Bending the sticks

Today I’m bending the roughed out sticks. The throat is carved out behind the head and an even octagon with rough graduations are in the stick. I use a scraper plane and file plane to remove any remaining tool marks before bending as they can open up when working the stick. Using an alcohol lamp and bending break, I slowly add curve to the stick several inches at a time. Here in the photo I have a curve template I recently made. I have never used one before, but wanted to try it as I would like to start with a similar curve to the bow E.A. Ouchard bow I’m copying. As the bow gets worked down with the graduations and the curve constantly getting touched up, the final curve will most likely not be exactly the same as the template. The piece of wood and final graduations dictate the curve, but I thought it would be nice to have an objective starting point.

After bending a couple of sticks the curve template really seemed like training wheels I didn’t actually need. None the less I think it is a handy comparative tool to check against since I don’t have the actual bow I’m copying with me at my home shop.

After the sticks are curved, the heads will be brought to dimension and the tip plates glued on.