Here's a bow I am making for a guy in trade for a GPS receiver. Ironic, in a way :-)
Specs:
Osage Selfbow
66.5" NTN
1.25" wide limbs for 6" from fades, tapering to 3/8" nocks
Targeting 55# at 28"
Here's the roughed out stave. She's a beauty. 2.5" of natural
reflex. A few small pin knots but nice straight grain.
Just one major pimple and we'll put it in the handle area so it doesn't
bend. It's a knot about 1/2" at the belly side and maybe 1/8 on the
back. It's got punky enough wood that we don't want to leave it be.
There are a couple choices here: 1) excavate the punky part and leave a
whole. This is nice in some spots on a bow and is an option here;
or 2) excavate the punk and fill with a wood paste made from epoxy and
sawdust. Based on the location in the lower dip, I'm choosing option
#2. Here's how it's done.
Using a rotary tool, I remove the old limb that formed the knot.
It died out and rotted so it has no structural integrity. If we left
it in, it would cause problem when finishing the bow. Some folks
soak these punky knots with CA glue and leave them be. I guess that
works too.
Here's the resulting hole from the belly and the back.
The epoxy and sawdust. Mix it into a paste and then put it into
the hole. It's about 40 degrees in my shop right now so a little
heat sure helps things along.
Push it through until it comes out the bottom. I like to work
it real well with a nail to make sure it gets all the little spots inside
the knot.
Add a piece of tape so it doesn't come all the way out before it sets
up.
After it cures, rasp and file it down real nice. When we finish
the bow, some of the dyes or stain will darken the patch.
Next up, floor tillering.