Lam bow handles and glue lines

[skeaterbait]

Ok, so I have built my form and have things ready to try a laminate bow, but I am finding that getting the handle to conform perfectly to the form is quite a daunting(sp?) task.

No matter how much I sand and tweak I always end up seeing a bit of light somewhere along the front edge of the handle where it will meet the lam.

How crucial is that the fit be completely perfect?

[Apex Predator]

You only need to get it as close as you want your glue lines to be, because if you see light, you will probably have a thick glue line.

[kennym]

Yep, what Marty said, it won't show as bad on dark woods tho.

You might try laying the riser in the form,and taking a thin shim and a pencil and marking the riser with a line to sand to. The shim only needs to be as thick as the largest void.

Hope that made sense!!

[Holm-Made]

Lining your form with 1/8" of rubber helps make it a little more "forgiving" as well.  Chad

[razorsharptokill]

I've got access to some soft rubber about 3/16" thick. I have thought about cutting some to place on my form. The top of my form is aliminum, what glue would hold up to the heat? I used 3M spray contact cement on the alum. but had some issues with it pulling away from the board along the low contours.

[Canadabowyer]

Cut a peice of 80 grit sandpaper and tape it to your form with double sided carpet tape. It should be a little longer than your riser. Then set the riser on it and sand back and forth moving the riser only 1/2 inch or so. You will be able to get it very close this way.Good luck, Bob

[Dano]

Canadabowyer, has a great tip, it's an old woodworkers trick for mating surfaces.

[razorsharptokill]

If you have a taper between the riser and the glass/veneers, make sure you take that into account. On the form I built from Kenny's plans, the .002 taper is glued directly to the riser. If I mate my riser block to the form w/o the taper under it the contour of the riser is off and leaves a gap toward the fades.