Single limb one piece build

[stickmonkey]

Weird name huh    but that is what it is, however its not my idea (That would be Gino and TJ Deerslayer) but is my take and refinement to the technique.

I choose to use the technique because until this year I built mostly take downs and all my forms use a short firehose and two 36" heat strips. If I built the full form I would need another 72" heat strip, a longer fire hose, more plywood, a couple more brackets and the 72" metal and formica pressure strips so you can see the money adds up quick.

Money alone is not really the motivating factor with me as are the benefits of the single limb one piece form. Accuracy and consistency of the limb form, ease of layup, allows for changes in pad angles without building a new form and as mentioned cheaper to build. The first two are my main focus and really come into play when its time to tiller the bow if you have prepared your stacks correctly.

Rather than cut my form in half and use C-clamps to hold the riser in place I cut just the top of the form off an inch just passed the fades. This lets me use the firehose to hold the riser in place as it would in a conventional form.

When you layup the first limb place painters tape anywhere you dont want glue to go on the riser, you should have plastic on the form so no concern there. I use a micrometer to measure the stack and heat strip together and make a spacer to match it wrapped in tape to lay under the other side of the riser. Its very quick and simple.

I had received some rough cut bamboo that was 31" long rather than 36 so after a quick call to my bro Kirk he told me since I would be putting an overlay on the bow just feather the butts into the riser and place the overlay on it. I was not sure how it would turn out but after doing it it seemed a no brainer. Since I was building a 64" bow the gap was just 2 5/8ths on each side of the centerline.


 

 

Once the limb was cured I removed the tape from the bottom of the riser, removed the spacer that was under the none laid up side and laid up the other side. its just that simple with less hassle.

No need to bore you with the rest as it follows conventional wisdom but here are the results.

64" single carbon hybrid longbow
Charcoal Dymonnd Wood riser with 5/16ths coretuff accents
G10 overlay
Moso bamboo limb cores

 

 

 

 

 

[arrowlauncherdj]

That is awesome Stickmonkey,  I have been looking at Gino's build, now yours, to try this on a recurve.  I am with you on the cost of all the strips, hoses, etc... It does add up.  To me, though, the realy benefit of something like this is 2 fold: the humidity where I live and the difficulty keeping one piece forms straight. Also, large one piece forms are heavy and bulky taking up too much room in my workspace, (garage).

Dave

[stickmonkey]

Yup the humidity here in north Louisiana is hard on the full length form. I fully plan to cut the bottom half off but since this was a first build doing this way I did not want to cut up the bottom after I had spent so much time ensuring it was square in every dimension.

Like I told Kirk I cant see me going back to laying up full length forms again after the results and savings from the one limb form.

[Trux Turning]

Interesting idea and a nice looking bow there-- another plus doing it this way is your limbs will match each other like on a TD and you only have to get half a form exact  

[JJB]

Nice idea, very interesting.  Good looking bow also.
-Jay

[stickmonkey]

Originally posted by Trux Turning:
Interesting idea and a nice looking bow there-- another plus doing it this way is your limbs will match each other like on a TD and you only have to get half a form exact      

Yup, that is where the consistency comes into play. Also it is easier to fine tune a design through the use of a taper than a full length form . Say you would like to keep your exit angles and riser shape but you want more sweep or hook from your form. Just make a flat topped taper to lift the limb where you want it and the rest will be pressed down to the form.

[tishtail]

Hey stickmonkey nice design and forthought on a problem, nice cure if you need someone to test or buy your experiment let me know i'm open for your thoughts i really like then finished bow. thanks LjT[tishtail]

[ARCHER2]

Hey Folks,
I went by Shane's house last Friday after work to check out his new creation. I was impressed to say the very least. This guy pays close attention to detail, and the craftsmanship is second to none. The bow looks good, light in your hand, and shoots " great ". There were no silencers or anything on the string and this bow was quiet and had zero hand shock. I was thinking maybe it was just me so I shot it several times, still quiet as a mouse, no hand shock. I was also very surprised at how fast it is. This thing zips an arrow for sure. We didn't have a chrony so I can't say how fast it was but I can tell ya for sure it's a good bit faster than my other bows. And another good point, it hits where you look, not hard to shoot at all.
Then we put it on the tiller tree and checked it out. Smooth as silk all the way to 29" which was his target length. I watched the digital scale gain 2# per inch all the way to 29", and that was impressive to me. Most start to gain more weight towards the end of the draw cycle, not this one.The tiller was also spot on. This guy is good. I was lucky that I have the same draw length as Shane so everything fit me just like it should. I couldn't stand it after we took it off the tiller tree I had to shoot it some more. If any of you folks are looking for a good shooting, quiet, dead in the hand hunting bow, you should talk Shane into building you one.
It also surprised me that he could build such a quality bow with just a few basic power tools, and of coarse lots of hands on work. Guess that comes with knowing what you're doing huh! Just thought I'd let everyone know what I thought about it, just my take on it. I've only known Shane about three weeks now but I appreciate someone who really pays attention to detail and it shows in his work.
Shoot Straight!
   Charlie

[stickmonkey]

LOL Thanks Charlie. Now I am embarrassed!