Laminate Bows - Glass required?

[jvermast]

I'd really like to try making a laminated R/D bow but I can't seem to find anywhere that sells fiberglass in 1/8" sheets, so I two questions.

Is Fiberglass always required with a laminate R/D or can I back the bow with the traditional silk/hickory/bamboo backing?

Where do you guys find your fiberglass?

[Bradford]

Binghams has fiberglass up to .050.. which is close to 1/8" thick.

But you can build it all wood.  Do bo or hickory as the back lam and glue it up just like a fiberglass

I built an all wood recurve take down with hickory.. still works today

[jvermast]

Sure do wish I could find a store like Binghams in Ontario, Canada.

[JamesV]

I have seen glass .060  1/8" is .125

[broketooth]

no, fiberglass is not the only backing. you can build a r/d bow using bamboo, hickory or ash as a backing. u can also use various core woods such as maple, hickory, ash, ipe, osage. my understanding is that you have to bend each piece into this r/d shape before glue up. but i may be mistaken. i have not attempted this style of bow yet.tbb 4 touches on this subject but i have not read it yet. there are several bowyers here on tg that build these all wood composite bows.

[wood carver 2]

Try rodneywrightarchery.com. He's in Quebec and he sells bow building supplies including glass.
I haven't dealt with him personally, but I never heard a bad word about him. The only bows I've built are bamboo backed laminates.
Dave.

[jvermast]

Thanks guys! I just went over to the lumber mill and picked up a nice piece of hickory that I'll resaw for backing and some other laminate pieces for handles.

Oh and a beautiful piece of cherry that I'll probably make into a board bow  

This hobby is way more addicting than my typical woodworking projects:

 

[Mike Most]

Yer hooked bud yer hooked.....  

[jvermast]

Maybe you guys can help, but how do you get a high-luster finish without spraying lacquer? I'm used to using Danish Oil and building up coats but no matter what I did on my first bow I couldn't get a high shine.

And I can't find this "Tru-Oil" in Canada.

[wood carver 2]

I'm not sure, but if True Oil is polymerized tung oil, you can get a similar product from Lee Valley Tools.

(This hobby is way more addicting than my typical woodworking projects)

You probably speak for everyone here when you say that! Me for sure.
Dave.

[jvermast]

Yep, that's what I was thinking (re: Polymerized Tung Oil)

I probably should have looked into the ingredients before I made that post  

[Bert Frelink]

Nope, no glass required.
All wood works just fine.

 
Good luck with your project.
Bert.

[4est trekker]

Yep...wood (and boo) for me, too!

 

 

 

 

 


I don't build deflex/reflex bows normally (I tend to build selfbows, often times with recurved tips).  However, when I get the itchin' to build a curvy bow, I get a blank.  All the bows above are James' Parker blanks...you can get them through Mike Yancey at Pine Hollow Longbows (a sponsor on this site).

[jvermast]

I'm not really interested in blanks, but more how much poundage I can expect out of a laminate. Where is this information at?

Eg: I have two 1/8" x 2 x 8' lams of hickory in my garage and I have the ability to resaw anything.

What can I expect out of the two 1/8" lams of hickory and say....a 1/16" piece of oak?

[wood carver 2]

From what I've learned on this board, you can get pretty much any weight bow you want. I built two bamboo, walnut, bamboo longbows that pull 32# and 53# respectivly, And I have another unfinished one that I can't bend yet.
Anything above 49# is legal for moose.
Sorry I don't have specific information to give you. I built mine based on build-alongs I found here and seat of my pants intuition. When my first bow came out light, I upped the thickness  of the core lam to 5/16" tapering to 1/16". The boo is 1/8" both sides.
Try Buck Buckleys' Build-along:bamboo backed osage tri lam build-along. I built mine mostly based on this build.
Dave.

[jvermast]

Thanks, that's a great buildalong. Really describes how to do the fades and tapers on the lams better.

I guess I need to find a belt sander and a ton of clamps, eh?  :p

[jvermast]

Does anyone have any dimensions for a form like this?:

 

[wood carver 2]

Doing your tapers on the planer isn't the only way. I built a simple taper jig for my table saw and I can taper the lams in a few minutes with it. On your full length core lam mark the center, then set up the taper jig and the saw to start cutting a couple of inches past the center and leave 1/16" at the end. Cut carefully and quickly so you don't leave burn marks, then flip over your lam and do the other side. I then sand the lam with coarse paper to get out the saw marks and it's pretty much ready for glue.
Most tool stores sell taper jigs if you don't want to make one.
I don't have measurements for the glue-up form, mine is just a 4X4 with bits of 2X4 for the end posts. The one in the picture is way better because it's adjustable for bow length. The ammount of reflex can be adjusted by changing the height of the mid limb posts.
I should really build one like it for myself.    
Dave.

[jvermast]

I'm more wondering at what heights the tips and grip should be (4 " off the board at the tips, 3" at the grip)

Is it all up to me?

[wood carver 2]

It pretty much depends on how much reflex and deflex you want. I found that the bow will lose some or a lot of the glued in reflex afterwards. I don't know why this is. Maybe I'm doing something wrong.I did a dry run with the lams and the riser and bent things until I got the profile I liked. Like I said before: seat of my pants. The riser rests on the form and I cut the end blocks 3 1/2" high with a 15 degree angle on top for the limb tips to rest on and I use a couple of big clamps about mid limb to deflex the limbs. When I glue it up, I line up the center of the riser with a center mark on the form then I lay up all the lams on top, then the belly lams are forced in under the other lams and the riser. I'm impatient so I glue up the whole thing at once. I start clamping in the center and use two big spring clamps tp hold everything in line so they don't slide around. Then I put on the mid limb clamps to bring it all down to the form. The tips will be pressed down as well now. The last thing is to use a lot of spring clamps to squeeze the limbs from both sides. A lot of glue will squeeze out but if you cover the form with painters' tape you won't have any serious problems. I end up using about 30 clamps in all    .  
Dave.