what i do it go out and get myself some locust branches, shave off all the bark then let them sit for a month in my hot room. After a while they start to all split on me! Should i not shave off the bark? the only reason i shave the bark off is to get off all of those nasty thorns.


I have been trying to make some tomahawk handles so i don’t have to buy the darn things, $5 is not too much for a handle but after a while. Adds up. My problem is that i have a hard time getting the handle to the right shape and my wood tends to split.


What’s the easiest way to straiten  wood? I have tried a few times by steam bending it but all i end up doing is burning myself.  I want to make a few straight spears so they need to have a fairly thick shaft and my tomahawk handles usually need to be a little straighter.

thanks

The branches are most likely "checking".  You need to cover the sections where the branches were cut w/ a wood glue such as Titebond before drying the wood.

Whenever I'm using woods that check and crack easily , I always leave the bark on and rub a thick coating of Elmers (or varnish which I prefer because you can see through it to check on the wood easier)on the exposed ends. Try rubbing it on the bark also near the ends maybe about 1 to 2 inches up. Let it sit in a stable area, like an air conditioned room for a month or 2, then the water will have evaporated from the wood enough for you to take the bark off with a drawknife and season the wood more quickly. Like in a warm garage or better yet a hot-box. Once you've taken the bark off , cut the handle down to almost finished dimensions to cut the curing time down.

???I've got a question.Why didn't the lacquer I applied on my wooden slingshot harden?


I did not apply the lacquer too thick and I waited for days.Is varnish better?

Use ethier dry heat like the burners on your kitchen stove or steam. With dry heat be sure and give a healthy covering of some kind of grease or shortneing. Rub it into the wood well then slowly heat the piece. Watch for charring. Have pot holders on both hands and test bend the wood to see if it's become hot enough. When it has , bend it and hold it there until it cools, or bend it and run it under cold water to cool it quicker.  You can also use some type of form to bend it.
Bend it alittle farther then you want it to be , as it will revert back alittle once you take the pressure off. If you over-bend it you will obviously break it.

Steam is somewhat safer, as you cant over-heat and char the wood. Get a pot of water, put the area of the wood you want to bend  over the pot, with the sides of the wood resting on the pot, then cover it with aluminum foil. Turn on the range to high. Make sure there are no gaps in the covering, as this can cause problems in the heating.  Even so steam will be pouring out of the pot, thats not a problem. Depending on the severity of the bend and how thick the piece is let it steam for anywhere from 30 mins to 1 1/2 hours. Once done take it off and quickly bend the wood. You need to be quick, within 25-30 seconds the wood will be too cool to safely bend the wood. Some woods like Osage can easily be bent with steam , and will keep their full bend. Others, especially the white woods like ash, oak, hickory  etc are best left in a form until the wood dries from the steaming. This isn't always nessacary, but at least don't stress/bend the wood until it's had a couple days to dry out again.

Quote:


Just regular elmers glue?

all right just to make shure i have every thing right and going good

I just cut down the tree, and im going to go for making a cross bow. what i did was cut them into the right size and i now have the ends coated in some elmers.  I have only one side coated as of right now im going to let the first side dry a little.

the bark is still on

after i get the other side coverd in elmers i will lay them vertical in a corner of my room. I am planning to let them dry for a few months.

soon i will ask my mom if i can keep them in the car trunk if i can i will let them lay there.

if you can see anything i am doing wrong let me know

thanks

I wouldn't stand it up vertically as it will have a tendency to warp. Also the water in the log will eventually relocate nearer the bottom due to gravity causing uneven drying.
How big is this log? If its over say 4 inches I would split it in half to speed drying, this shouldn't cause any cracks to occur in the body of the log so long as the bark is intact. The ends are usually the problems. So you need only cover the ends of the log even if you split it into staves, what I do is basically split the log take the split pieces, or staves and dip the end in a can of paint,  varnish or glue, then turn it over and dip the other end. Dip it about 6 to 8 inches in. Lay  it horizontally somewhere where  it can dry and do the other pieces. When using something fairly thin to coat the ends, like varnish, generally many coats are needed. You will know if you didn't coat it enough when you come in a day later and see a small crack or two begin in the ends of the piece. If you see this happening coat it three more times or so, just to be sure you've stopped the crack. So if you've coated your ends in glue and you notice any small cracks beginning , add another coat or two  or those cracks can really turn into problems.  Spray can varnish is good as it lets you cover an irregular piece completely and dries in about 15-30 mins per coat. How's that for an earful.