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Come hell or high water I am going to be chasing gobblers with a BBO from my hands with cedar arras... Tonight I started to thin out the bamoo with a block planer.
I have been talking with Roy who has been wonderful with the tips along the way.
One tip side of the boo
Other side
Side profile
Here is what I have so far tonight... Looking to take my time. My first question for you guys is when measuring for thickness is this done from the center of the radius or the side profile... looking for 1/8 in the middle and 1/16 at the tips.
I am going to contiue on working down the boo and looking to pick up a toothing plane Think I am off to an OK start!!!
Posts: 459 | From: New Hampshire | Registered: Mar 2011
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i have used a sawzall blade held in my hand for a toothing plane. and it has worked really well- no delaminations yet. this is what i like to do- but firstlky i must say i defer to roy and other more experienced bowyers here- but this is what Bert Frelink told me to do- to rough out your belly wood, then rough out your bamboo to slightly oversize to your belly wood- then you can see a lot more accurately what thickness you are getting- you just have to be carefiul during glue up, that nothing shifts. it has worked really well for me.
see what the other guys have to say
Posts: 1109 | From: Queen Charlotte Islands, B.C. Canada | Registered: Oct 2008
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Ol' Roybert Redford is up to it again! He is the bamboo backed man. Do what he says and you will have a BBO turkey bow. Meausure the center thickness. As you taper the boo's width down it will thicken up. Dont sweat it if the edges get a touch "sharp". Try 50 grit on a good sanding block for leveling the surface for glue and removing material rather quickly.
Posts: 2831 | From: CENTRAL MICHIGAN | Registered: Feb 2010
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Sounds good PD... do you use a caliper or something to measure it. Spanky new to this
Posts: 459 | From: New Hampshire | Registered: Mar 2011
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I'm going to be devouring these BBO and BBI build alongs... Then trying one or two myself!
-------------------- I learned "Semper Fi" as a Marine, and have lived it every day since. Posts: 114 | From: Minnesota | Registered: Jan 2012
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ask ber frelink- a sponsor on here, and an awesome bow builder about his experience of thinning boo with a jointer i think it was, oh.. and the hospital time and the time away from bow building and shooting etc etc. unless you have exactly the right power too- i know i dont have!! stick to hand tools as much as you can.
Posts: 1109 | From: Queen Charlotte Islands, B.C. Canada | Registered: Oct 2008
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I use a jointer set at 1/8th inch cut to thin the boo down to a flat surface on the belly side. Jointers are very dangerous and will remove fingers in the blink of an eye. I use the push blocks to control the boo as I work it down. Once the belly side is flat I trace my bow pattern onto it and cut that out on a bandsaw. Then I thin the boo down to 1/8 th thick at the handle and taper it to 1/16th thick at the tips. I do this on a belt sander, and again I use push blocks to control the boo. I try to get the boo to a butter knife edge along the sides. Also if there are any thinner spots on the back of the boo, I am real careful not to make that area too thin.
One tip here Justin, if you look at the nodes on the boo, you will notice that the space between them gets longer compared to one end to the other end. You want the end with the nodes closer together to be your bottom limb. You will also have to align the boo on your pattern and you will either have a node centered in the handle or a node equaly spaced one way or the other at your flares. You can slide the boo one way or the other to decide, then mark the exact center of the boo with the exact center of your pattern. Then trim off the ends of the boo to match the pattern, leaving yourself an extra 1/4 inch to play with.
Once your bow pattern is cut out of the boo, center it on your slat and run a tight string down the center of the boo to keep it straight. I measure from the string to both side edges of the boo all along the bow to get it perfectly straight. Clamp the boo down on the slat and then cut little thin blocks of wood and glue them along the sides of the boo to hold it straight when you glue it up like below.
When you glue up the bow, be sure to place padding between the clamps and back of boo and also on the belly side of the wood. This protects the boo and wood from getting crimped from the pressure of the clamps. A thin piece of wood will suffice. The boo is the most critical so protect it well, otherwise the clamps will cause damage and cause it to splinter later on in the tillering process.
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So I worked more on my bow tonight... Made a new pattern on some stiffer wood.
Question for you folks... Anyone have a Z splice pattern for the band saw.... I attempted free hand and they seemed to match up. Gave them a little tap and crack... Ran a crack down the center of one about an inch and a half past it.
Figures I would have problems... Any time I pick up a piece of wood there is issues....UGH!!!
Posts: 459 | From: New Hampshire | Registered: Mar 2011
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Roy, what a messy shop you have Looks like one could eat off that floor. And thanks for the tip. Bue--.
Posts: 1220 | From: Norway | Registered: Feb 2004
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Justin, live and learn. I have done the same thing. You can't push them together too hard. Once I get a Z splice close,I use a rasp to finish it up and just snug them together with a very light tap.
Posts: 5291 | From: SW PA | Registered: Oct 2006
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Looks like one could eat off that floor. And thanks for the tip. Bue--.
