Hi! I'm relatively new to making bows/archery related things, but I'm pretty handy. As such, I wanted to make a new bow (Finished, pictures and details coming later) and everything related to it from scratch--which includes the string. So, I looked into Flemish strings, and endless loop strings. Being interested in endless loop because i had previously made a few strings of that style, I looked around for a string making jig. I found out that almost everything out there cost more than $150. Looking at the materials and the layout of how they looked, I reckoned that I could make my own. I hopped on AutoCAD and designed something as simple and cost effective as I could. Because everyone on this site has been helpful with information that was crucial to the completion of my first bow, I wanted to give something back. Here's what I came up with:
.DWG file:
http://rapidshare.com/files/428777545/String_Jig.dwg **NOTE** There is one missing dimension: The center for the outer holes for the 1.5"x6" piece on the right are 1/2" in from the midpoints of the ends.
Okay, that is pretty sweet and I want one, you may say. Well, here's how to go about doing it.
Materials:
3x -- 6' 1x3 (actually .75" x 2.5" Pine Board (or whatever other 1x3 you have)
Scrap wood that is .75" thick (I used scrap 1x3 pieces for these parts)
2x -- 1/4"-20 x 3" carriage bolts
2x -- 1/4"-20 hex nuts
2x -- 1/4"-20 wing nuts
6x -- 1/4"-20 washers (large outside diameter)
4x -- 3/8"x7.75" metal rods or wooden dowels
A handful of 1.75" wood screws
Tools I used:
Table saw
Band saw
Drill press
Hand drill
Mortiser
But it can be built with much less.
Okay, on to step one.
Grab two of your six foot 1x3's. Rip one of them into two pieces that are 1+1/8" wide (1.125"), and rip the other 1x3 into two pieces that are 3/4" (0.75") wide.
Step Two.
cut out two blocks that are 3/4" (0.75") thick, and are 2" long by 1" wide. mark the center of the 2" by 1" rectangle. I used a mortiser to make a square hole through the exact center, but if you don't have a mortiser, just drill through with a 1/4" drill bit. Next, counter-bore that hole with a 1/2" (0.5") bit, 3/8" (0.375") deep. If you didn't have a mortiser, take a 1/4" chisel and make the 1/4" diameter hole a square hole.
Step Three.
Using 3/4" (0.75") thick wood, cut out two rectangles that are 6" by 1+1/2" (1.5"). Then, mark exact center of each rectangle, and drill through with a 1/4" diameter bit. Next, mark 1/2" in from the midpoints of the ends. On those marks, drill two 3/8" (0.375") holes through the body. If so desired, mark out the rest of the profile accordingly, and chamfer each corner. I used a band saw for that. Get your 3/8"x7.75" rods/dowels, and glue them into the 3/8" holes, seating them flush at the bottom. I used two part epoxy for this. You'll see that I have a threaded rod on one side, only because I wanted to use metal rods and didn't have enough plain stock, and had to use threaded. It's not advisable to use this as it's abrasive to the strings.
Topic: Build an Endless Loop String Making Jig (Buildalong) (Read 449 times)
