Bow Press??

[DDawg]

I'm throwing around the Idea of attempting my first laminated build.
  I am green, but I did manage to build the pyramid bow in the "So you want to build a bow" build along.

I like to save $ where I can, but I work hard on my small side line hobby keeping bees and selling honey for my play money. So I don't mind spending a little to get up an running building a bow.
I think I'll start with a HH long bow.
I'm looking at two sources for beginners (but open to others)
Bingham's first time bower kit (complete) and Kenny's custom archery.  
The big hurdle I keep coming up against is the form.  I only have a 9" table top bandsaw and no router.  I could get access to a full size band saw, but I am a total newb with routers.  Kenny's form build looks awesome, but a  little daunting.
Bingham's press kit looks appealing, but I can't find anything on what is needed to build the form to go with it. Does any one know what it takes to build the forms for the Bingham's press kit or opinions on the kit?
Any ideas or advice would be appreciated!

Thanks
David

[monterey]

If you have checked out the kennym form build along, you have the info needed to build a Bingham form.  It's the same process.

However, the simplest form to build would be a Hill style for a flat bow.  If you go to the lumber yard and find a perfect 2 X 8 X 6' are practically there.  Have the guys at the lumber yard cut one edge square and straight for your form.  From there you can go the rubber band method with dowels.

There's a little more to it than that but if you want to go forward, we can help you out.

[Bvas]

X2 what Monterey said.  But I'd probably bolt some angle iron or glue and screw some 2x4s to the bottom of each side of the 2x8 to help keep it from warping or twisting.

[Mad Max]

Yep AND
Yep

[monterey]

I'll X3 that yep.  Or glue and screw plywood, keeping in mind that two pieces of "3/4" plywood will not equal 1.5"!

[rmorris]

I made my first hill style bow form on a tablesaw and it made a good bow. If you can get a used router and a new flush trim bit you can do about anything. I used LVL for my forms and it comes in 1-3/4" but you can use a tablesaw to get the mating surface down to 1-1/2 ". Nothing wrong with a tablesaw for bow making but my next tool would be a bandsaw .

[DDawg]

Thanks for the Tips.. Since I am only planning on sporadically building bows for personal use, I am gonna focus on the bicycle tire clamping method.
It's looking more and more like I will buy the Kenny's Longbow Build Kit. I know its a D/R bow, but I think it will be the best place to start and Kenny seems to be a great resource here on TG.
I plan on calling Kenny for advice, but I think I read in a recent post that he may be off hunting at the moment.  No worries, I'm not gonna rush this.
I'm still trying to wrap my head around building the form.  I've been searching here, but have only found bits and pieces.  Does anyone know of a comprehensive resource for building and using this type of form/Press?  Of course I will scour YouTube, but maybe some of Y'all have a preferred source.

thanks
David

[monterey]

If you are going to do a DR bow I think you will need a router.  You could cut it with a hand jig saw and then do the final finish by hand but that's a tricky process.

I suggest you purchase a router new or used.  Just bite the bullet.  You may end up saving far more than the price of the router.  A good form can produce many fine bows.  A bad form can make one disaster.  The form IS the bow.

Kenny even sells the template.  You can have a form in a few hours.  If you decide later to convert to a fire hose form it's easy to do.

[Mad Max]

I would buy the router and bits.
kenny's template too.
He can make all the lams too.
A 1/4" bit router takes 2 bit's, one bearing on top the other bearing on bottom.

[DDawg]

Yep, a router is definitely on my short list. What am I looking for in a router? Will the standard HD / Lowes router do?

I remember when I started building all my Beehive woodenware, I was about to spring for the shiny new sears $400 table saw complete with a laser and everything.  Then the old timers in the build forum quickly set me straight about the significance of a 3/4" (+) arbor vs a 1/2" arbor that all the newer ($400 dollar range) table saws come with. beehives are usually made with 3/4 wood and 3/4 dado cuts. They advised me to buy a nice older Cman 113 series table saw. I ended up finding a really nice 1 owner TS from the guy accross the street in a neighborhood yard sale for $100.

[Mad Max]

I think older is better when it comes to wood working machines.

If you are gonna build a Hill Style bow with a gentle reflex you can get away with cutting your form with a circular saw... Do a test run on a scrap piece of wood of the same radius you are gonna make your form and adjust your circular saw until you get a perfect 90 degree cut...  Take a belt sander and clamp it on it's side securely on a table with no movement...  Build up the table next to the sander for your work surface and use shims until you get a perfect 90 degree sanded surface... Use the sander to sand up to the template line on your form and get a consistent curve...  
   Thats how I would do it if I had minimal tools...  
   And go with an air hose...  You'll be glad you did...

[rmorris]

As far as routers go, make sure it can accept 1/2" tooling. Everything after that is just bonus. My second wishlist item for a router is variable speed. The 1/2" collet is what you need for the bits that will do your form.

[kennym]

I used a router with a 1/4" collet for a few forms..  With a 1" depth of cut , if you saw very close to the line, then cut an inch deep, you can just drop the bit down and run on the freshly cut surface for a template. Should be exactly the same as the template.

I always take a sanding block and sand the form a little being careful to keep it flat on the routed surface so you keep it square face to side.

The kit comes with plan and template  also....

[kennym]

Oh, and I'm helping a bud combine beans so if you can call around 7 AM or after dark central time will help me out!

thanks!

[kennym]

I should check UPS and kind of see what it costs to ship a form. I can put them together pretty quick, maybe I should offer the forms too? What you guys think?

[DDawg]

Thanks for the reply Kenny!
I would be interested in the form. I enjoy building things myself, but as a beginner, it is appealing to know that I am taking form construction errors out of the equation.
I will give you a call, I guess it gets good and dark by 9pm central right?
Thanks,
David

[Crittergetter]

Originally posted by kennym:
I should check UPS and kind of see what it costs to ship a form. I can put them together pretty quick, maybe I should offer the forms too? What you guys think?

Now why didn't you think of this years ago when I first got started !???!!
 Good idea Kenny!  Can I put in a custom order?