What are your necessities?

[DanielB89]

What are you necessities for building a bow?

I am wanting to get into bow building and would love to be able to cut my own lams.  I would love to hear some advice on what I will need to make bows efficiently.  Also any tool that makes building a bow easier.  

Feel free to give me any tips/advice/etc.  

Thanks,

Daniel

[Sam Harper]

Here's the cheapest way I know how:

 http://poorfolkbows.com/glass1.htm

[red hill]

Sam's website got me started.  And then I found TG and the Primitive Archer forum. After that I started picking up books. Traditional Bowyer's Bible vol 1-4 and Dean Torges' Hunting the Osage Bow are invaluable. Now I've begun collecting tools.

You've come to the right spot. Just keep searching here your question has come up before.

You're in trouble now!    

Welcome!

[timbermoose]

bandsaw, patience, beltsander, patience, bandsaw comes in quite handy, get a good one.

i started out with a drawknife, farriers rasp, cabinet scrapers and sandpaper. i accidentally accumulated power tools while my wife was unaware.

[beachbowhunter]

My main tools are 14" grizzly bandsaw, drum sander and the rigid spindle sander. I couldn't make a glass bow without them.

[KenH]

If you want to cut your own lams you need a good table or re-saw bandsaw and a finely adjustable (.01") drum or surface sander.  Personally, that's 'way more work than I want to do; and 'way more money than I want to spend.  I'd have to cut thousands of lams to "buy back" (justify) the cost of the necessary saw and sander(s).

You can buy any lams you want or can dream up -- there are a number of good guys here and elsewhere cutting lams from exotic and common woods and selling them for pretty darn reasonable prices.  

Lams in hand, all you need is a form cut from a 2x10, a bunch of bicycle innertube rubberbands, a beltsander, some sanding blocks and assorted handtools like roundfiles, scrapers, etc.

Heck I build flatbows with a straight piece of 2x4 wrapped in cling-wrap and masking tape, and spiral wrapped cord to hold things together while the glue dries.  Total cost of form under $10.  I use a 3x18" beltsander unside down or sideways to
 
Air pressure forms and bow ovens are again unnecessary expenses if you're just getting started.  The epoxy dries in 24 hours without an oven (are you really in such a hurry?).  People built wood-glass composite bows for 30 years or more without a compressor, airhose and two piece forms.  

MY advice?  Build a dozen or twenty bows simply and easily and then decide what will make your new hobby easier.

Neo-Scythian Form:


   


Bendy Handle Flatbow and 2x2 form:


   

[DanielB89]

Originally posted by KenH:
If you want to cut your own lams you need a good table or re-saw bandsaw and a finely adjustable (.01") drum or surface sander.  Personally, that's 'way more work than I want to do; and 'way more money than I want to spend.  I'd have to cut thousands of lams to "buy back" (justify) the cost of the necessary saw and sander(s).

You can buy any lams you want or can dream up -- there are a number of good guys here and elsewhere cutting lams from exotic and common woods and selling them for pretty darn reasonable prices.  

Lams in hand, all you need is a form cut from a 2x10, a bunch of bicycle innertube rubberbands, a beltsander, some sanding blocks and assorted handtools like roundfiles, scrapers, etc.

Heck I build flatbows with a straight piece of 2x4 wrapped in cling-wrap and masking tape, and spiral wrapped cord to hold things together while the glue dries.  Total cost of form under $10.  I use a 3x18" beltsander unside down or sideways to
 
Air pressure forms and bow ovens are again unnecessary expenses if you're just getting started.  The epoxy dries in 24 hours without an oven (are you really in such a hurry?).  People built wood-glass composite bows for 30 years or more without a compressor, airhose and two piece forms.  

MY advice?  Build a dozen or twenty bows simply and easily and then decide what will make your new hobby easier.

Neo-Scythian Form:


   


Bendy Handle Flatbow and 2x2 form:


   

Ken,
Thank you for the reply.  Those are some great things to consider.  What do you typically pay for a lam?  

Is there a good book(series) i should invest in?

[KenH]

Well, I usually don't go for "beauty" woods under clear glass. So I've been paying $9-$15 each for a 72" length of specified thickness. I get black glass for about $9 a length also.  So a typical 5 lam bow (2 glass, 3 wood) would set me back $45; a 4-lam bow about $36.  I pay $18 for a pint kit of Smooth On EA-40 which will do about 3 bows.  

What I know of wood-glass composite building I've learned here and elsewhere on the 'Net.  Bowbuilding in general, you can't beat the Trad Bowyers Bible set.  I love historical shapes so the Asian Traditional Archery Network is a resource for me.