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I'm sooooooo close now on the form. Here is the current status. I sanded the sides and brushed on a coat of polyurethane over the whole form. You'll notice the thin metal strip that I'm going to glue to the form tomorrow. I'll trim the ends to length and use contact cement on both the form and the metal strip.
This next picture show the materials for the bow. I plan to make fiberglass bows off this form but the first one will be bamboo/wood. I've got some raw boo cut(need to get it to profile and thin it down. The other strips are cut up vertical grain bamboo flooring(natural and carbonized). I really like this combination, but I don't like using the bamboo flooring for my belly. I've got some ipe that I planned to use for the belly, but it isn't wide enough. I'm trying to figure out what to do since my ipe source isn't that close to me. The handle is walnut. Nothing fancy about this bow since I'm not sure if I can pull it off or not.
posted
I've got a little cleanup on the metal piece I just glued on and the form is done. I sanded my metal piece and wiped it down with denatured alcohol. I put a couple of coats of contact cement on the bottom of the form and the metal piece. After about 20 minutes of drying, I carefully placed the strip on my form. I had help for this so that it didn't touch the form anywhere accidentally. When I was near the end my help took the picture. I used a seam roller starting at the center and pushed down hard working my way from the center out. I've trimmed the extra material from the ends with the dremel. I'll debur all the sharp edges and I'm done with this step.
Next step, prepping the lams, riser, and boo backing...............................
Posts: 114 | From: Tyler, Texas | Registered: Feb 2006
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Lookin good Jeff, can't wait to see a bow come out of this baby.
-------------------- "If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy" Red Green Posts: 7499 | From: Nevada | Registered: Apr 2003
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posted
I am in awe of your abilities and you're only building your FORM! WOW!
Dean
-------------------- “…perhaps our grandsons, having never seen a wild river, will never miss the chance to set a canoe in singing waters…glad I shall never be young without wild country to be young in.”
-Aldo Leopold Posts: 293 | From: Michigan | Registered: Dec 2004
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I wondered if anyone would comment on the flip flops. Gotta be comfortable right?
Form is done.
Put everything together to test fit and air up the hose. So far so good. I'll be pulling an all nighter working on projects which I hate doing but gotta keep the clients happy. The good news is that while machines are running, I'll be able to start on the bow. I'll prep the raw boo first and will have pictures to document that as the night goes on.
Posts: 114 | From: Tyler, Texas | Registered: Feb 2006
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posted
I'll try and be as descriptive as I can. I like to start off with my raw boo and determine how straight it is. I'm not marking anything at this point.
There is quite a bit of bamboo to remove and I'll show my process. I'm sure others out there do it differently. The initial piece is wider than it will end up and there is still quite a bit of concave surface on the inside of the boo which can make it hard to transfer lines to it. I take it to the bandsaw and angle the piece. I cut the top edge until it almost makes a sharp edge. I don't want to cut into the bottom of the boo so I keep it angled and it is easy to use the bottom edge as a guide also. Hope you understand what I mean from the picture.
I flip it over and do the same thing. Here is a comparison shot with a cutoff piece(original thickness) versus my piece after bandsawing.
I transfer all my lines. I like to clamp a straight edge so that nothing moves while I'm drawing my lines.
You want to make sure to cut your bamboo backing to finish size or just over finish size and the following picture shows why. If you left the bamboo full width and sanded it down, look what happens to the thickness when the bow's profile is cut. You would end up with extremely thick tips.
Next................more work on the bamboo backing. Pictures to follow.................
Posts: 114 | From: Tyler, Texas | Registered: Feb 2006
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If your tillering skills are as good as your bow form building skills you won't have any trouble tillering mid limb on a composite bow and certainly not on a glass bow. But that amount of curve is going to be real fun to get bending right on the composite.You might want to wear a helmet just in case ha ha.
-------------------- There is always someone that knows more than you, and someone that knows less than you, so you can always learn and you can always teach Posts: 12891 | From: Cincinnati, Ohio | Registered: Mar 2003
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Mickey...My tillering skills will be put to the test on this one. I'm not looking forward to it because I don't want to screw it up now that people are watching.
I'm pretty much done with the bamboo backing. I have a little more to tweak it but it is put aside for now. I need to grind my lams, and start on the riser. I need to get the lams done first because I'll use one of them to fit my riser to while on the form.
Since the last step I sanded my boo backing to my lines. I like to go ahead and get it to size because you can easily see the edge and use as a reference when cutting/sanding. I use the same method as before and angle the bamboo and cut it close to the edge. I flip it over and do the same thing. Here is what I end up with off the bandsaw.
I then take it to the sander and get the back flat while watching my edges as guides to know if I'm sanding one side more than the other.
Here is a reference to an original size. Notice how much is removed by the time it's finished.
One thing I forgot to mention at the beginning is node placement. The piece of bamboo I used has fairly even node spacing but some start getting closer together from one end to the other. Just figure out your bow length and place the nodes so that you get the most even spacing on each end. You don't want to be careless and end up with a node near the last 2 inches of one end and 8 inches from the other.
More updates tomorrow.......................
Posts: 114 | From: Tyler, Texas | Registered: Feb 2006
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posted
I was able to work on the project again today. Here is what I got done.
I laid out the riser.
After bandsawing just outside my lines I start sanding:
I ground my lams today. These are 3 thinner lams that are alternating colors.
I have a thicker lam(belly lam) that was ground also and I have it clamped to my form to line my riser up against. You might not be able to tell from the picture but there is a very small gap in one area so the riser needs to be tweaked so that it fits flush.
This riser is not going to work on this bow. For a fiberglass bow(which this form is designed for) the riser should work great, but for this bamboo backed bow it is too severe and the bamboo backing won't easily bend around it. I played around with some scrap and even tried heat bending it, but there is too much strain on the boo to follow this riser.
I'll be modifying the riser tomorrow. I'll cut it so it's not so pronounced and everything should bend nicely.
More tomorrow..................
Posts: 114 | From: Tyler, Texas | Registered: Feb 2006
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posted
Thanks for posting as you go. Looks like the riser is gaping to the left of center, is that the adjustment you mentioned? Also, it looks like you are going to have the riser the same thickness as the middle lamination and butt into it. Or are you leaving the ends thick until you get the shape done and then feather it out?
I am really enjoying this build along. I picked up some lam bow working pieces, a hot box, couple of forms and hose stuff at an auction a while back and am looking forward to working with it. Threads like this give me a lot of info for when that time comes.
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I won't normally post unless I have something to show but decided I'd answer Shaun's(I enjoyed reading about your recent adventure) questions.
There is a slight gap to the left of center which you pointed out. That is the area I need to tweak to get fitting a little better. The riser is still thick at my fades. I like to get the riser fitting flush along the bottom and then I'll fade them to a feather edge from the top side.
I am hoping to glue the bow up tonight and have some more pics to post. I don't know how many I'll be able to take because I'll have my hands full at glue up.
Osagetree.....If I can pull it off(not sure if I'll succeed or not. I'm pushing my limits with this one)
Posts: 114 | From: Tyler, Texas | Registered: Feb 2006
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