More unnessary fun book ?

[Forwardhandle]

Hi Fellas I was wondering if any body has read Jack Harrison's book Traditional bowyer more unnessary fun  I was wondering if it was geared only to glass bows or if it was  usefull for wood lam bows Or composite bows ?

[jsweka]

It's a glass bow book, but it does go into a lot of engineering theory that is applicable to all bows.

If you are interested in non-glass bows, there are better options out there.

[Sant-Ravenhill]

Ditto with what jsweka posted.

I know some didn't like the book because Mr. Harrison is very opinionated, but the meat of the book has some good information about glass bows, especially if you want to make a takedown using metal sleeves.

[Forwardhandle]

I just got the book tonight it looks great it should be a good read for winter after hunting is over my problem is I like all types of bows even if I only make self bows or composites but see some glass in the future !  But what I glanced at so far apply's to wood lams to.

[Bowjunkie]

There are things in that book I disagree with, mostly related to tiller and limb balance.

No matter which book we read, it's in our best interest to be a little skeptical.

[Roy from Pa]

I've read the Jeff D book..  Learned a lot too...

[jess stuart]

I have had it for sometime but, haven't gotten around to reading it.  Need to.

[Forwardhandle]

Roy whats the title of Jeff D book ?

[Roy from Pa]

LOL, I was messing with  Bowjunkie. He was my mentor in bow building. When I would ask him a question, he would go into detail with his answer. I've learned a lot from Jeff.

[Forwardhandle]

Lol  maybe you talk him into writing one Roy !  I was just looking for a book that would go into detail on making wood lams , being new to making bow laminations but so far this one seems good for it but need a lot more free time to read it the thing weights 6 lb.

[Roy from Pa]

Bowjunkie or KennyM is the guys to ask for lam info. I make my own lams too. You definitely need a good drum sander.

[Forwardhandle]

Yep  I got my sled from Kenny I'm actually tapering Water buffalo horn for a composite but want to practice with wood before the horn to much work in it to screw it up not knowing what I'm doing...lol

[Roy from Pa]

Practice on a pine board.

[Bowjunkie]

I hear ya on the horn work. I was working on flattening some gemsbok horn enough that I can put it on the sled and run it through my sander. I got a pretty good start on it then got sidetracked.

[Forwardhandle]

I have a good friend that has done a lot of Gemsbok horn straiting with a heat gun and a old wood bench vice he takes it to 300 Deg F with a infrared thermometer and squeezes it flat a little at a time but he says if it's rushed you will get vertical cracks but still usable Gemsbok horn is good horn and a lot cheaper then water buffolow horn some of his Gemsbok composite hickory core  bows are topping 200 fps with a 9 grain arrow  Water Buffolow is easy to work but hard to get good length also on that Gemsbok he uses one of those rounded headed ball head grinders in the drill press set at 1/8 and evens the thickness before straiting I got a little long winded there but figured I would pass that along !

[Bowjunkie]

I appreciate the info. I've been taking my time with flattening it with a heat gun and clamping and started sanding it a little. It hasn't cracked yet that I can see. Probably going to put it on the belly with a bamboo back and either an osage or yew core. I have enough for two bows, if I don't screw any up.

[Forwardhandle]

If you use that ball head on the drill press in the concave area to to get it Aprox 1/8 even or 3/16 thicknesse  it bends easer depending on what you need a 0.005 tapper on the core and horn is what I'm using for a long bow style with Aprox 8 in. Of reflex ,that gemsbok horn is crazy strong in compretion , sinew backed yew would make a awsome core/back with horn you realy have to keep a lot of reflex in order to over come the mass and get the performance out of these bows I'm not sure bamboo would do the job 1/3,1/3,1/3 sinew,core,horn is the standard recepe !