Awesome Bat!
Batty, I watched 1 of your vids,that you carved out the bow on,have you used and power tools to speed things up? I have several belt sanders that will remove material rather quickly and I also have a power plane,hand held. I also have all the hand tools to do it old school,well I need a new drawknife as mine has walked away somewhere,but what I'm asking is "does it make any difference other than the time involved"?
The problem with power tools is that they take wood off too quickly. You can use a band saw or power planer (or even an axe) to do the very basic roughing out, but I'd switch to hand tools sooner rather than later. They'll quickly turn your stave into firewood. The better the stave, the quicker I'd switch, lol.
The basic idea is to remove the bark, and the outer layer of wood, without breaking into the next growth-ring AT ALL. If you break into it, I'd recommend removing the entire ring, and stopping before you break into the next one. That's on the back of the bow. Often, the back of the bow will undulate a bit as you follow the outer edge of the growth ring. That's fine with hand tools, but not so good with power tools. As a matter of fact, most hand tools will remove wood almost too quickly, and it'll only take one stroke to wreck your bow. Final shaping is more scraping than cutting or carving. On the belly, you remove wood as well, but how much depends on how the bow is tillering and how much draw weight you desire, as well as the width of the limbs, etc. You won't stay within a single growth ring there. And if you do a good job scraping with a sharp blade at right-angles to the bow you won't even need to sand it.
The advent of power tools is what led bowyers to switch to more modern techniques and materials (fiberglass, and epoxy laminated limbs). Quicker construction maybe, but less finesse.
The best-made, most durable wood bow is 95% broken at full draw. All wood bows will break eventually unless you use them as a wall-hanger. Some bows last longer than others...
Seasoning the wood will make it less likely to splinter or crack during the tillering phase, and make it generally less likely to follow the string. It'll also greatly reduce the likelihood of your fine, finished, bow warping and splitting as the wood dries further. And nice seasoned wood will shoot faster arrows.
That said, it'll take you a few tries to turn something you like out. I'd get started right away, and get some practice in while you have other staves seasoning. Cut several 6" diameter logs 6-7 feet long from live trees, and paint the ends with latex paint. Leave the bark on. The longer they take to dry, the better. Stick them somewhere dry and warmish (the rafters of a shed or garage works well) but well-supported so that they don't warp too much. In a year or two, split them with a wedge and maul, using any cracks that develop in the meanwhile as starting points. Each log will yield 4-5 staves, 1 or 2 of which will be really nice. Ash and hickory are nice and pretty forgiving.
While they're drying, make a few bows of unseasoned wood.
Wet-wood bows work fine, and make good survival tools, they just don't last as long, they'll follow the string more, and they'll shoot slower. Still lots of fun though, and still better than those new-fangled training-wheel jobs
If you want to start with a nice seasoned stave but need one tomorrow, give these guys a try-
http://www.missouritrading.com/bowlist.htmFor some really good tools, books, DVD's, and even primitive bow kits-
http://www.3riversarchery.com/I'd really recommend this book series myself...
http://www.amazon.com/Traditional-Bowyers-Bible-1/dp/1585740853
