Trad Gang
Main Boards => The Bowyer's Bench => Topic started by: LESKEN2011 on March 17, 2014, 07:15:00 PM
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Since I haven't really updated Kelly on my progress, I thought I would give a short update. Most of my bows, so far, have been made from staves or backed bows made from wood and bamboo. I was in the swap at another site the last couple of years, but thought I would enter yours this year. In order to focus on this bow, I elected not to enter the other swap this year. So far I have several options. I have hickory backed ipe and hard maple backed massuranduba glue ups done as well as crepe myrtle and osage staves roughed out. After reading Little Ben's fine take-down build along, I decided to try my hand at one. If it doesn't work out, I can use one of the others to fall back on. More to follow.
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well Kenny i always wanted me a maple backed whatchamacallit.... so that will do nicely :)
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I will keep that in mind, Eric. You never know! :thumbsup:
I have been very lucky with the backed bows I have made over the last couple of years. Since I didn't have a thickness sander, I ripped the backings on the table saw and then on the band saw when I got one. I cleaned them up with by hand sanding before gluing them up. In order to do tapered laminations I knew I would need to rig up a thickness sander/lam grinder of sorts. After reading about them online I decided to try to convert my belt sander into one. Since my belt sander doesn't have enough clearance to build a jig like the one on Sam's site, poorfolksbows.com, I decided build a frame to flip it on its side. More to follow...
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Here is a pick of the frame. I had to make it a temporary one so I could continue to use it as a belt sander. The drawback is the belt tracking adjustment knob is not accessible, so if it shuts down, I have to take the clamps off, raise it up, and adjust the tracking.
(http://traditionalbowman.com/hwdphotos/uploads/62/5/DSCI0002.JPG) (http://traditionalbowman.com/hwdphotos/uploads/62/5/DSCI0003.JPG)
(http://traditionalbowman.com/hwdphotos/uploads/62/5/DSCI0004.JPG)
(http://traditionalbowman.com/hwdphotos/uploads/62/5/DSCI0005.JPG)
(http://traditionalbowman.com/hwdphotos/uploads/62/5/DSCI0006.JPG)
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Good job on the rig. I just got gifted some more ipe... So i have a glue up or two in the near future. After my last experience of tapering by hand i thing im gonna use the excuse to buy a drum sander ;)
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Next I needed a sled. Since I have never worked with the precision that many of you glass bow builders do (I still don't :D ), I read as much as I could about taper rates. Little Ben used about .0025 per inch taper on 2 of the 3 lams in his bow and others have used .002 per inch, so I figured I would shoot for something in that range, realizing, of course, that I would probably have to do a little more tillering which is possible with a wood belly if left thick enough. I saw an adjustable table saw ripping sled online with a hinge on one end that gave me the idea it might work for the sled. I ripped a 2 X 4 36 inches long and put a hinge on one end. Here are a couple of pics.
(http://traditionalbowman.com/hwdphotos/uploads/62/5/DSCI0186.JPG)
(http://traditionalbowman.com/hwdphotos/uploads/62/5/DSCI0190.JPG)
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I added a 1/4 inch red oak piece to the sander side of the sled and glued an 80 grit piece of sandpaper to it. This was my thought process. .0025 per inch taper X 36 inches = .09 total. So I took a hickory backer (I just finished on my new thickness sander down to .09 inches and closed the open end of the taper on it.
(http://traditionalbowman.com/hwdphotos/uploads/62/5/DSCI0187.JPG)
(http://traditionalbowman.com/hwdphotos/uploads/62/5/DSCI0188.JPG)
(http://traditionalbowman.com/hwdphotos/uploads/62/5/DSCI0190.JPG)
(http://traditionalbowman.com/hwdphotos/uploads/62/5/DSCI0192.JPG)
(http://traditionalbowman.com/hwdphotos/uploads/62/5/DSCI0193.JPG)
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I didn't have a way to make the end adjustable, so for the time being, I cut a short piece of aluminum and put some screws in it to keep the correct gap. I figured I could fix it later with some type of adjustment screw. I also added some dowels for handles to push the sled with.
(http://traditionalbowman.com/hwdphotos/uploads/62/5/DSCI0196.JPG)
The first lam I ground for practice wound up with a .00233 taper per inch which I hope may be close enough for my first try at this type of bow. When all you guys stop laughing, feel free to give me some feedback. By the way, thanks Ben for the extra feedback and the detailed build that you provided.
More to follow...
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Eric, I love ipe. Massuranduba (bulletwood), another decking wood, is also a very dense wood since my favorite (osage) is a little harder to come by. I have used titebond, so far on my glue ups except for gluing in kerfs when flipping the tips which I used epoxy for. I think I will try the epoxy on this take-down, though. After reading Ben's comments on the moisture related issues, I don't have the patience to wait on it to dry back out.
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I dig it man. Cool idea on the sled.
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Very cool idea for the lam grinder! Keep this one coming.
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Great approach to your lam grinder. i made one a little similar by using a makita belt sander [ hand operated type]removed all the burnt out motor and casing and run it of a spa pump motor.Looks alittle similar and works great. Also used Masseranduba wood as a board bow and came up ok.like the way you went about your lam grinder.
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I really like that sled idea. I actually am in the process of rethinking my own lam grinding setup and I think I may make the sled as you did.
It would be nice to be able to adjust the taper by adjusting the gap at the end of the sled.
Really cool solution to the problem.
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Ben. I also tacked on a 1/4 inch thick red oak board along one side of the ripped pine 2x4 for lateral support to help keep it from warping. If you are going to start from scratch, you may want to reinforce it with a metal strip. I will probably make a 2nd one that way eventually. This was really a test to see if it would work. If you come up with a good way to make it adjustable, let me know.
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Looks pretty good, but I have one question - I have a sander similar to that, but the guide wheel on the side you're using is not a straight cylinder on mine. It's more like a barrel to help with tracking. I'm assuming, though, that yours is a straight cylinder? Otherwise your lams won't be consistent in thickness from one side to the other.
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i have feeling like this is going to sail across the ocean :) nice job... keep coming
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Inksoup-One of the reasons for the take down is I heard it is cheaper shipping shorter packages. ;)
Joe-Mine seems to be parallel, but if yours isn't, I would think you could run your sled through a couple of times to plumb it with the sander before you put your sandpaper on and start running your lams.
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Kenny im gonna copy your sled, and i have a good idea to make it adjustable. ill try to explain it or make a picture soon as i can :)
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don't forget to write on the package "HEDİYEDİR" for "GIFT" or "BEDELSIZDIR" for "no price" hahahaha lol :D
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I will be back in the shop, today. I hope to have more pics up later.
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Good weather down south, today, so I decided to make some new forms for the trade & and back up bows. I had an old wooden waterbed frame that I decided to re-purpose. I thought it was made from 2 x 8s, but after I drew and cut out my form, I realized the wood was only 1.25" thick instead of 1.5". I needed at least 1.5, but decided since I was going to have to supplement the width, I would add 3/4 to make it a full 2 inches wide. Here is a view of 1/2 of the 1 piece form and the 3/4 inch piece right off the band saw.
(http://huntingexchange.com/hwdphotos/uploads/62/5/DSCI0062.JPG)
(http://huntingexchange.com/hwdphotos/uploads/62/5/DSCI0063.JPG)
All glued up...
(http://huntingexchange.com/hwdphotos/uploads/62/5/DSCI0064.JPG)
I made my full length form with the belly on the bottom for working with bamboo. I will use the cut outs for take downs with the belly on top...unless I decide to try a bamboo take down... :eek:
Also, I bought a featherboard online a few months ago, but had to make a few modifications to make it work the way I wanted it to for cutting lams and backers on the band saw. Here is a pic...
(http://huntingexchange.com/hwdphotos/uploads/62/5/DSCI0066.JPG)
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I had this weekend all planned to get my forms finished, but, since I am the computer guy at my house and office, I got stuck with upgrading all the windows XP computers this weekend to a newer version of windows. I decided on Win 7 Pro. FYI, for those of you who don't know, Windows will be ending their servicing of Windows XP on April 8. That means no windows updates after that which could make computers that continue to use that operating system more vulnerable to attack by hackers, viruses, etc.
I did order some wood and a couple of tools that should be in this week, though and may get to work a little on bow stuff after church today.
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huh....
i am a computer guy as well...
and if my guess is correct then it will be from computer guy to computer guy bow hahaha what a conincidence...
on the other hand... i am not a windows guy... prefer always linux...
be linux'ed and feel the freedom...
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Yeah, Ink, I field tested Ubuntu for desktop use and have to deal regularly with linux for my web development hobby.
Sorry I haven't posted in the last couple of weeks. Been tied up with some family stuff and Easter. I did take some time during the week nights and finish up getting the holes in my take down limb forms and just need to tweek my reflex/deflex form for one piece bows. I also got some white oak, walnut, hickory, and tiger wood lams done and will be ready for the glue up by this weekend. I will try to get some new pics up this weekend of my progress so far.