Need advice for bow #2

[mastin03]

All,
getting ready to start my second bow after finally finding some success with a hickory board bow with a drywall tape backing for the first. I have two more hickory boards and now have some bamboo on order from 3 rivers. Im thinking about gluing up the first with a little bit of reflex to try and minimize set after tillering and to try and refine my tillering technique a little more. I have a few questions before i get rolling here.

I ordered some Urac to do the glue up, i dont need a hot box to cure the glue do i?

Im thinking about making this one somewhere around 66"ntn and was just wondering about general dimensions of everything? Im not real sure how thick to make the backing so as not to overpower the hickory belly, so any insight would be appreciated.

I will definately take any tips that anyone would like to offer up to make this go as smoothly as possible about design, glue up, dimensions, etc, etc....just want to put the feelers out a little bit to get some information before i dive headlong into this.

Thanks for any and all comments/advice

[KILLER B]

Not sure about the URAC but dimesion wise if i were you i would make it non bending handle that is 1"1/4" wide at the handle and thin down to 5/8" at the tips.  Someone else might have other ideas for you that is just what i would do with that.  Best of luck regardles of what you choose.

[Pat B]

With a boo backing you won't be able to go more than 1 1/4" wide because the boo will be too thick...unless you trap the boo to reduce the tension. With hickory selfbow I generally want about 1 1/2" or more in width. I would take the tips down to 3/8".
  Pre-taper your hickory(and the boo backing) so you get a nice bend in the limbs before you glue up to insure you get a nice bend after. If not all of the bend will be at the handle area.  
   Unless you are glueing up in a heated area,the Urac won't set up.  I have used TBIII for boo backings on many different belly woods with good results.     Pat

[mastin03]

thanks pat, will keep all of that in mind.  If I take everything into the house after glue up and leave for 2-3 days will that give the urac enough time/temp to set assuming the house is 65-70 degrees?

[Pat B]

Try to get it as warm as possible inside your house. It will be slow curing at 65deg, I believe.

[No-sage]

Here are the instructions for URAC:

  URAC instructions  

One thing you'll find if you look close (and I think this is something most people overlook) is that URAC won't reach full strength until 5 days at 70 deg f.  I never bend a bow until a week after it's glued up.

At 70 deg f, clamp time is 12 hours minimum.

TB3 can be used down to 47 deg f.

[mastin03]

thanks for the link no sage, ill have to look over that and see what i can do to get a room in my house nice and toasty for a few days...small room with the door closed and a space heater oughtta do the trick id think

[John Scifres]

Do yourself a big favor and buy Dean Torges' video "Hunting the Bamboo Backed Bow".  You will save immense amounts of time and money by doing so.

Here is a BBO I did several years ago:    Hunting a BBO

[mastin03]

thanks for that john....ill look into purchasing that video but the buildalong is going to help immensely.  Ill keep everyone posted as i get the form built and glue up begins once the bamboo from 3 rivers gets here.