From: Jeff Durnell
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Date: 12-May-19 |
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Last weekend I spotted a nice American Elm tree on my mother's place while mowing fields. Yesterday I went over to cut up some dead ash trees that had fallen into edges of the field, so I dropped the elm tree while I was there with the saw.
I cut it 6 1/2' long. It was 14" diameter and quite heavy. I almost couldn't get it into the truck myself and failed several times. Then I recalled the 'roll & pull' technique I learned from watching those skinny little fellas put 700 lb gators in the boat on the Swamp People show. It worked. But it hurt and I'm still paying for it.
Today I split it apart for selfbows and took some pictures thinking maybe it could help a few folks getting started in bow making.
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From: Jeff Durnell
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Date: 12-May-19 |
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Here she is. Innocent enough looking. Nice and straight. No limbs or much of anything in the way.
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From: Jeff Durnell
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Date: 12-May-19 |
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I decided to kerf the log with a circular saw because Elm has a lot of interlocking grain, and will pull and tear itself apart, wasting valuable wood. To me, the bark appears to run straight up the tree, i.e. no twist/propellor.
If you run a chalk line to guide the saw, keep in mind all kerfs should aim in toward the center core of the tree. This is where the grain of the tree radiates out from, and how the tree is prone to split.
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From: Jeff Durnell
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Date: 12-May-19 |
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Cutting a kerf longways in a log like this with a circular saw is a bit dangerous. It wants to bind and kick back, so hang on strongly, maintain the angle with the blade pointing toward the core, and stand to the side. I used a standard carbide tipped cross/rip blade for this.
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From: Jeff Durnell
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Date: 12-May-19 |
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I like to make the second kerf on the opposite side to first get it split in half, again, aiming for the core as best you can.
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From: Jeff Durnell
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Date: 12-May-19 |
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I sure wish that saw cut deeper ;^)
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From: Jeff Durnell
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Date: 12-May-19 |
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I pounded wedges into the kerfs on either side, but it still didn't want to come apart. Elm is tough to split, but this one seemed especially so. Fourteen wedges in it, all I had.
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From: Jeff Durnell
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Date: 12-May-19 |
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Interlocking grain holding tight around each and every wedge. Even osage is easier to split.
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From: Jeff Durnell
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Date: 12-May-19 |
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Eventually I got it apart with the help of a Sawzall and more sledging.
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From: Jeff Durnell
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Date: 12-May-19 |
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I like my staves wide to allow plenty of wiggle room. These are about 3.5" on the small end of the log. Chalk the lines where you want to split it, and run the saw so the blade points toward the core.
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From: Jeff Durnell
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Date: 12-May-19 |
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It's safer and more accurate to prop it up so you'll cut the line inward toward the core while running the saw flat, perpendicular to the floor.
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From: Jeff Durnell
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Date: 12-May-19 |
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After all the kerfs are cut, the staves are split out with a sledge and wedges. The interlocking grain fought me every inch of the way and I used a small axe, Sawzall, and even a chainsaw to cut it so they would come apart.
5 hours in at this point. Hardest dang log I ever split. But there they are.
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From: Jeff Durnell
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Date: 12-May-19 |
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Now the easy part. Removing the bark. It comes off easy when the tree is cut during the growing season. Just get it started with a screwdriver or something, grab it with your hand and pull.
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From: Jeff Durnell
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Date: 12-May-19 |
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It's so wet with sap that the shellac wouldn't stick to it, so I'm letting them sit for a couple of hours, then I'll seal the backs.
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From: Jeff Durnell
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Date: 12-May-19 |
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After I peeled the bark off, I found out why it was so hard to split apart. I kerfed it and tried to split it straight because the bark was straight, but look at how snakey the grain is in this thing. Maybe I should have split it in half first, then I would have known better what I was dealing with.
Oh well, since I left the staves wide, I'll still have enough room to follow the snakey grain when I lay them out and remove the extra wood. Should make some nice snakey elm bows.
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From: Bjrogg
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Date: 12-May-19 |
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That's how I do it Jeff. Was wondering if you'd use the same technique when I saw the title.
Bjrogg
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From: Jeff Durnell
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Date: 12-May-19 |
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You betcha. Hopefully tomorrow I'll get some of the extra wood off of them.
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From: RC
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Date: 12-May-19 |
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Nice job.
Bet ya worked up a thirst... :)
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From: Jeff Durnell
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Date: 12-May-19 |
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Ya should have seen what I did yesterday Roy. I was prepping cherry bark for bow backings, put a new blade in the utility knife, and proceeded to lop off the side of my pointer finger. There it was, laying right there on the bench. Kinda creepy leaving parts of ya behind in the shop. Lol. And no, I wasn't drinking.
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From: Jeff Durnell
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Date: 12-May-19 |
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You are exactly correct, Pat. That describes well what I saw. It's snakey, but since this year's ring is just starting to grow, I can see the pattern of last year's ring 'under' it, kinda. It's just as snakey, but in many places, they don't follow each other, but rather cross each other like you said. I'll just lay out straight bows then.
I never noticed it before. This is the first time I've cut elm in the spring.
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From: Jeff Durnell
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Date: 12-May-19 |
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It is tough. And with the grain growing random and crisscrossing, and knowing how difficult it is to split, I'm not worried about 'violating the grain' by cutting it straight.
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From: TrapperKayak
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Date: 13-May-19 |
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Nice Jeff, I didn't see this thread before. Its ice and straight looking. I think I'll go look for an elm as well, and maybe another HHB. :)
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From: Jeff Durnell
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Date: 13-May-19 |
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I worked on reducing them some more today. A couple of them were wide enough that I cut them in half to get two staves.
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From: Jeff Durnell
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Date: 13-May-19 |
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I put a new blade in the bandsaw, cut them 2" wide, laid them all out like this real quick, and went at these suckers like a rabid beaver.
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From: Jeff Durnell
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Date: 13-May-19 |
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Scribed a line down the side 1" from the edge of the stave's back.
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From: RC
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Date: 13-May-19 |
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Yer making a heck of a bow, Jeff.
It's not even done yet and ya got blood on it.
Good job..
LOL
Save me a good one and come pick it up.
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From: Jeff Durnell
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Date: 13-May-19 |
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Scribe the 1" cut line on all four edges, but don't try to cut the stave 1" thick the whole way across. You'll never follow the line on the side you can't see, so follow the line on top while tilting the stave, planning to flip it and make a second cut on the other side, also at an angle, leaving a peak down the middle. That's the safe way to do it.
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From: Jeff Durnell
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Date: 13-May-19 |
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Here it is after the second cut. The peak can then be removed with a third, very careful cut of the bandsaw if you're very adept with it, or removed quickly with a farrier's rasp, spokeshave, drawknife, etc.
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From: Jeff Durnell
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Date: 13-May-19 |
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This is what you end up with... staves with the bulk of the waste removed, twice as wide as they are thick which helps keep them from warping to the side as they dry... they may even pull themselves into some reflex as the dry. They will dry much, much quicker now, but they're dripping wet right now, and care still needs taken not to let them dry too fast initially.
I put another coat of shellac on the backs and ends, and once it's dry I'll move them to the middle part of the garage where they'll dry slowly for the first few weeks.
I may steam some of them in the coming days to make some corrections to them... remove twist, humps, and add a little reflex.
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From: RC
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Date: 13-May-19 |
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Bout time you start making bows in that new shop..
^5
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From: Jeff Durnell
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Date: 13-May-19 |
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I started a long time ago. I just get sidetracked too easily.
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From: Jeff Durnell
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Date: 13-May-19 |
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Here's where most of that 300 lb log ended up.
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From: Jeff Durnell
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Date: 13-May-19 |
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Here's what's left.
I couldn't help myself, I had to follow the snakey grain on one of them.
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From: Jeff Durnell
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Date: 13-May-19 |
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About 11 hours into them so far, counting dropping the tree, cleaning up the top, and cutting the rest of the tree into firewood for my son-in-law.
I can't wait until he tries to split it :^)
When I was trying to start wedges in it, they would bounce out and go flying across the garage.
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From: RC
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Date: 13-May-19 |
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I see your bandsaw gets covered in sawdust too...
I don't think the shop vac does very much for the bandsaw dust.
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From: RonG
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Date: 13-May-19 |
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RC that saw dust is probably too wet to be picked up by the dust collector, probably best not to run the vacuum, not much saw dust anyway.
Jeff Thank you for taking us along, man what a job that was, that darn log was probably laughing at you the whole time.
And I thought HHB was tough, that rascal gave you a fit.
Good luck on your bows you worked hard for those babies.
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From: Jeff Durnell
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Date: 13-May-19 |
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Usually the shop vac does very well with the dust from any of my tools, but it's probably full and needs emptied because I ran some big curly maple planks through the planer.
Gonna have to get that dust collector finished one of these days.
Yeah Ron, HHB is easy to rough out compared to elm.
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From: TrapperKayak
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Date: 13-May-19 |
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Sheesh you make it look like childs play. I give up.....:)
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From: Weylin
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Date: 13-May-19 |
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Good looking staves. Thanks for sharing
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From: Jeff Durnell
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Date: 13-May-19 |
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If it makes you feel any better Calvin, that thing really kicked my butt the last couple days. I was whooped last night. And I ate a bunch of ibuprofen this morning just to get limbered up enough to go back out there :^)
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From: Bassman
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Date: 13-May-19 |
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Chain saw from the beginning would have saved you a lot of work.
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From: Jeff Durnell
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Date: 14-May-19 |
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I DID use a chainsaw... at the beginning ;^)
I have a friend just down the road with a sawmill and have cut some up there before. That's a LOT less work than ripping them with a chainsaw or pounding wedges.
But sometimes it's good to struggle.
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From: TrapperKayak
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Date: 14-May-19 |
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Jeff, from my perspective it might make me feel 'better' relatively speaking that it is a lot of work for anyone attempting it, but I definitely don't feel better that it kicked your butt. I hope you recover quickly and get right back at it. Something I did, leaning back while installing overhead lights from a stepladder last weekend, cause me a major and lasting back spasm, so its probably a good thing I didn't work on my HHB staves this weekend. And I've have been working out hard in the gym lately too - Maybe that was what caused it.. :)
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From: Bassman
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Date: 14-May-19 |
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Jeff, never struggled with a chain saw when cutting Elm.Then I go straight to a sharp ax, rasp, and a form. We all have a different approach I guess.You ended up with nice staves in the end so it is all good.
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From: Osage Outlaw
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Date: 15-May-19 |
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Nice work processing those staves. I have split 2 elm logs and it wasn't fun.
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From: Jeff Durnell
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Date: 15-May-19 |
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Thanks, I'm not going to wait too long before I start steaming them. Maybe even this weekend I'll try one and see if the corrections hold. I want to make a differently shaped caul first though.
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From: badger
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Date: 15-May-19 |
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Elm is very forgiving wood, you can saw them straight and seldom have a problem with the snaky grain lifting on you. I have had one at home that I sawed out a cupid bow with recurves and a 5 curve limb profile. It was meant to be decorative because of the massive limb violations but I decided to tiller it out and shoot it and I still shoot it to this day.
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From: Jeff Durnell
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Date: 15-May-19 |
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I already regret not following the grain best I could on them all, just because I prefer snakey bows.
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From: Pappy 1952
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Date: 17-May-19 |
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Nice bunch of staves, love the snaky one. Pappy
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From: RonG
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Date: 17-May-19 |
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The crooked one is for shooting around corners.
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