posted
Awesome, thanks! I am building one as we speak but I think, after reading more about choosing a board, I may have pick a board with too tight of grain.
We'll see, at least it's a learning experience before I try my hand at building a yew bow.
Posts: 2 | From: Victoria, BC | Registered: Oct 2009
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posted
Curt, You did an awesome job. Thank you for all the hard work doing the posting. Good luck hunting
Posts: 632 | From: Michigan | Registered: Sep 2008
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posted
Great project to get started building wood bows. It takes a lot of effort to put together a build-along of this quality. Well done sir! This one should be archived.
posted
Thanks, everybody. I appreciate the kind responses, and really enjoyed doing this build-along. I would be REALLY interested in seeing the pictures of any bow ya'll make as a result of reading this thread. I would be DOUBLY interested in seeing what you harvest with that bow! Looking forward to seeing some pictures!
-------------------- "Walk softly...and carry a bent stick."
"And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God the Father through him." Col. 3:17 Posts: 1169 | From: Nebraska | Registered: Aug 2009
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Dude you make bow building look easy..LOL killer build-along. I've built 5 or 6 board bows and the last being hickory with some snake skin backing.. I'm hooked.
Posts: 207 | From: Iraan Texas | Registered: Oct 2009
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posted
How would changing the handle design affect the this bow (more along the lines of a longbow grip) How narrow and thick would the limbs need to be to get this bow down around 25 or 30 pounds for a young beginning archer?
-------------------- Striker stinger 58" 55# @ 28 any wood bow I pick off the rack. 2 Cor. 10:4 TGMM Family of The Bow MK, LLC Shareholder Proud Member of the Twister Twelve Posts: 3571 | From: Petersburg, Indiana | Registered: Aug 2009
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posted
Great buildalong!!! A really cool bow. I do a lot of music boxes with red oak. Theraputic!!
-------------------- And God was with the lad; and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer. GEN-21:20 Posts: 383 | From: Michigan | Registered: Dec 2006
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How old is the youngster, and what is their draw length? Here's some specs that will give you a 25-30# red oak pyramid bow that a kid can grow into:
63" NTN (64" overall) 2 3/8" wide at the fades narrowing to 1/2" at the tips 3/8" limb thickness
As the kid's drawlength increases, so will the bow's poundage. However, if the bow comes in too light, pike the bow by taking 1" off each tip (assuming you haven't done the glue-on recurved tips.) This will usually yield a 5# increase in draw weight. If the bow comes in too heavy, you can take a few measured scrapes at a time on the belly of each limb until you hit your target weight.
Good luck, and show some pictures!
-------------------- "Walk softly...and carry a bent stick."
"And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God the Father through him." Col. 3:17 Posts: 1169 | From: Nebraska | Registered: Aug 2009
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posted
Would it be possible to run the board through a table saw to get the limb thickness and to then glue on the riser section. Seems this would speed up this part and make it more precise. Problem I can see is that can the riser then take the pressure or would the glue line fail.
-------------------- Keep the wind in your face and the sun at your back. Posts: 1832 | From: Big Moose, NY | Registered: Nov 2004
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posted
I've done this on a couple of board bows and the problem on both of them is as you describe. The fades begin precisely at the glue line. This places undo force squarely on the razor thin edge of the glue-on riser block, which causes it to lift. When this lifts, the glue joint is compromised and soon leads to further separation. When the glue joint is situation higher in the fade-out radius it doesn't receive such direct force.
If anyone has had luck doing as razorback has described, let me know (perhaps Jawge or Art B?- you guys are certainly more knowledgeable about board bow than I). Perhaps it will work with a few modifications. And you're right, razorback....it would definately speed the operation up, providing you're not doing the glue-on recurved tips. Thanks for the question!
-------------------- "Walk softly...and carry a bent stick."
"And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God the Father through him." Col. 3:17 Posts: 1169 | From: Nebraska | Registered: Aug 2009
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posted
Hey 4est, Thanks for all the info. I'm gonna round up some lumber her in a few weeks and I will definetly post some pics. Wish I didn't have so much going on right now so I could started.
-------------------- Striker stinger 58" 55# @ 28 any wood bow I pick off the rack. 2 Cor. 10:4 TGMM Family of The Bow MK, LLC Shareholder Proud Member of the Twister Twelve Posts: 3571 | From: Petersburg, Indiana | Registered: Aug 2009
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posted
4Est, That is what I thought the problem would be. I think I will still do the cut with the table saw, stop it short of the fade area and clean it up with the band saw. I think it would still work even with the recurve tips. If I add them after the cut and then cut the profile later. I would leave a small amount of wood for clean u of saw marks and so make the transition cleanly. I will look at it carefully before cutting anything.
-------------------- Keep the wind in your face and the sun at your back. Posts: 1832 | From: Big Moose, NY | Registered: Nov 2004
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posted
You'll be cutting it to its side profile (thickness) before cutting it to its front profile (width), right? Like you said, you can always add the recurved tips on later. I do that sometimes on a bow that's taken a little more string follow than I would like.
I tried the method you're describing once, but my table saw isn't large enough to do a quality (and safe) job, mostly because of the size of the cutting table. However, I did use my 1960's Crafstman radial arm saw (a beast!) to build a bow once. I turned the saw 90 degrees, added an extension to the infeed side of the cutting table, and screwed a sacrificial fence to the table. I set the blade up 1/32" over the finished thickness of the limbs off the table. Then I ran the board through, belly side up, all the way through fades, letting the radius of the saw blade cut the profile of the fades. Each pass I moved the saw in and 1/8" and repeated the cut, much like you do when cutting a tenon on a table saw. This actually worked very well, but I'm always leery of getting close to an exposed 10" blade so I haven't done it since. Maybe I'll do that on my next bow and post some pictures.
Good luck!
-------------------- "Walk softly...and carry a bent stick."
"And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God the Father through him." Col. 3:17 Posts: 1169 | From: Nebraska | Registered: Aug 2009
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posted
This has been awesome... I am working on mine now... it just stinks that I have to work because all I want to do is go home and work on the bow. I just hope my turns out as pretty as yours did!
Posts: 9 | From: Oklahoma | Registered: Aug 2009
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so I haven't done it since. Maybe I'll do that on my next bow and post some pictures. 
