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Topic Archives => Build Alongs => Topic started by: Eric on February 13, 2005, 10:03:00 PM
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Ah, after a good 9 months in wait, I finally am ready to begin work on 1 of my two hickory staves.
For now, I chose the nicer one, with fewer knots and a straighter profile.
I spent a goodly amount of time setting a chalk line, measuring, dividing fractions ( :knothead: ) and the like, but I finally got the profile drawn up on the back.
After a cumulative effort of 2 hours, I have 3/4 of the stave cut down to size. All that is left is to trim down one edge, and bring the belly down to snuff.
After that, I plan to back it with something simple, like linen. But here it is to date...
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/ek114/IMAG0008.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/ek114/IMAG0009.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/ek114/IMAG0001.jpg)
-Eric-
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cool work bench! good luck!
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Your off to a great start Eric.
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Lookin good. Just wondering why you want to back it?
Clint
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I want to back it mainly for security, but also I violated a growth ring during my laying out of the profile. It was necessary though! Haha.
Anyway, with my sharp drawknife, I'm a-rip-roarin' through the excess heartwood. It's a shame though, it has a real nice tone to it, and would look good with a linseed oil coat.
I plan to make a purpleheart riser though, so the purple and white should contrast quite nicely.
Another thought: Would it be okay for me to put purpleheart overlays on the tips? I'm not familiar with overlay, and I wanted to know if it would be safe, and if so, how would I go about doing it?
I can see it now...one day I'll be out hunting for polar bears in a snowstorm, and all you'll see is 2 purple nocks and a purple handle flinging a 4,000 grain arrow at 1,000 fps...
::snorts and wakes up::
I mean uh uh, yea in the expression ax²+bx+c=0, the value of x is equal to polar bear stew!
:bigsmyl: :bigsmyl: :bigsmyl:
-Eric
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The ferret just did a tip overlay pictorial, look for it. They are simple to do and very dependable.
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Violating a growth ring can be a serious problem. I'd spend time chasing another ring but that's what i would do. jawge
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This violation is at midlimb, and has a surface area of about 1/4". Its on the edge, and may not even make it to the final product...we'll see.
More pix in 30 mins after I finish the very last little part...
-Eric-
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Ok, here it is. The sides and ends are all up to snuff, the only thing left is to bring down the belly. I figured it would be easier to use the faceting method with the drawknife on a narrower plane.
You may notice that on the far end, there is a little bit sticking out on the side. That's where a large knot was, and the growth rings grew around it. I've since removed the knot, but my hands are just too tired to deal with the rest of the wood tonight.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/ek114/10.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/ek114/11.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/ek114/12.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/ek114/13.jpg)
-Eric-
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It even has natural reflex!
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Ok here she is all trimmed up nice like. The only problem I've come across are these strips of black material. Im not sure if they're knots or what...but do any of you guys think they are a threat to the structural integrity of the wood? They are on the belly side.
Anyway, the stave has a natural reflex of about 2". From the picture, it looks distorted, but the reflex is even on both limbs.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/ek114/17.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/ek114/18.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/ek114/16.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/ek114/15.jpg)
-Eric-
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Looking good. Eric, may I ask how old you are? Bue--.
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I'm 15 years old. I'll be 16 in September.
More pictures to come!
-Eric-
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Hey Eric, I have no idea what the black marks are...but I am watching with interest.
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I bought a lot of 30 year old Hickory planks from an old ski making factory and it sometimes have those dark "crap" spots or lines, I don`t know what caused it either. Bue--.
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Looks good. It's great to see a young guy in the game!
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Man, I wish I was your age when I knew about archery! (I'm only 25, but I still wish I knew about this earlier! :) )
~John
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my first bow had a bunch of those marks running along the limbs. they didn't seem to affect the bow at all.
Good luck!!
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Here she is all scraped up and squared away.
I also applied a backing to her. It's linen, and the application went quite well. It was much easier than my previous attempts. I have virtually no bubbles.
Next up is nocks and floor tillering. Though I can already tell that the limb with the dark streaks is going to be a tough one. It has a few small knots, and is less apt to bend.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/ek114/50.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/ek114/51.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/ek114/53.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/ek114/52.jpg)
-Eric-
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Who's bed sheet you steal Eric?
Can't wait to see your progress!! :thumbsup:
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Man, you Mom is going to be mad when she goes to look for that sheet :bigsmyl: What are you doing for a handle?
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What a great start :thumbsup:
How long have been into archery? I have a son that is your age and is a natural at archery but has no interest in it right now :(
Keep posting your progress :thumbsup:
Dan
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Nice job. Keep up the good work. Jawge
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New Guy: Hah don't worry, its just a ratty old sheet we don't use anymore.
Dano: Funny you should ask. I was thinking of using some leftover cherry and purpleheart, perhaps making a nice layer of hickory/purpleheart/cherry. The thing is I don't know the best way to do it. Should I use Titebond II or something better, like Gorilla Glue? And what about clamping...how tight and for how long?
kcdaniels: I've been into archery for about 2 years come this June. If you want to get your kid interested, just bring him down (or across, or up, haha) to MoJam. I garauntee he'll leave a happy man.
-Eric-
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Eric, Beautiful work. It looks like it is going to be a great bow. Keep up the good work.
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Update!
I've finally finished all the gluing of the riser pieces. I opted for a relatively short riser, mainly because well, I felt like it. Haha.
Anyway, the middle is purpleheart, and the top is cherry. The glue-up seemed to go well, and all is well.
This weekend I'll start the tillering. (say a prayer that she holds together!)
Here are some pictures:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/ek114/100.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/ek114/103.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/ek114/102.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/ek114/101.jpg)
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(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/ek114/104.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/ek114/105.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/ek114/106.jpg)
-Eric-
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By the way, the handle isn't fully sanded and smoothed, but I did a little bit just to get rid of the file marks.
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Lookin good so far Eric. :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
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Looks great Eric, I like wood combination. I'd be carefull about getting the bow to bend too close to the handle it may want to pop off, they'll be a lot of pressure on it at that point. It might have been better to cut the purpleheart about 8-10" and use it as the fade into the cherry. We watch in awe Buddy :notworthy:
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I was thinking that about the handle as well. I'm workin on my first r/d and the handle is starting to pop off.
Clint
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Hmm...any suggestions to help keep it on?
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Try keeping the bow stiff in the fades and it shouldn't pose too much of a problem.
Either that, or you could wrap it with sinew, thread, or whatever, or you could cut it off and put a longer one one.
Clint
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How did you do the linen backing?
I have a hickory self bow about the same stage as yours prior to the backing and would like to do it the same.
Gopherhunter
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I'm working on a hickory bow that looks alot like yours, short glued on handle. My third, latest, and I think final handle is black walnut. (yes the first 2 popped off.) The problem is exactly what the guy's above said, the bow wants to flex to close to the rigid handle. To stop this, I thought I needed more glueing surface, so I drilled it and glued in dowels. (no, not all the way through the bow. stop short of the back.) It seems to be working. If you need to replace the handle and you can make it longer and increase your fades, I would do that.
good luck.
Rob
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I suspect you will have trouble keeping your handle on. Blunt cut handles just about always come loose. If you shape your handle like the one in the picture the fade out section can bend with the bow and is less likely to come unglued.
This a bow that the post office trashed for me, apparently ran it between two I beams on a fork lift. Broke the riser off but you can still see the taper to the fade out.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/ekrewson/brokenbow1.jpg)
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Try drilling at opposite angles Eric thats what I do its almost impossible for the handle to pop. Great job up to now. very nice. John.
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Gosh its been at least a week since I've touched the bow. I've been quite busy with school. I don't think I'll be getting to it till around the 18th. Quarter exams will be over then, and it'll be spring break!
Anyway, the backing process was quite simple really. I sanded the back down with a fairly fine, to medium grit paper. Then, I made sure the surface was fairly smooth, and washed (wiped with a damp cloth) the back down with acetone. This removes any oils and other things which hinder the glue-adhesion (is that even a word? lol). Since acetone quickly evaporates--and has a pungeant smell--I opened the windows in my shop to allow adequate ventilation. Once the acetone evaporated, I used a cruddy paintbrush, and applied a fairly thick layer of Titebond II to the back. I left that to sit for just two or three minutes. This allows the glue to slightly tack up. I then took my linen (which was pre-cut to a rough estimate of length and width) and applied it.
I started at the center of the back, and pressed firmly out to either side. Once this was done, I pushed out all air bubbles by running my finger along the back.
After this, I allowed the glue to tack up for another minute or two. I then used the same paintbrush to apply Titebond II to the back again. Only this time, the glue is on top of the linen. This will ensure that proper osmosis occurs, and a strong glue seal is present along the entire length.
I then waited for the glue to completely cure (roughly 24 hours), and used a sharp utility knife to cut off the excess. Since the fabric is taught and stiff from the glue, it's simply a matter of gently running the blade down alongside the bow.
Voila!
Now, about these dowels...are you saying I would drill opposite angles down into the handle, and into the bow (but not all the way through) and glue in dowels? If that will work...I'll be quite happy, because it would save me the work of another glue-up...
Would the angles look like this from a side view?:
__________________--/-----\\--__________________
...Where the back and forward slashes are the dowels, and the dotted lines are the handle?
Thanks,
-Eric-
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If drilling for dowels is the fix, I'd think the they should be lined up like this...
_______________--\\----/--________________
...that way they're opposing the bend of the bow. That's pure speculation though, never tried it.
Clint
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You could try wrapping the handle on instead of gluing. I did that with my first bow. Didn't like the feel of the flat handle, so I carved out a "shaped" handle from another piece of wood. Stuck it on with one drop of Duco in the middle, just to hold it in place while I wrapped it with leather lace. Wrapped it good & tight, hasn't moved on me yet. This way I don't have to worry about it popping off & maybe taking some of the bow wood with it.
Looking back, it woulda been much easier (& better looking) if I'd used some wider, thin leather. I'm thinking something about an inch or so wide, and just thick enough that it won't break when wrapping it tightly.
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Thanks for the backing explanation.
Great job
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Ok guys, I've finally found some free time to get back to my bow. Here are some pictures of it strung on a very, very low brace. (The string is barely 1" away from the nock at the unstrung position) It's showing plenty of resilience, so that sounds good.
And then the next two pictures are the bow pulled to about 5" and then 10". I would like some advice on the tiller, just let me know what you think.
-Eric-
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/ek114/90.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/ek114/91.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/ek114/92.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/ek114/93.jpg)
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If the handle area is at least 3/4 in thick forget about the glue on and make a bend in the handle bow. Jawge
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How much width do you have at the handle?
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1 5/8" wide...but it is a bulbous style. And the hickory part of the thickness is 1/2".
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What exactly are you saying, though?
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Eric, it's way to stiff at the fades for starters and the right limb is a bit stiffer than the left. I think Jawge wasn't sure if you had a handle on this bow.
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it looks like you've got a hinge about 10 inches from the fade on the left limb
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Great minds think alike! As you guys were posting I've been taking care of those very same problems. The right limb is now bending much better, and that hinge was taken care of. Good thing I caught that one early.
I've got it to about 13" on the long string. She seems to be doing well.
I think the next step will be taking care of those fades. I'm trying to keep them fairly stiff, as I made a booboo while getting the blank together. I made the mistake of not leaving a certain thickness for the handle. :knothead:
Oh well, these things are always an adventure.
I'll keep you guys posted.
-Eric-
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Ok here she is pulling around 16" long string. I have two pictures here, one is without my little marks, and the 2nd one is with my marks. I've used the green to highlight areas that need wood taken away. What do you all think?
Also, the right limb is developing a hinge between my two green highlights. I should think that it will disappear once the adjustments are made.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/ek114/155.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/ek114/155w.jpg)
-Eric-
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Yep, you got the right idea. Gotta get them fades bending.
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I'm kind of stumped at this point, guys. Im not sure what to do, and the right limb is getting thin at the middle...which is right where it needs to bend. And then does the left limb look a bit stiff all together?
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/ek114/8w.jpg)
Help please! :confused: :confused: :confused:
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you've got a hinge 6 inches off the handle on the left limb. The outer half of the right limb needs to be doing more bending
take it slow :thumbsup:
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Yea see that's the tricky part. I know that the right limb needs to bend there, but its getting quite thin, and I'm wondering if I should take it in via width, and not thickness.
I think to the left of the hinge on the left limb, it's a bit stiff. Oh well...take it slow I shall. I've found that "Haste Makes Waste" applies 1,000% in tillering.
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If you're afraid of the midlimb being too thin, excercise the bow about 50 times and then check the tiller. If it hasn't changed, keep tillering as normal