Trad Gang
Main Boards => The Bowyer's Bench => Topic started by: Roy from Pa on September 30, 2017, 12:08:00 PM
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I don't build hardly any bows in the summer. Too many other things to do. But this is the first glue up of the fall season. I met a guy at the Pine Hill trad shoot this past summer and he seen the bow I donated to the Pine Hill club to be auctioned off. So he asked me about me teaching him how to build his own bow. I seen him a couple other times before this but we never really got to talk much. So I said sure I will help you make a bow! "And because of him, that is how I got that load of Osage logs in my other thread.." So he has been to my shop twice now and the last trip we got it glued up. He lives an hour's drive away so he only comes down once a week. So ya all will have to keep checking back to see how his progress goes.
This is him cutting the Osage, name is Tim.
(https://i.imgur.com/U5omqFol.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/VZjzixel.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/LrXxIQ1l.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/ORzPuiDl.jpg)
And the riser and tip overlays below.
(https://i.imgur.com/LzdV1Nbl.jpg)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bRYE1hPYy0&feature=youtu.be
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:coffee: :coffee:
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Nice. Will keep an eye on your progress.
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I'd post pics of what I worked on today, but it's not worth the hassle.
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Thanks, Jeff. Actually Imgur.com is sooo much easier and faster than photobucket.
Here is the bow Bowjunkie worked on today. He has been my mentor in bow building for 15 years.. Cause I'm a slow learner... LOL
(https://i.imgur.com/fExkrJ2l.jpg)
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Looking good Roy
Good luck with that bowjunkie
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Tri-Lam looks good, what are the specs on the bow like taper what, taper what have you or whatever. Laminated Wood bows are sure a pain to taper for proper tiller. For me anyway.
:deadhorse:
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Bow is Osage belly, red elm core lam, boo backed. 62" tip to tip. 1 1/4" wide at flares, tapered to 1/2" wide at tips. I leave the Osage belly 1/4" thick with no taper. The core lam is 3/16th thick at the riser, tapered to 1/6th thick at the tips. Boo is 1/8th thick at riser, tapered to 1/16th at tips. Shooting for 50# @ 26" draw. Won't have any problem reaching that weight.
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Thanks for the specs, 50# @ 26". That would rip my shoulder out. 40-43# is max for me. Dang I hate getting old, if its not my back its my hands, knee etc...etc..
:(
Dont know how Howard Hill pulled an 80# bow, even in my prime it would of been a chore.
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Wayne, I tried to reply to you but your mailbox is full. Won't go through. You need to delete some messages bro.
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What glue do you use?
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Looking good Roy. That one is gonna rattle you teeth.I remember years ago the Ferret group had one close to that and it would knock your fillings loose. How you liking that Dust Deputy. I have one on a 16 gal. Rigid vac. works good.
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Bob, I use unibond800.
Stic, the snake bow is bowjunkies bow.
I love the dust deputy, it does a super job. Made a huge difference in cutting down on the dust.
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thanks!
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Tim was in the shop today. Below is his bow right out of the form. Tim is in the background shaping the riser to fit.
(http://i.imgur.com/DpyXjUZl.jpg)
Shaping the tip for the overlay.
(http://i.imgur.com/bBO6xs8.jpg)
Tip wrapped with rubber bands.
(http://i.imgur.com/fLZtT9u.jpg)
Riser glued and clamped.
(http://i.imgur.com/Qe3bgOD.jpg)
My bow laid out and ready for glue up.
(http://i.imgur.com/IfJ0d68.jpg)
And Annie looking for the deer antler box under the bench. She loves chewing antlers.
(http://i.imgur.com/4CsRMjL.jpg)
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Hey Roy, how do you taper your bamboo?
I just try to get mine 1/8" or thinner. It seems the nodes would get in the way of any efforts to taper properly like you could with lumber.
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First I run it through my drum sander to get it close.
Once the boo is cut to the exact shape of the bow. I taper it on my 4' edge sander, one limb at a time. It's a little hairy and ya gotta watch your fingertips. Then I finish it off with a toothing plane on my work bench.
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Yea, and slicing your hand open.
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Tim was here yesterday. Cut the bow out, then used a rasp to clean up the sides, rasp in the facets front and back, sanded the bow, then shaped the tip overlays and cut in the string grooves. It's been floor tillered and ready for the tillering tree.
(http://i.imgur.com/Oy89E9h.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/utS73zx.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/AsuRqjU.jpg)
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Looking good Roy
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Looks like Tim is doin great on his first bow. :saywhat:
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Buffalo horn.
I put mine on the back burner while Tim is building his.. And a little 7up... :)
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The official start of Trilam season. I guess I need to finish tillering my trilam that I started months ago.
It's looking good. Did you use the same amount of reflex/deflex as your normal setup?
That one looks like there's more reflex.
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I put in more reflex and less deflex. I do that by moving the mid limb post out more towards the tips.
Tim was here yesterday. He brought a case of water.. What's wrong with this guy? LOL :)
Bow on the tree for the first time. The bottom limb to the left is a little stiff, we worked on that for a while.
(http://i.imgur.com/vifDRRC.jpg)
Bottom limb starting to come around.
(http://i.imgur.com/ICtb2ZH.jpg)
At rest after being pulled to 19 inches with the long string. It's ready for a 4 inch brace height, but I realized I gave my only longbow stringer to the grandson a couple weeks ago. DUH.. So today I will make a couple longbow stringers..
(http://i.imgur.com/TtTli8k.jpg)
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Video here. Top limb to the right needs to open up just a tad more.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vp8BiibrKms&feature=youtu.be
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Roy, do you like the full draw to have stiff, unbending outer limbs(slightly reflexed) or a full circular tiller throughout from tip to tip on a R/D style bow?
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Circular, Pat. I used to flip the tips with heat before glue up to get the slight reflex at full draw but it seemed to be harder to tiller that way. Almost seemed like making the bow shorter with the heat induced reflex.
(https://i.imgur.com/zJ9N4IB.jpg)
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Profile looks really nice especially at full draw. It sure looks longer than 60".
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Man, you all don't mess around. It's looking good!
My trilam's un-braced profile looks just like that one, and I'm having trouble bringing it to low brace. It keeps popping back to it's un-braced profile with the string laying flat on the handle. I keep shortening the string but it keeps going back. Any tips?
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That last picture is not Tims bow. I was just showing Pat what my bows profile looks like.
Benton, it could be that your bow is still way too heavy to string up. A super heavy bow will stretch the crap out of a string. Did you get it bending at floor tiller?
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Thanks Roy. You are more than likely correct. I tillered it with the long string but I didn't take much off since I'm shooting for 65 lbs on this one. It's bending, but nothing like my 50 lb bows. It's probably too heavy even for 65 lbs. I just don't have a heavy bow to compare it to.
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Roy, I don't build many R/D style bows but that is how I like full draw to look also.
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Roy, I'm thinking of making my first tri-lam this winter. Can you tell me a little more about your form? Dimensions? Thanks
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It's a 1 inch thick oak board, 6 inches wide and 6 feet long. I bolted 1 inch angle iron down both long edges. Center post is 3.75" high, mid limb posts are 2.75" high and end posts are 5.5" high.
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Thanks
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looking forward to seeing that 62" bend.
:thumbsup:
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Very nice wood, you're doing it justice.
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Nice job Roy, I like watching your build a longs.
Lee :clapper:
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Very cool!!! :thumbsup:
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Watch those sharply reflexed transitions as they make tillering harder. It would be better to have the reflexed section blend over a slightly longer area from the deflex. You have quite a sharp transition. Putting more posts on your form would allow you to have the outers less straight.
It is always good to teach others even if they only bring water... ;)
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Thanks, I noticed that also, Mike. This bow was shorter than I normally make. Thus the increase of reflex did present a challenge. From now on all my bows will be 66 tip to tip. The bow in the latest trilam build is 66, thus the less reflex and it tillered out like a dream.
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Just grind that 'boo off and glue some glass on it. She'll be OK. :laughing: :)
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Ya think ole Kennym might sell me some gwass? :)
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Yup, and he ships fast too!
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Roy, don't resign yourself to a given or minimum bow length. You can alter other design parameters to make shorter bows that you may like just as well, or better. I've made them less than 60" long and over 60#, they held their shape, and I loved them.
You gotta quit trying to tiller all your bows circular too. When it's not in their best interest, it can make the mid and/or outer limb weak on them and cause set there.
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I understand Jeff. All I need to do is on a shorter bow use lower end posts.
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Roy, If you were shooting for 55-60# at 27", what dimensions would to make your stock?
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Belly lam 1/4" parallel.
Core lam 5/32nd at riser, tapered to 1/16th at tips.
Boo 1/8th at riser, tapered to 1/16th at tips.
Flares 1 1/4 wide, hold the 1 1/4 out 6 more inches, then straight taper to 1/2 at tips.
64" tip to tip.
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I'll just add that riser length, power-lams, reflex/deflex amount, and tips wedges all affect your final weight too. You will have to play around with your setup to get it dialed in. You may want to go a little thicker on the belly lam on your 1st one.
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Thanks guys. Roy, what size riser do you usually use?
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12 to 13 inches..
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Ok, I've ordered my supplies from Kenny. Roy, could you give a little more specs on your riser? Fade length? Maybe an up close picture? I appreciate all of your help.
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I save most of Roy's builds....
http://tradgang.com/noncgi/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=125;t=012149;p=1#000000
http://tradgang.com/noncgi/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=125;t=013158;p=1
http://tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=125;t=010376;p=2
http://tradgang.com/noncgi/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=125;t=013884;p=1
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Benton, LOL yes you do. No wonder you are making good bows.. :laughing:
Riser block 12 inches long by 1 3/4 wide to start.
Mark the center at 6.5", measure up and down from that center line 2 inches. That will be your 4"grip area. But see below.
I lay out the actual bow shape on my boo and cut that out. I have a pattern already cut to shape and I just use that.
But from the center of the length of the boo, I measure up 2 inches, that is the top of the grip and also is the arrow shelf. From that line I measure up 2 more inches, that is the flare, and measure up 2 more inches and that's the end of the riser.
Then repeat that measuring down from the center. The first 2 inch line is the bottom of the grip area, second 2 inch line is bottom flare and the last 2 inches is the end of the riser.
I use 13 inch risers too, I just add an extra half inch onto the distance between the flare and end of riser on each end.
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This is sorta what you want. I don't have a later picture, but you get the idea..
(http://i.imgur.com/fdH1NQR.jpg) (https://imgur.com/fdH1NQR)
(http://i.imgur.com/hqzuOxe.jpg) (https://imgur.com/hqzuOxe)
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Thanks guys. I really appreciate it.