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Main Boards => PowWow => Topic started by: Msturm on April 12, 2016, 05:33:00 PM

Title: A Big Boy bow for a great little guy
Post by: Msturm on April 12, 2016, 05:33:00 PM
My cousin's kid has a birthday coming up. He is going to be 4. He wants to shoot a "big boy bow" like his daddy.  I had a couple sledge handles laying around so I picked the best and went for it. Yesterday I picked up some Poplar dowels and fletched them up with some left over goose feather scraps. The rubber blunts are sections of old spearfishing rubbers.  He is going to love it. I can't wait for the complaints to start coming from his mom (my cousin) about him harassing the neighborhood cats and squirrels.

Hickory flat bow. 36in Tip to Tip. 10 lbs @ 12.
 (http://i.imgur.com/jsaPXOi.png) (http://i.imgur.com/qa29cam.png) (http://i.imgur.com/rNUYITK.png)

Thanks for looking! Hopefully his dad will send me a full draw pic soon!

Mike
Title: Re: A Big Boy bow for a great little guy
Post by: Buckeye1977 on April 12, 2016, 06:09:00 PM
That's sweet. He'll be so excited he won't know what to do!
Title: Re: A Big Boy bow for a great little guy
Post by: Roy from Pa on April 12, 2016, 06:10:00 PM
Very nice....
Title: Re: A Big Boy bow for a great little guy
Post by: Cavscout9753 on April 12, 2016, 08:18:00 PM
Good gracious that turned out awesome for a sledge handle, or for any material at that! My youngest (will be 4 next month) will be moving up from his PVC bow to a "big boy" bow and I'm just starting to look at options out there. I bet that little guys gonna be hooked big time!
Title: Re: A Big Boy bow for a great little guy
Post by: DennyK on April 12, 2016, 08:23:00 PM
So Cool!  :thumbsup:    :archer2:  

Denny
Title: Re: A Big Boy bow for a great little guy
Post by: Warden609 on April 12, 2016, 08:30:00 PM
:thumbsup:    :thumbsup:    :thumbsup:
Title: Re: A Big Boy bow for a great little guy
Post by: Jakeemt on April 12, 2016, 09:59:00 PM
Very nice!
Title: Re: A Big Boy bow for a great little guy
Post by: on April 12, 2016, 10:04:00 PM
That's awesome! I bet he will love it!

Bisch
Title: Re: A Big Boy bow for a great little guy
Post by: AR RidgeRunner on April 12, 2016, 10:32:00 PM
Really cool! My grandson is 4. Been thinking about building him a bow for a while. I need to get a form built and get one glued up. Maybe for his 5th birthday in October.
Title: Re: A Big Boy bow for a great little guy
Post by: ARriverdog on April 12, 2016, 11:22:00 PM
That is really special!!
Title: Re: A Big Boy bow for a great little guy
Post by: IndaTimber on April 12, 2016, 11:34:00 PM
That is great!! He'll have a blast!!
Title: Re: A Big Boy bow for a great little guy
Post by: Cyclic-Rivers on April 13, 2016, 07:32:00 AM
That turned out Great mike, I am sure he will love it!
Title: Re: A Big Boy bow for a great little guy
Post by: fmscan on April 13, 2016, 07:49:00 AM
Your a good man...
Title: Re: A Big Boy bow for a great little guy
Post by: mike g on April 13, 2016, 09:24:00 AM
:bigsmyl:     :thumbsup:    
That was an Axe handle.
Title: Re: A Big Boy bow for a great little guy
Post by: Caughtandhobble on April 13, 2016, 12:17:00 PM
:clapper:
Title: Re: A Big Boy bow for a great little guy
Post by: UMLarcher on April 14, 2016, 07:07:00 PM
That looks awesome! I can't wait for my 14 month old to start shooting. I guess I should wait for him to learn to walk first...
Title: Re: A Big Boy bow for a great little guy
Post by: Possum Head on April 14, 2016, 09:09:00 PM
Great job and good for you for your time well spent. You'll have a new best buddy for sure.
Title: Re: A Big Boy bow for a great little guy
Post by: CDK on April 14, 2016, 09:38:00 PM
Good for you...he will have a blast with that! Wish I had your skills   :thumbsup:
Title: Re: A Big Boy bow for a great little guy
Post by: maineac on April 15, 2016, 01:17:00 PM
Exceptional!!
Title: Re: A Big Boy bow for a great little guy
Post by: ron w on April 15, 2016, 07:14:00 PM
:thumbsup:  Pretty cool stuff. Nice job!!
Title: Re: A Big Boy bow for a great little guy
Post by: South MS Bowhunter on April 15, 2016, 07:51:00 PM
That is really a great looking bow!  And from a sledge hammer handle    :eek:    Did you use a draw knife?  You mind telling your process, I wouldn't mind trying to make one and naming it after you to give you credit    :thumbsup:
Title: Re: A Big Boy bow for a great little guy
Post by: Msturm on April 15, 2016, 08:30:00 PM
No Problem South! It is really quite easy!  I took a sledge handle that had the grain running cleanly down the length of the handle. Make sure the grain is oriented so that the wide part of the handle is the back of the bow.

The grain looked something like this (not an actual picture of the handle) (http://i.imgur.com/oR9ucYg.png)

I split it down the notch provided in the handle for the wedge to keep the head on.

It didn't split evenly, so I used the bigger half. After it was split I sanded the entire thing down, and "chased a ring" on the back using a rasp. all that that entailed was taking off the bit right before where the head goes on that flares out. . I sanded the entire back glass smooth after that.

I drew out the dimensions, 3 in handle. 1 in fades. t the widest it is exactly one sledge handle in width ( I didn't measure it.)

I leveled out the handle area on the belly, cut down the sides of the limbs with a machete and used my farrier's rasp to get the handle down to what looked good to my eye.

Then I put the overlays on the tips and handle using household superglue.  I then roughed out the belly with the same rasp.

( I make my handles and tips first. many advise against this. I figure if it looks like a nice bow early it is easier to talk it into being a nice bow later, and thats how Manny taught me to do it. )

Floor tillering consisted of me bending it over my knee.  After it was bending pretty good I put it on a tillering tree and using a mini gizmo gave it some final rasp scrapes to get it bending evenly.

Once everything seemed in order, I scraped and scraped the belly until I was down to the weight I wanted at the draw I wanted.   Pretty strait forward bow building. ( I learned almost everything from the bench on this sight.)

Sorry that was so long winded. I hope it helps. There is no need to give me credit for anything. I merely replicated and reduced designs that have been used for many many years.
Title: Re: A Big Boy bow for a great little guy
Post by: varmint101 on April 15, 2016, 08:53:00 PM
Very nice!
Title: Re: A Big Boy bow for a great little guy
Post by: South MS Bowhunter on April 15, 2016, 10:48:00 PM
Thanks I'll have to find a sledge handle and give it a go.  I've not ever tried a bow build sounds intimidating.
Title: Re: A Big Boy bow for a great little guy
Post by: Msturm on April 15, 2016, 11:53:00 PM
Go for it South MS Bowhunter! Building a bow is not very hard. It is time consuming and patience is key. If you break it your only out a bit of wood.
Title: Re: A Big Boy bow for a great little guy
Post by: Msturm on April 15, 2016, 11:54:00 PM
search this site for how to make a tillering gizmo. it is a game changer and really speeds things up!