? for glass bowyers

GreenJeans · January 21, 2008, 08:17:00 AM

What is the average time from start to finish to build a glass backed bow? This question came up in a class I was teaching.

kennym · January 21, 2008, 08:30:00 AM

Bet it varies depending on skill level and attention to detail. Takes me 15-20 hours,wild guess since its done in many bits and pieces of time here and there.

GreenJeans · January 21, 2008, 09:02:00 AM

I totally agree! I've built selfbows and they are in various stages laying all over the place.

SOS · January 21, 2008, 09:33:00 AM

Besides skill and experience, if it is a first bow, you have to make forms, tiller tree, maybe a hotbox and what-not. Adds considerably to the overall time.

mike hall · January 21, 2008, 09:38:00 AM

Took me months to complete one.............but I've got a wife and three small kids too.

Just building the form and hot box takes quite a while, but once you've done that you should be able to finish one in a week or so assuming you can work on it a few hours every evening.
I guess the type of finish would determine time also. Some finish takes longer to fully cure.

hera · January 21, 2008, 10:31:00 AM

For me,I will slow down my step just to injoy every processing.
Yes it depending on skill level and attention to detail,I never build the same bow(same tip,same riser...),so it take a lot of time to thinking and desige.

Dave Worden · January 21, 2008, 10:32:00 AM

My last one took about 25-30 hours. the one before that about 16-20. Hot box, forms, etc. were already available. Some day maybe I'll remember to time one. Of course, I'm only talking working time. I ignore the time in the hot box and for the finish to cure.

Carpdaddy · January 21, 2008, 10:37:00 AM

I only get to work on them in late evening and not every evening. On my last bow I wrote down what I did and how long it took each day; it to 51 hours to finish. My form and hot box was already built. This included making the string, tuning the bow, and even making a homemade quiver.
Had some mess up's along the way that took me extra time but this is not unusual for me. My bow shifted in the form a bit and caused me much extra pains and time to tiller. I am still a rookie; an experienced bowyer might cut this time in half.

Steve H. · January 21, 2008, 10:58:00 AM

When all the equipment is working in unison, with all laminations ready to go, no additional overlays, and everything goes right: five hours. I bet the next one I do will take a LOT longer cause I am rusty since it has been several years.

Just for comparison, I can grind a perfect riser from a block in about 10 minutes as I have a jig perfected.