ATARNarchive

Laths air drying

10 posts2011live thread
nwrob1
Progress. Two sets of laths for a flight and a war style bow. Both 17mm thick. A small amount of grain lifting on the larger bow, but manageable. All in all I'm pleased. Stay tuned!
Uli
:P
Hakan Bakla
what is the wood you used? kiln or air dried ? steam or boiled. .. i broke so many of them :D
Vonegelut
They looks - very good! Hardwood maple? and what is the thickness of this stuffs?
nwrob1
They are from green, clear, plain-sawn sugar maple. They read about 15% moisture when I cut them to size, which was higher than I wanted, so I soaked them for a full two weeks. By the end they didn't float any longer! The laths are all 17mm thick x 40mm wide, and I boiled them for about an hour.

When I cut the laths to size, I tried to keep the tension side grain as flat as possible, with no rings running off the edges at sharp angles. I radiused the edges as Adam suggested, and I used a compression strap.

Thanks for your interest!
Kyudohund
nwrob1

very well done!

Peter
Vonegelut
I like the forms that you build. Looks very comfortable & allows you to put the steamed wood fast until it's hot. 8)
Vonegelut
How long they will dry?
nwrob1

Vonegelut wrote:

I like the forms that you build. Looks very comfortable & allows you to put the steamed wood fast until it's hot. 8)

Thanks Vonegelut. They worked out pretty well.
nwrob1

Vonegelut wrote:

How long they will dry?

I took them off the forms and put them on a sort of drying rack. Just a board with two cleats on it to keep them in shape. I'll start working with them in February. They are already so dry they are loose in the rack - there has been no spring-back at all. Zero. This is my first time bending green wood - a HUGE improvement over kiln dried wood! Definitely worth the trouble to find green billets.