This is a bit of a belated post as the bows are already out the door and in use, but I figured I share with you guys some of the steps that went into the birth of the two bows.
 I think the hardest part of building these two bows was deciding which woods to use in the construction of them.  I wanted to use a combonation that I hadn't done before, so it took me a while of sorting through my stock of veneers and lumber before I decided on a mix of species that I thought would work well together.  

 Somewhere along the line, I'd picked up some Pau Rosa.  Together with some Macassar ebony, I figured the two would make a really striking handle.  
  After I bandsawed the handle into its three parts, it was off to the profile sander. I had this machine made out of an old wood shaper.  It saves a ton of eye-balling and makes really tight glue joints.

Steve Tadin prepares to glue up the handles.  You may recognize his name from the Glory Hog 2 DVD (he did the filming, editing and narrating).

After the handles are clamped up, they sit in the oven for a couple of hours to cure the Smooth On.  Upon curing, they are removed, the quiver side of the handle is flattened on a jointer and then the back of the handle is profiled on the sander.

The sight window is then roughed out with the bandsaw, then routed to finished shape with the assistance of a template and template bit.  Then it is back to the glue room to have the glass backing attached.

way cool...cant wait to see more

I love watching craftsmen work. Thanks for posting this up. Looking forward to the rest  

It's great to watch masters at work.

Really nice touch on your already grateful effort.

Can't wait to see more....  

Wow!  

Very nice to see the birth of a functional piece of art.  Thanks for bringing us into your shop.

After baking in the oven again, the handles are removed and the drilling for the limb indexing pins and limb bolts takes place.

Finally, the shaping of the grip can begin.  It is always a bit of a bender for the brain when you are mixing RH and LH handles together in a batch.

South, Good on you for doing the Hope&Faith This year. Also for sharing the build-along. You have given me a serious case of "Shop Envy"
Also glad to see the good and proper use of PPG(personal protection gear).
Well done Man. A true craftsman at work.

Chuck

very cool!

After getting the handles roughed out, it is time to start on the limbs.  I decided on curly etimoe and Mexican kingwood for the veneers.  All the pieces of the limbs get laid out, ready for assembly.  The glass is roughed up with 36 grit where the overlays will be glued on.

Steve gets the honors on glue duty. Watching someone who has glued up countless limbs, it looks easy, but when you try it for the first time it is like trying to smear honey on fly paper.  It wants to stick to EVERYTHING!

After the pair of limbs are glued up, they get wrapped in 2 layers of 18" wide food service plastic wrap and put into the forms.

Inflate with 70 pounds of air, set the timer for 3 1/2 hours and start on cutting out the buffalo horn tips.

If you ever want to clear the shop of unwanted guests, try cutting on some buffalo horn with the bandsaw.  It will do the trick, gaurenteed!  It smells like a spontanious combustion at the beauty parlor.  Aussie Shane was gracious enough to send me up a pair of Asiatic buffalo horns from Australia.  They made some really pretty tips.  After cutting a few strips free of the horn, I used some Smooth-On to laminate two strips of red glass, sandwiching a piece of satinwood to the horn.

Look good I need to get one!!

Cool stuff South ! Now I can see how my two were crafted !  

Looks Great!

Mighty good stuff.The "Hope" bow has grown on me and made me want a Stalker of my own badly. Convincing the wife is a bit of a struggle though.lol.RC

Robert....that one will be on the auction in June....and its a taxable donation for the kids.  Maybe you should play on her heart strings a bit.   :D

Love build alongs. Thanks for sharing the pics and donating your time a talents!

 

Great build along!  It is cool to read this and then be able to pick up Faith and go out and shoot her.  Between fighting my annual summertime cold and a busy week at work, I haven't hunted with her yet, but will have her in a tree by the weekend.  Still time to get blood on her before sending her down the line.

I here you TG. I`ll play that donation thing hard on her....maybe it`ll work.RC