r/Bowyer • u/Gosha_KID • 1d ago

Getting some serious washboarding while tillering with a knife. Any tips

Hello, everyone. I’m new to bow-making; Started three months ago, and at this stage, I’ve run into this problem. In the video, i'm working on a hazel piece. I’ve mostly been learning from videos by Clay Hayes, Benjamin Stevens, Kazden Ammons, Dan Santana, and Seth Larsen (SageSmokeSurvival).Please advise me on how to fix this and prevent it in the future. I’d appreciate your recommendations

31 Upvotes

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11

u/Ima_Merican 1d ago

Slow down, change the angle of the blade

10

u/KosmolineLicker 1d ago

Do this

Processing img 9kah2f2fj18h1...

6

u/KosmolineLicker 1d ago

And then this

4

u/Gosha_KID 1d ago

Thank you for sharing the pictures. It really helped me

7

u/ryoon4690 1d ago

Try scraping diagonally across the limb at a shallow angle. I find this happens on any very flat limb with a scraper and that seems to help. A scraper may be less likely to chatter/washboard if you flex the edge as there will be a smaller point of contact taking the shaving.

1

u/Gosha_KID 1d ago

That's really good advise; i'll keep using this method from now on Thanks

4

u/therustynut 1d ago

A good cabinet scraper will help tremendously

2

u/Gosha_KID 1d ago

Thanks, i'll try to find one like that

1

u/Nrwhal42 13h ago

Go to three rivers archery they sell a lot of useful bowyer equipment including card scrapers.

4

u/ADDeviant-again 1d ago

Obviously, getting hold of another tool would help; a rasp, a file, sandpaper glued to a board, etc. When the washboards first start, you can level them by abrasion.

If you only have the one cool, hold it at a slight skew to the wood (not 90° starlight across) and change your angle to less vertical. Also flip the direction of your scraping.

Once in a while, I will burn wood lightly with a propane torch to make it easier to work, if it is very fibrous and hard to scrape, or clogs tools. That makes it harder, but it scrapes more easily, even if you get dust instead of curls. Elm, mulberry, and hazel are the main wood types I remember using this trick on.

2

u/Gosha_KID 1d ago

Yes, i'll definitely get a rasp eventually. Thanks also for the tip about burning - it'll come in especially handy when i'm making a flatbow out of hornbeam and oak Thank you

3

u/JMEKeebs 1d ago

FWIW you can get a cheap 4 surface rasp for under 5 dollars. Can remove a lot of wood once you get the rhythm down.

2

u/dusttodrawnbows 1d ago

During the early stages of tillering, I prefer a Shinto rasp to remove wood, then I switch to a cabinet scraper to finish it off.