Laminated bows

[traditionalman]

I see some very impressive bows on here and I must say there are some very good craftsman posting on here. I'm still making self bows but hope to one day build some recurves and longbows for me and my friends.

How much does it cost to get started making these bow? Also I hear of a drum sander with a pattern bearing in the bottom. What is that and how much?

Also  is Bighmans a good place to start and are the prices fare?

[Mike Most]

There are many different ways to get started, personally I started with binghamprojects.com several years ago, they offered a plan, first for your choice of bows longbow or recurve, they explained the bow press, which is the form used to make the bows shape. And then they offered a simple plan for an oven which is one way to craft a bow. It has been rewarding for me and my first bow was a shooter, having killed several hogs with it.

I have done several since then, (lots of relatives that are bow shooters)

cost comes down with volume and the bows get better with experience, which is why lots of guys hang out here, there is plenty of said experience.

Mike Most

[jsweka]

I got started with Bingham's too.  Their instructional materials are very good and if you follow their design with their limb kits, you will come very close to your desired draw weight. For my first longbow,I had about $275 in it with the actual materials for the bow and materials for a form. I guy who worked with my Dad gave me a hot box he no longer used.  I also didn't have all the expense of a lot of power tools since my Dad is an avid woodworker.

If you're successfully making selfbows, you'll have no problem with laminated bows.  I've made several laminated bows now, one BBO from a dryad blank, and tried my hand at a couple hickory backed ipe bows.  I find the laminated bows much easier to build with a much higher chance that you'll end up with a serviceable bow for your efforts.

One power tool I use a lot is an oscillating spindle sander (Grizzly brand), but a drum sander in a drill press would work just as well.  You don't really need a drum sander with a pattern bearing.  I suppose it would speed things up if you're making a lot of bows of the same pattern.

Binham's has fair prices.  Another place to look is Kenny's Custom Archery  http://kennyscustomarchery.com/index.html
He's a sponsor here and will answer any lamination quiestions you have.

Good luck,

John

[traditionalman]

Thanks Everyone for the answer. I neded to know about now much money I would get into.

[Dick in Seattle]

Gary....    I included a discussion of max/min tooling on my buildalong, and later added a link to a wonderful site called poorfolkbows, that really discusses minimums.    Try going to  www.dickwightman.com  and scrolling down to "How I Build a Bow".    The tool discussion is in a box a little way down the first page.

[Mark Smeltzer]

I think I know what you mean by starting with selfbows and moving to recurves and long bows but just to be clear, you can make a selfbow that is a longbow or a recurve and be competitive with some of the glass bows out there.

Mark

[JamesV]

If you can build a self bow, a glass bow will be easy for you. I would go with binghams on my first bow, using their specs and design. I use a heat box but I read on here that some of the guys don't and have good results. I have a small hobby shop so I don't buy in volume and my actual cost to build a glass R/D long bow, black glass over multi lam maple cores, is less than $60 ready to shoot. I taper my own lams and build my own strings this keeps the cost down. Also I build a lot of kids bows, narrow limb 60" and under, for about $40 by splitting 2" glass. Hope this helps

James