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Main Boards => The Bowyer's Bench => Topic started by: snag on March 31, 2009, 10:06:00 AM
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I was encouraged by Oregon Okie and Steve to try my hand, with lots of guidance and experienced advice, at building a recurve. Steve is a very gracious man with an awesome woodshop! I have been blessed to have met him and am so grateful for this experience. Yesterday I prepped the riser by sanding the fadeouts to a paper fine edge and made sure all the areas to glue the limbs to were smooth and even. I then glued up the limbs and put both in Steve's press. It is curing in the hot box now. I will pull it out this week and start sanding and sawing!
(http:// http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u31/snag23/bow1004.jpg )
(http:// http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u31/snag23/bow1003.jpg )
(http:// http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u31/snag23/bow1002.jpg )
(http:// http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u31/snag23/bow1001.jpg )
(http:// http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u31/snag23/bow1005.jpg )
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The last pic is my "bow mentor" Steve...posing for a picture while in the process of changing the belt on the belt sander. That machine makes quick work out of sanding veneers down precisely.
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Man David, your wood combo is going to look so good. Can't wait to see the finished product. Steve will be so glad he was hammin' for that pic.
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Can't wait to pull it out of the press and see how things came out! I really am anxious to see the bolivian rosewood through that clear glass!
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Good work, That's quite a shop he's got there. Is that a homemade sander?
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Mounter, I think Steve put that sander together himself...not positive. I do remember he said it is an odd belt size...42"...so he has to have them made.
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I think he bought that from a guy but it was put together by the original owner. Either way its "custom" huh?
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Sounds right Russ.
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Snag u have some nice shop. where did ya get the edge sander and what do they run?
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Coming along good there Snag. You have a great teacher there. Steve is a great guy and has built some very nice bows over the years. He has a very nice set up there.
Look forward to seeing more pics.
Brock
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No doubt, I am very fortunate to have Steve as a teacher. I love the design of this bow. If I was looking to buy a bow I'd have him build me one.
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Too many spaces after your (http:// and before your ) :)
Here you go
Originally posted by snag:
(http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u31/snag23/bow1004.jpg)
(http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u31/snag23/bow1003.jpg)
(http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u31/snag23/bow1002.jpg)
(http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u31/snag23/bow1001.jpg)
(http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u31/snag23/bow1005.jpg)
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That shop is too clean :)
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It's great Jeremy. With that centralized vac system you can drag the hose to each machine and plug it in. Then when you're done with that machine unplug it and vaccuum the work area. Then take the hose to the next area and do the same. Works awfully slick!
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Well we "burned the midnight oil" last night. I pulled the bow out of the press! No air bubbles or small debris under the clear glass..whew! Took it to the surface sander and cleaned it up and trued it up getting any extra glue off the edges. Then Steve had me determine center of the limb tips, placed a screw-on clamp with a small post so we could string it up. This allowed us to see how the limbs "tracked"...unbelievable! No limb twisting. As we pulled the string up and down, just high enough so the string lifted off the limbs, upon letting it down the string came back to center! Steve was happy with it and that is a good thing. He is a perfectionist. I like that about him. Marked the edges of the clamps on the limb tips,took the string clamps off and put a templet of the shape of the limb, marked the outline on the tape. Then I took it to the sander and started taking off material. This was a little unnerving for me. I had come this far, didn't want to got over the line! It's starting to look like a bow!!! The next thing to do will be to glue on the tip veneers and the overlay veneers. Then I can start shaping the tips and sawing out the shelf! Pictures to come. Got to go to work to pay for this! Thanks Steve! You are definitely making a dream come true for me!
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Cool! Looking forward to more pics. She's gonna be a looker for sure!
I really like the looks of his belt sander... I have and extra motor and another project it seems :)
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I think I'm more excited to see your bow come out than I was mine. I love the process of making all those square edges just flow into your hand and make a bow out of it. I think all your dark woods are going to make a beautiful bow.
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(http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u31/snag23/bow1008.jpg)
This is the bow fresh out of the press and run through the surface sander, getting the glue off and truing it up.
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(http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u31/snag23/bow1009.jpg)
I love the look of the bolivian rosewood coming through the clear glass! No air bubbles! Yea!
(http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u31/snag23/bow1010.jpg)
Here's the work horse! This belt sander is amazing. Steve has built a jig to sand down veneers on this sander that took me some time to get used to. But after I learned how to use it it really does a fanastic job!
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(http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u31/snag23/bow1013.jpg)
Touchy work! Still developing the touch to grind down the limbs to the lines. He has a templet of the limb that I scribed on the limb's tape. Then grind down to those lines. This is done after finding center of the limbs.
...who is that greyhaired ol' fart?!!!!....
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(http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u31/snag23/bow1016-1.jpg)
Well there it is, starting to look like a bow! This weekend we will laminate the overlays and the tip laminations and saw out the shelf.
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(http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u31/snag23/bow1014.jpg)
Just another view of the "master craftsman" at work...yeah, right!!! When I get instruction from Steve on how to do a process on a machine he makes it look so effortless...then I try it and it is like I still have training wheels on...not ready to ride with the big boys yet! Sure is fun trying though. Having lots of fun. Don't want it to end...hmmm, what wood do I want to try in the next bow?!!! :biglaugh:
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The bow looks great so far. The bolivian rosewood is sweet! What do you have planned for the overlays?
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You are right about Steve being a perfectionist,
but that helps make him a good bow builder. I have known Steve for ... well to long I guess. We
are both getting a little "long in the tooth" you
might say.He's retired and I should be,but that's
another story. Steve has built bows for me and I
also have had the pleasure of building a couple at
his shop. When he dies I think Peggy should turn it into an art studio. I followed the construction
last summer and believe me nothing was spared or
held back(NICE SHOP)Bottom line is Steve is just
now about ready to start selling bows although he
has been perfecting his bow making skills for many
years now and his bows now are looking as good as
they have always performed. Steve, your welcome for the free add and maybe some day you can repay
the favor. Really though, Steve has given away many bows to our local club here in Oregon and
helped many guys like David and myself build them
in his shop for little or no profit. Anxious to see the finished product...a new "Savage Blaster"
Bob M.
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Hey David, how did you get steve up on that chair to take that pic of you on the sander. I think that might be a safety violation.
For sure Bob. Also, with a name like SAVAGE you know the bows are going to be deadly.
Snag, we should take a pic of the ebony bow that steve just made and put it on here.. Of course that takes the shine off of ours. :goldtooth:
hey, it's like a mini-TAO meeting on here.
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BMN, the face overlays will be bubinga/myrtlewood,then the same bolivian rosewood on top. The limb tips will be white glass, bol.rosewood and then gaboon ebony on top.
That is one thing I like about working with Steve as a teacher, he is a perfectionist. All the steps have been explained and shown to me by him. We don't move on until it is down as well as possible.
Bob, you are so right. Steve has been very generous in sharing his shop and his knowledge. He is a very good bowyer!!! Like I stated before, if I was in the market for a bow I would buy one from him...no doubt! I love his work and the design of the recurve he builds. I remember attending the first or second club meeting in your building. He brought in a couple of his bows he had built. As I gripped one I thought, "now this is how a recurve grip is suppose to be!" Fit like a glove. I was thinking of buying it...until I saw it was a little low in poundage. Shortly after that I started building one in his shop.
I need to come up with another name for this model of bow though...Savage Blaster? How about
"SS" designed by Steve Savage (SS=Super Slayer)
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David, good thought on a name. We have kidded Steve about the name of his bows in the past,
but all in good fun. You are a business man
with some knowledge of marketing so maybe you
could help the poor old fella out. His son, Riley
paid for a web page for him a few years ago, but
Steve wasn't ready to go then. Maybe there is a
professional web builder out there who could
work out some sort of a trade with Steve? Just
thinkin out loud.
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A man who works for me does websites. I'll have to talk with Steve about this. Can't wait to put a Surewood douglas fir arrow through this bow!
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(http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u31/snag23/tillerclamp.jpg)
Here is the tiller clamp that Steve had made up. It is screwed onto the limb tips BEFORE tapering and shaping the limbs. The limbs are 2" wide at this time. I screwed them on and then strung the bow up. Placing the bow face down on the floor you lift slowly up on the string until the string is off the limbs only. All the while you are watching for limb twist and how the string travel is. If there is some twist in the limbs and the string doesn't travel straight up and down you need to unstring the bow and loosen the clamps and move them slightly, 1/16" to the opposite side of where the limbs twist to. Screw them tight and restring and check again. Keep doing this until the string travel is good and no limb twist. I got lucky, or rather because Steve was helping me, there wasn't much adjustment needed. Then you scribe lines in the belly of the limb where the edges of the clamp are and where the string contacted the limb. The clamp edges will be the diameter or the tips!
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(http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u31/snag23/tillerclamp4.jpg)
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That rosewood does look sweet!!!!!
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Mounter, I like it too. The tips and face overlay were glued on yesterday. Tonight I'll take it out of the hotbox and start shaping the tips. The tips will be gaboon ebony, bol. rosewood, and white glass. Can't wait to see how it's going to look once it starts getting shaped!
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Last night we cut my bow IN HALF!!! :scared: Actually I cut out the window and shelf and trimmed the tips down. Then "hogged out" a lot of wood to start getting the contours in the riser. Still a lot of wood left to take out. But it's starting to look like a bow more and more! (http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u31/snag23/bow1017.jpg)
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(http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u31/snag23/bow1018.jpg)
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(http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u31/snag23/bow1019.jpg)
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(http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u31/snag23/bow1020.jpg)
I was so tentative in grinding wood off not having done this before. Also I am trying to think what the bow will look like and how to take wood off to get there...rookie. Steve just grabs the bow and instructs me to do this...as he grinds away effortlessly. I think he could do it in his sleep! Pretty cool to watch him.
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There you go.. starting to take shape now. It's going to be pretty. I took mine off slow too. Thought I was done several times and then would go back into it. I'm still eyeballing mine and thinking I make take a little here or there.
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That's looking great! Love the rosewood!
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So Russ, when do you say "I'm there, that's it, no more filing and sanding"?
Thanks AP, I have often appreciated the bows you make and post on here. You are a skilled bowyer!
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after about the third time you think you are done.
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That's what I'm starting to think! :banghead:
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Ok, did you work on it today?? where is the update??
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I got a relapse of bronchitis on Sunday night! I've been done with antibiotics the past couple of days.....yuck! The bow just sits there sadly longing for a file to caress it's contours.... :(
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Hope yea feel better, can't wait to see how she turns out.