bow staff on a 3520b

Re: bow staff on a 3520b

John K Jordan

Some people clamp or otherwise fasten the tailstock to a work table or stand away from the lathe. (Unless a second lathe is available to hold the tailstock.)

You may benefit from a steady rest of sorts although I've turned shovel and hoe handles from hickory without one. I would definitely hold one end in a chuck.

JKJ

Re: bow staff on a 3520b

Jim McTavish

I've made several Bo/Jo staffs for friends, but never on my 3520. I've cut the wood to size (add 6" extra length) with the tablesaw and either rounded over the sides using a router table or made them octagon with a 45degree chamfer bit. Do not route all the way to the ends, leave the ends square so you have a flat portion to index to on the router table.

Re: bow staff on a 3520b

john lucas

Use a Drawknife and spokeshave instead of the lathe. Ideally the wood should be riven from the tree so the grain runs from one end to the other. Then final shaping is done with a Drawknife and spokeshave. Made one many years ago for a friend of my son who was into marshal arts.

Re: bow staff on a 3520b

Reed Gray

Yes, like John said, best way to do it is to split off log sections and take it down by hand. If there is any cross grain at all in the piece, it will crack across it with any contact on dirt, another stick, wooden dummy or a hard head like mine... Made some escrima/Phillipino fighting sticks years ago and doing drills had one crack across the grain. If you do it on the lathe, a piece of plywood with a hole in it can work for a steady rest to turn down part of the stick, and you may want to hand shape one end anyway. It will get a rough shape, but still need lots of hand work...

robo hippy

Re: bow staff on a 3520b

Cameron

Good idea, thx

Re: bow staff on a 3520b

Cameron

I figured I would end up dusting off my hand tools, you guys raise good points on the grain... Guess no lathe shortcut, now I'll have to keep an eye out for a fallen tree at my buddy's house to split

Re: bow staff on a 3520b

Joe Fleming

Lots of whip on a piece that long too. You would need a couple of steadies.

Re: bow staff on a 3520b

john in lutz

Be sure to check with the organization sanctioning the use of the bow staff. My grandson was with one that would not let him use anything they did not sell. While we know this is to increase their profit, they claimed it was a liability issue as if one was not properly made it, could break and cause injury.

Re: bow staff on a 3520b

Ralph Lindberg

The problem with that approach is the stereo-type Bo is slightly tapered.

Re: bow staff on a 3520b

Ralph Lindberg

I'd probably go with the hand tool method, since the stereo type Bo staff is sightly tapered in each end.

Not much, just a little, maybe a 1/16 of an inch over 12 to 18 inches

While a Jo staff is not tapered at all, of course they are much shorter.

The White-Crane "eye-brow" staffs I've used have also not been tapered.

Actually with a Jo or eye-brow I'd go with a good hardwood dowel.

Yang Cane Form

Ralph Lindberg

Reed

I've been interested in the Yang 8 Immortals Cane form for some time, a couple weeks ago I found that an instructional video is available as a part of the Amazon Prime package.

Looks like I found an excuse to turn a cane on the lathe...