Fiberglass Build Along

[Bodork]

Don't blame you for peeking. Those limbs are great!

[Dano]

Ken your a brave man cutting those limbs freehand on a tablesaw.  :eek:

[Crooked Stic]

Dano I agree. I like to use the bandsaw then belt sand to the line. i guess if you have a steady hand the tablesaw is smoother. Looking good.

[Dano]

Prolly oughta mention that fiberglass will kill a wood cutting blade, bi-metal works pretty good. I have a deep respect for the table saw, it has claimed a few fingers.

[Many Arrows Lost]

Directly after the tape is removed I take 100 grit to the limb edges to get rid of the fiberglass splinters.

 

Next I start the tips.  Shown are the blanks black,yew,red,cocobolo stacked should go well on this bow.

 

Here's the side view after they are glued on and sanded even with the limb.  Notice the fiberglass splinter just waiting to grab the unsuspecting finger.

 

Next is to shape the tip.  I have to say that I'd rather work any other part of the bow than the tip.  Tips just give me fits but here goes.  I will rough them in with the disk sander but choose the cabinet file for the real shaping.

 

After the tip is filed to the lines drawn on the back I use sand paper to round the face of the tip.

 

Here is the very rough tip.

 

[Many Arrows Lost]

Here's the part of fear and trembling...the string nocks.  I start with a groove across the face, then work the side grooves.  I've spent hours on string nocks trying to get them matched up.

 

My tips always come out arrowheadlike, which is OK I guess.  Sometime I'm going to try something else but like I say this is my challenge on every bow so right now I'll stick with what is comfortable.

 

This is the back of the tip...

 

and a side view.

 

That is where I'm at so far.  It's back to the shop for a couple more hours this evening.

Ken

[the Ferret]

Beautiful tips KT

[Ray Lyon]

Great job so far. I'd vote this in for the Tradgang Classics and how-to sections.

[TaylorJohn]

This is making me want to build a glass bow  

Very informative, looks great.

[mike hall]

Very nice!
Can I ask what type of glue you used for the tips?

[Bodork]

Ken, this build along is wonderful. You've mentioned some very helpful tips that they don't tell you in the books. I'm with you about the tips. The most tedious part of building the bow to me. Looking forward to more. Mike

[Jumper]

Great choice in the tip lay-up Ken, it looks really good.

[clintopher]

Looking great.

Clint

[Many Arrows Lost]

Time to start chasing the tiller.  Folks this is the most accellerating thing about building a bow.  I just love to watch the limbs bend for the first time.

   

I leave the handle uncut and pull the string from the center (this should make you self bowyers cringe).  This is only an exploratory pull on the string and from what we find here we will track down what needs to be accomplished as the night wears on.  I must say that for the first pull she don't look too bad.  I fact, this is the best first pull I've had!

 

Here she is braced for the first time 7 1/8" at the tip of the upper fade and 7" even at the lower.  I could not be happier!

 

There is the 28" pull, a little stiff in the outboard half of the right or upper limb.  

 

A little work down the road will take care of that.  By the weigh, she pulls 63 at 28 right now which puts me in the drivers seat, which is where I want to be.

After high fiving myself     I settled down to take all the square out of the handle.  Here is my way of marking the blank.  The markings are on the back and are for a right-handed bow.  This is cut out on the bandsaw.

 

I must put in a plug right here for carbide tipped bandsaw blades.  Search on google and you'll find them.  My is made by Sandvik and this is the 10th bow that I have built with that blade.  I resaw all my own wood and tackle fiberglass, and phenolic with ease.  The blade is still going strong and at around $130 I consider it a deal.  It is 3 TPI so it cuts a mite courser than you may be used to, they are also available in 4 TPI.

From here it is rasps, files and sandpaper.  The #50 nicholson rasp is probably my favorite tool in my whole shop.

 

[Many Arrows Lost]

I cut a radius on the shelf with a coping saw and...

   

smooth the rasp marks with a cabinet file.

   

After the handle area is sanded with 100 grit, I move on to the limbs.  At this point I am assured that the limbs are bending straight, the string is in the center of the bow and the upper limb still needs minor tweaking.  I have decided to lightly "trap" the limbs to lower the draw weight and loosen the upper half of the upper limb.  Just so we are all on the same page to "Trap" is to make a trapeziodal cross section out of a rectangular cross section across the limb.  In other words the belly will be slightly wider than the back.

I've tried several ways using machines to get a good even trap.  I always wind up taking off too much so this is how I do it.  I place the limb in the vice with about 3/16" of the limb edge above the jaws.  I have an angle cut into the jaw facing me and I use a file to remove what I need stroking from the back to the belly.  I do not have a lot of curves in my limb and hesitate to clamp very hard in the area that do curve but so far it works good.

   

This is followed by a sanding block with long strokes to make a nice clean edge on the back.  I took about 1/16" off the back, the belly remaining the same, and she pulled #55 at 28".  (I'll get more pics tomorrow of the bow in action, my wife was sleeping at least 2 hours ago.)

   

I added an accent to the handle...

 


and propped her up for one last shot.

 

[Many Arrows Lost]

I really want to say goodnite and hit the sack, so one little point about sanding blocks and I'm out of here.  I kind of fell into this one because I cut a block just a bit too short for the 3X24 belt and started looking for a way to salvage an otherwise perfect block of black locust.  I spied the duct tape.

 

Four wraps and I had a perfect fit.  What's more no slipping of the belt around the block while sanding, no corners cutting the belt, I didn't spend much time making the block and that is all I can think of at mid-nite:30.

Ken

[Rob DiStefano]

Fabulous Stuff, Ken - thank you!        

[the Ferret]

Yes, fabulous..almost makes ME want to make another glass bow.

Where's the crooks? the knots? the windchecks? The heat gun? How can you make a decent bow without a heat gun? ha ha

[TexMex]

 !!!

[benzy]

Thanks Ken, very informative!