.

[@thomasarussellsr]

What woods do you have down under to make a bow from, mate?

[@TheLizzardlicks]

@@thomasarussellsr Australian timbers are extremely hard and dont have much flex at all so it would be a good exercise to find out , as a kid i made my bows from cypress limbs and arrows from lucern tree's , chased the chooks for weeks to get the fletchings im old now but im still lerning every day how to do things .

[@thomasarussellsr]

@@TheLizzardlicks cool, thanks for the reply and the info.

[@timmyfields6159]

I’m sure your good at hvac, but I think you would be a really good teacher on all things timber. I’m sure while your making these vids it’s just thoughts in your head, but for us out here that’s free education. Thanks for the vids, look forward to many more

[@TheTradesmanChannel]

I've had a lifelong obsession with anything that we would consider the old ways. I just enjoy it.

[@NewEnglandPatriotsfan]

He probably is good at HVAC but it's much more complex than carpentry that he does. It's four things heating ventilation air conditioning and refrigeration. Mostly troubleshooting and installation. Gauges for many things as well

[@timmyfields6159]

@@NewEnglandPatriotsfan no, heating and cooling are the easiest things to do once you come to grips with the fact that there’s no such thing as cold. It’s only absence of heat. Once you get that , the rest is just how to add or remove heat.Figuring out what species of wood to use for a brace that may have to share wind or weight load from the far side of the structure to me sounds more technical

[@timmyfields6159]

@@TheTradesmanChannel I could tell by the first vid I saw of you that you had a passion, or just an idiot for standing in the snow and wipping boogers as you talked to a camera all by yourself , your work and willingness to share that with us is just amazing to me. My lt15wide that I bought on may 6 of this year is still on schedule to be here in mid March (2022)🤬😥😳🤣🇺🇸

[@alexwilson9311]

I’m finding this project quite interesting Jim we don’t have that hunting culture here like you have over there thanks for the in depth explanation 🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺

[@grahamallen3941]

Very nice video Jim. Love the process and your explanations of each process and why you are doing what you do. Yours is only the third way I have seen a bow made and I have to say I’m fascinated with yours. It would be great to see what your brother-in-law does to the bow. Nice to see you again. All the very best Graham.🇬🇧🇬🇧🌲👍👍

[@TheTradesmanChannel]

My brother in law has surpassed my knowledge on this topic, he has gotten very good.

[@GeorgeJirout]

Learning how wood behaves does take time and a few extra clamps in my shop :) Beautiful bow Jim!

[@TheTradesmanChannel]

Thank you George

[@ShimodaLife]

Good tutorial, Jim. Learned something I didn’t know before. A lot of careful scraping. Isn’t it. Cheers from Japan..

[@TheTradesmanChannel]

Good morning

[@joeshubert1932]

Good to see ya Jim. Wishing you and yours a Happy Thanksgiving.

[@TheTradesmanChannel]

Same to you Joe.

[@SilverBack.]

Prof that is going to be the biz 👍👍👍👍

[@TheTradesmanChannel]

I hope so, nice kick off project to shop season.

[@TheVze23sqf]

Great explanation of the procedure Jim. Awesome as always. 👍👍👍

[@TheTradesmanChannel]

Good morning Guy

[@michaelkroeger2047]

Morning Jim, looking good! M

[@TheTradesmanChannel]

Thank you

[@bruce1816]

Great video Jim. My uncle was a cabinet maker and would stress to me how important grain structure was, nomatter what you were building.

[@TheTradesmanChannel]

He was spot on

[@techronmattic5876]

Forging some arrow tips next Jim?

[@TheTradesmanChannel]

I'm not that brave yet. Maybe eventually.

[@thomasarussellsr]

@@TheTradesmanChannel so, store bought? 30", 32" carbon shaft? Tip type? What you throwing down range with a homemade bow with a 28" draw?

[@JamesSmith-hx3lp]

Very relaxing, great video, brings back old memories.

[@TheTradesmanChannel]

Lot of fun

[@ssx2channel977]

Good demo Jim, glad to see your still kicking. Will you use this bow to hunt with?💚💜🤠🛠🎉

[@TheTradesmanChannel]

I sure will.

[@ssx2channel977]

@@TheTradesmanChannel good luck with your hunt. I had a great year hunting this year Antelope , Deer and a Bull Elk.

[@joseortiz5965]

Awesome

[@howardemery1443]

looks great JIm see you on next one

[@TheTradesmanChannel]

Thank you Howard

[@danryan3146]

Very interesting process.

[@TheTradesmanChannel]

It's almost done. I bet you would enjoy this process.

[@danryan3146]

@@TheTradesmanChannel Absolutely...I've got a bunch of logging and milling to occupy myself for now. I'll be building a Sugar Shack in the spring.

[@thomasarussellsr]

Nice bit of info on making a bow, but I can't help but feel like this was a highly abbreviated version. Yeah, I know, a full walk through would be a feature length film (or longer) but I think you at least hit most of the highlights. Thanks. We probably got enough info to screw up several on our way to learning the process. 😉🤔 yeah 😉. Thanks Jim.

[@thomasarussellsr]

Just kidding with you, friend. I really want to try this too.

[@RedmanOutdoors366]

Man looking good Bro 😎👍🔥🏹

[@TheTradesmanChannel]

Thank you sir

[@Jim-Wade]

What a blessing to share a common interest with your brother. Both of my brothers died in their 40's and I sometimes wish we had the last 30 years together. I'm really enjoying the project and may have a go at it myself one of these days. Is cedar a decent option for a bow?

[@TheTradesmanChannel]

Cedar can be used, I see some people use red cedar.

[@Jim-Wade]

@@TheTradesmanChannel I wondered if it might be too brittle. Even though it is strong and flexible. Thanks.

[@totherarf]

@@TheTradesmanChannel Traditionally in the UK you would chose Yew. It has the best compression v tension of heartwood to sapwood. Our bows were not Recurve but Longbows and would be a lot more circular in cross section. I believe there is still a law that compels us to do at least an hour archery practice after Church. This was more about killing the French (100 years war) than hunting though! Different technique but you definitely feel the "chunk" when you loose one of those guys! I do have an old recurve bow (takedown) that I keep in case the French get a bit too excited over Brexit (there are a few other places I think it would be handy) but Police are not user friendly with weapons over here!

[@totherarf]

You heat treat both sides? ..... Do you have problems with the wood becoming brittle? Another great video btw ...... I guess most would not appreciate how much time you skipped out of it, but I do! ;o)

[@TheTradesmanChannel]

Hello Dave. You just heat the belly of the bow. It is a method that works very well with hickory. You are right, it took a bit of time.

[@totherarf]

@@TheTradesmanChannel Yes, just heating the belly would make sense ..... I just thought you said you were doing all of it! Got to be getting chilly up there now .... time for an insulation install video? ..... or just chuck some more wood on t' fire?

[@twagner6155]

I've seen other bows and since the body isn't symmetrical and doesn't move symmetrically, will it work? If it's OK wouldn't you make center marks on your device?

[@TheTradesmanChannel]

One limb is going to bend more than the other in most cases. Bows made in this style very rarely are symmetrical.

[@CrimeVid]

You confuse me sometimes Jim, so you don’t like really sharp cabinet scrapers and you use your drawknife as a scraper… ? so why not have your tools sharper and use a lighter touch ? thereby saving energy on your part ?

[@TheTradesmanChannel]

It all depends on what I'm doing. Sharp to me is razor blade. Now the tools are sharp but they're not scary sharp. When I say that the cabinet scraper is not sharpened as much I mean that I have a smaller burr so that it takes off less material. The idea with this type of work is slow and steady. Now when I use my drawknife as a scraper I use it because it is beefier and will take off more than the cabinet scraper. With scary sharp tools doing this type of work you end up almost always taking off more than you want.