Trad Gang
Topic Archives => Build Alongs => Topic started by: Hatrick on October 29, 2008, 10:23:00 PM
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Gonna try a little longbow build-a-long here with some pictures. I want to carry this one through to the finish which hopefully includes a successful whitetail deer hunt in the next few weeks.
Building a bow is fun project for sure. I just generally don't have much time to get it done. I found some time recently so here goes!
I built this form by copying my favorite "D" profile longbow. The Northern Mist Baraga. I have built 1 other longbow and 2 recurves to this point. So, saying that you know I'm a rank amateur at bow building so the information here is strictly for the novice. I heartly welcome criticism from those who are more skilled so I can do better myself in the future.
I have found nothing more gratifying than killing my game with the equipment I've built. So far, knock on wood, all of the bows I've built are still holding together and shooting fine. I built the form and heat box about a year ago when making the first longbow. The form can be tricky and you need to take your time to make sure it's cut symetrical and square to the front and back. As you can see, I'm going to use the fire hose method with the heat box to cure the epoxy.
I'll try to keep up with this on a nightly basis. To this writing I'm actually putting the finish on. Please enjoy and remember I'm very open to constructive criticism.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/Hatrick/Longbow%20Build/LBBuild1.jpg)
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man thats a clean shop ! Lookin forward to the build.
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Since I had actually cut out the riser a few months ago I don;t have any pictures of the lamination, glue up, layout, or cut out process of the riser. I also cut and ground the laminations a while back. The lams are made out of vertically laminated bamboo flooring. Some extras that a friend of mine had left over from a flooring job. They started as 38" x 3-1/2" x 1/2" flooring boards that I cut the tounge and groove off of and then cut them down to 1-1/2" wide strips. I then resawed them to 3/16 thick on the table saw. I made a platten to go through my Performax drum sander. One for flat grinds and one for tapers.
I ground the laminations in pairs since they were only 36" long and then cut the ends on 45's and glued them end to end to form 1 long lamination. This seemed to work out real well.
Here I have 2 black fiberglass lams at .040. Two parallel flooring lams at .075. One red glass lam for a decorative touch at .032. and one tapered lam that went from .130 at the butt to .035 at the limb tip.
Acetone to clean the lam surfaces and glueing surface of the riser. Smooth on epoxy and some plastic wrap to cover the form.
Glue up can be a mess with one person. It probably took me 45 minutes by the time I mixed the epoxy till I had everyting lined up in the form.
I might add that getting the poundage you want at the length you want can be a real chore If this is your first couple of bows. My goal here was a 62" bow and 50#@28".
I will say right now, a quality custom bow is, in most cases, is worth what you are paying for! Period.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/Hatrick/Longbow%20Build/LBBuild3.jpg)
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Looks good!
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Looking great! Have you used the extra glass lam in the middle of your stack before? Seems to me it would add a lot of unnecessary weight, causing hand shock.
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Apex, this is the first time using the glass lam in the middle. I just wanted to give it a try and I've seen that Black widow has been doing it for years without any ill effects. With the colors I'm using it does add a nice touch. Honestly, I have the bow to the point now where I'm just adding the finish. I've shot it a bit and I'm very pleased. I will say that there's no discernible added shock from the glass lam. I was actually expecting this question as I would have asked the same. All my bows are experimental at this point. My hats off to you for the excellent work you do!!
I might add here that I purchased all materials other than the bamboo lams from Bingham's. A great source for the amateur.
The riser block is gray coreflex/superaction that I ripped down and added a 1/4" black phenolic stripe and 2 1/16" red and 2 1/16" white stripes for accent. As you will tell, I really like the black/red/white look in a bow.
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Moving right along, here I have the laminations glued up and placed in the form over top of the plastic wrap. The plastic wrap helps to keep excess glue from running down over the form. I use a fiber reinforced packing tape to hold the lams and riser in place before placeing the top part of the form on. The lams can slide around here a bit so you need to be careful and double check everything before putting the top part of the form on.
One thing I forgot to mention is that I placed blue painters tape over the face side of the black glass to prevent excess glue from messing up the finished side. I also mark the Smooth-On cans for the date purchased as I understand the shelf life is about a year.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/Hatrick/Longbow%20Build/LBBuild4.jpg)
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I can hardly wait to see the rest! This is where I learn the most. Great job so far!
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Man, that's a nice looking shop! Looking forward to following along.
Bill
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Looking good, can't wait to see the rest.
I've been thinking of adding an additional glass lam in the pack as well. Read about it in the Traditional Bowyers book by Bertalan. I would definitely opt for the size you went with and no thicker.
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Good evening to all. Tonight we put the top half of the form on and cook the bow. A sheet metal pressure strip goes between the top glass lam and the fire hose. The clamps mearly hold everything together while I apply 60 pounds of pressure into the hose. This really forces the excess glue from in between the laminations to give you a nice glue line. I'll also stick some small wood wedges around the riser area between the fire hose and pressure strip where the angles are sharp and the hose doesn't quite lay flat. This helps to maintain pressure in this area for good glue lines.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/Hatrick/Longbow%20Build/LBBuild5.jpg)
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Now to cook the bow. My heat box is made of 1/2" plywood. I have insulation with heat resistant coating tacked to all sides, top and bottom of the box. Four 90 watt light bulbs are wired into the lid of the box. I have a thermostat from Bingham wired into the line from a switch box on the outside. Close the lid, plug in the cord, hit the switch, and you have heat.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/Hatrick/Longbow%20Build/LBBuild6.jpg)
Now I'll cook the bow for about 6 hours. I stick a meat thermometer into a small hole in the front of the box to make sure I'm maintaining heat. The upper end is 180 degrees. Once it reaches 180 the thermostat opens and the box will cool to about 150 when it closes again and heats back up. It will stay between 180 and 150 for the 6 hours.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/Hatrick/Longbow%20Build/LBBuild7.jpg)
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After 6 hours in the oven I turn it off and let it cool down inside before opening the box. After taking it out of the form this is what I have.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/Hatrick/Longbow%20Build/LBBuild9.jpg)
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Come on don't stop now !!! I really want to see the process and the end product. This is another maybe someday project for me. Oh and I like the red, white and black color scheme also.
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I'm starting to get that itch to build a glass bow again!!!!!
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OK..., Once out of the form I removed the blue painters tape from the black glass. Because the glue, plastic wrap, and heat tend to stick to the original tape, I disgard the original and then put on a white paint masking tape. I then use thin striing line to find the center line of the bow. Since some of my lams shifted a bit during the gluing and pressure process I find it best to re-establish a good center line over the riser. It may not look centered at the limb ends right now but there's plenty to cut off. I measure off the center line to get 1/2" at the limb tips and 1-1/4" at the butt ends.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/Hatrick/Longbow%20Build/LBBuild10.jpg)
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With the limb profile layed out on the white tape, I used my band saw to cut within a 1/16" of the line leaving room for the final limb grinding on the belt sander.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/Hatrick/Longbow%20Build/LBBuild11.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/Hatrick/Longbow%20Build/LBBuild12.jpg)
And the final grind to proper profile on the belt sander.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/Hatrick/Longbow%20Build/LBBuild13.jpg)
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Removed the tape and checked center line with the thin string line once again. So Far...So Good! :)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/Hatrick/Longbow%20Build/LBBuild14.jpg)
Tomorrow - Tiller and Tips!
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Good Friday evening to all. Tonight we check the tiller. I used an old bow stringer with leather cups so I could slip it over the ends. I placed a tiller stick at the center of the riser. The tiller checked close to even with about 1/16" difference at the fade outs. The weaker side becomes the top limb.
I might add that during this process I determined that a 62" bow would not quite give me the draw weight I wanted so I reduced the length to 61" and picked up a couple pounds. Unique, but I make my own strings so no big deal to me.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/Hatrick/Longbow%20Build/LBBuild15.jpg)
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Now that I've determined the top limb I can make my limb tips accordingly. The top one will be a little longer and come to a sharper point. I love antler tips and had some elk antler available. I started with red phenolic on the bottom, and elk antler on the top. The combo will go well with the black glass. Careful to make sure the surfaces marry up well, I sanded the black glass for rough up and used 5 minute epoxy and a clamp.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/Hatrick/Longbow%20Build/LBBuild16.jpg)
Go eat dinner and come back in an hour to shape the tip and cut in the string groove with a rat tail file.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/Hatrick/Longbow%20Build/LBBuild17.jpg)
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Time to cut out the sight window. I used the white tape again so that the layout lines were easy to see. The last longbow I built I cut the window 1/8" before center. This time, and using the strong laminated riser, I decided to cut the window to center.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/Hatrick/Longbow%20Build/LBBuild18.jpg)
Over to the band saw and the sight window and riser are ready for sanding. I might add that my 3/8" band saw blade is screaming at me by now after the limb, antler, and riser cuts. I figure 1 blade per bow.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/Hatrick/Longbow%20Build/LBBuild19.jpg)
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I can't get 12" out of a bandsaw blade! What kind of blades are you using?
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Looking good!! Cant wait to see the results!
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Window cut looks a little deep, maybe just the angle of the picture. What did you cut it to?
Looking good, keep it coming.
Tim
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OK, tonight I add a little elk antler to the front of the riser. Get the grip shaped up and sanded down and ready to finish. I had a picture while shaping the riser on my Shopsmith but it didn't turn out well enough to copy here. The Shopsmith allows me to mount my drum sanders horizontal which is nice for shaping the riser.
Apex, it was a 3/8" Peerless blade with 7 teeth/inch. I had a whole bunch of these from years past. This was the last one. When you say 12" do you mean you only get into the limb for 12 inches or so and it's toast??
Tim, it's cut to center. With the laminated riser and extra phenolic I put in it I think it will be fine. I'm not interested in shooting any IBO sanctioned rounds with it.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/Hatrick/Longbow%20Build/LBBuild20.jpg)
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After all the sanding is done we're ready for the finish. Here's my makeshift spray booth. I'm using Helmsman Gloss Spray Urethane. I applied 2 coats and let it sit for 3 days. Used 125 grit paper, sanded it down, and sprayed a 3rd coat. Let it sit 2 days, used 0000 steel wool and applied a coat of satin wipe on poly. Let that dry, used the steel wool again and put on a final coat of satin finish.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/Hatrick/Longbow%20Build/LBBuild22.jpg)
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Looks Great! One of the nicest/cleanest shops I have seen maybe one day I'll build me a shop like that :)
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Now getting to the end. A strike plate, rest, a little leather, and a little lace.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/Hatrick/Longbow%20Build/LBBuild26.jpg)
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Finished!!!
I have several pictures I wanted to show but I'm having trouble uploading them to Photobucket. Oh well.. Here's two.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/Hatrick/Longbow%20Build/LBBuild27.jpg)
And a close up of the riser.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/Hatrick/Longbow%20Build/LBBuild28.jpg)
Time to do some huntin!!!
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Gorgeous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
:thumbsup:
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Man, this was one cool thread. Thanks for sharing! :thumbsup:
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Great job... :clapper:
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WELL DONE !! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
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Sweet lookin bow!
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Awesome...thanks for bringing us along. :wavey:
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Awesome! That's one stunning bow! Well done! Thanks for sharing! ;) :thumbsup:
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Thanks for the nice comments. I was hoping to show the first time or novice builder a basic sequence they could use to give it a try. It can be a bit dusty (need good dust collection process)and frustrating in the beginning, especially building a good form. The bow form should probably be a thread of it's own, but very rewarding at the same time.
I'm goin to do some 3D with it this morning (can't hunt in Maryland on Sunday) to see how it's going to perform. I want to build some confidence so I can hunt with it later this week.
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That's a bow anyone would be proud to own! A job well done! How's she shoot?
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thats incredible great job!
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very nice :thumbsup:
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As a final part of the build, the bow came out at right around 47#@28". About 4-5 pounds lighter than I wanted but it shoots great. Wisper quiet and surprisingly better cast than a custom TD longbow I have at the same weight. I'll be using 1916's with 145 grains up on the business end. Total weight between 475 - 480 grains with broadheads. Got some vacation time coming in the next two weeks and hope to bring some venison home with the new bow.
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Great job! :thumbsup:
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:thumbsup: :clapper:
Great job on the bow. Looks great!
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Excellent job and write up and a great looking bow. I saw the split antler on the riser and a what the...moment but now I see.
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Well done!! Stunning bow! :clapper: :clapper:
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The bow form should probably be a thread of it's own, but very rewarding at the same time.
I would like to build a bow form to make a bow like you did, could you start a bow form thread please? Roy
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Roy, I wouldn't mind doing that sometime in the future. Fact is, I really like this LB form and there's no need for a new one just yet. Besides, I'm in the hunting mode right now.
Maybe a TD longbow limb form in the late winter/spring.
Dave
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Hatrick, that is a great looking bow. Well worth the wait in seeing the final product. I only wish I had the knowledge, skill and time to do that myself. Again that is a beautiful bow.
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What a fantastic bow!!!
Thanks for sharing, nice form also..
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That's a beauty of a bow! Cool stuff!
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Hatrick, What is the length of the riser block you used? I think I will build one like it, I like the colors very much.
Thanks, Jim
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Nice bow. My first bow I had to give away..She was 83 # at 28"
I have a friend who loves it cause he only has a 26" draw. She is light as a feather though.
Great jopb and nice to walk us through it all. Nice clean shop....can't wait to have another one too.
jer Bear
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Cougar, the riser block came from Binghams. It's what they call their Coreflex/Superaction Riser Block. It measured 1-1/2" x 2-1/2" x 17". I used the full 17". The form is a copy of Steve Turay's Nothern Mist Baraga. I personally think the Baraga is a fantastic design for a LB.
Again, thanks to all for the nice comments. I hope the thread was informative and entertaining.
Now that I'm hunting with it, I can't find a deer anywhere. You would think they all left the county for parts unknown, EVEN WITH THE RUT ON!!
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Hatrick
I like that design very much. You won't go wrong with it. I think it has a very wide approval rate.
I built one a couple of years ago with about the same design except it is a one piece riser block.
Kinda dull up beside your bow. My riser is 22" long. (http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u76/cougarjim1/MVC-739F.jpg)
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Nice looking bow, Jim. Not dull at all, in fact, it has that classic look about it.
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She's a beauty!
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Awesome job with that bow. Simply beautiful.
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Grat job on a great looking bow. Awesome!
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Hatrick, I'll take it! LOL! Very nice job on a great looking bow.
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Thats a dandy , longbows rock, good luck...Marco#78 :thumbsup: :coffee: