Author Topic: build along - ultimate wooden bow (Read 16139 times)

the Ferret · « **Reply #40 on:** March 12, 2005, 07:02:00 PM »

Shaun the nice thing about building bows with even length limbs is you don't have to designate a n upper and lower limb but let them reveal themselves. in the latter stages of tillering one will naturally be a little stronger than the other and that will end up being your bottom limb. If they come out even as far as strength goes a couple of scrapes will make one waker and it will be your top limb.

I don't go to a short string until my limb tips are moving about 10". You are getting close.

AZStickman · « **Reply #41 on:** March 12, 2005, 07:28:00 PM »

Looking pretty good.... Looks like the right limb might be showing a bit weaker than the left get the left caught up and get both limbs moving in the middle 1/3 and outer 1/3...... Terry

Shaun · « **Reply #42 on:** March 12, 2005, 10:51:00 PM »

Did some tillering, trying to get the outer limbs to bend. At 24" and ready to quit for the day.

Do I need to get more bend right out of the fades? Should I let this ting rest and dry for a while? I have a feeling, based on nothing better than hunch and intuition, that the moisture content is still a little high. Bow is close to flat when unstrung with slight reflex at the tips. Pulling 45 @ 24".

the Ferret · « **Reply #43 on:** March 12, 2005, 11:08:00 PM »

No you are good out of the fades..look at the pic and see how the outer 1/3 is flat? You need to work there next.

AZStickman · « **Reply #44 on:** March 13, 2005, 08:33:00 AM »

Good job on evening out the limbs... They look good.... I agree with Mickey......Terry

John Scifres · « **Reply #45 on:** March 13, 2005, 08:43:00 AM »

Left limb from dip to mid is flat. Both limbs from midlimb out are flat. Leave that midlimb on the left alone.

AZStickman · « **Reply #46 on:** March 13, 2005, 08:58:00 AM »

One other quick Tip Shaun...Don't pull the bow past the point where you can see a defect.... You are pulling that bow quite a ways..... What John, Mickey and I are seeing could have been seen with the bow being at a much shorter pull and would have stressed the working portions of the bow less than what you did...When I learned to do that my bows started retaining a lot more of their original profile when they were finished.... Terry

Randy Morin · « **Reply #47 on:** March 13, 2005, 09:18:00 AM »

This Grasshopper is learnin and chewin, chewin and learnin. I was thinking the left looked a little stiff just after the fade too. And thats a great tip Terry to pass along. I'll try to remember that one tonight. Shaun, kudos for the buildalong (did I just say Kudos). Very timely for me and lookin good. One question to anyone....how do you go about getting prop twist out? Seems impossible so I've got to know.

AZStickman · « **Reply #48 on:** March 13, 2005, 09:28:00 AM »

Randy... There's two schools of thought on prop twist....The first being if it's not too extreme just leave it be..... That's what I prefer to do when I can....or you can heat bend it out.... Mickey is one of the best at that.... Maybe he can elaborate on his method... Terry

Josh_IOWA · « **Reply #49 on:** March 13, 2005, 09:57:00 AM »

I'm in agreement with AZ. You can see in the braced pic that the bow looks uneven. There's no need to pull it anymore to correct that. The ability to do that well will come. I think some of these guys have built hundreds of bows and to see one out of kilter pulled beyond that hurts their brains. I think this is a tribute to the power of hedge.

The first bow I ever made was hedge and it was real ugly. But I had no reference back then. I started at square one. I've still got the bow and it is ugly as sin. But, I've never broken a hedge bow.

I've restarted and made a handfull. I've been breakin board bows like mad. The complication of putting a hickory back on and the added fickleness of the woods I've chosen have exploded in a vigorous manner. Oh, the power of hedge.

Got hedge?

Yellow power!

Oh and randy is correct in my eyes. Stiff out of the one fade. Things never look right to me when the fades don't match.

Shaun · « **Reply #50 on:** March 13, 2005, 11:02:00 AM »

Thanks all for the input. Great tip to not pull past the point where a correction can be noted.

On my last project I learned never to pull past projected finished draw weight.

The first bow I tried was under the direction of Brad Merkel and he would give a couple tugs on the tiller rope and then mark the belly with a pencil and say "take wood off where its marked". I could see nothing different about the areas he marked, but it was plain as day to him. I am starting to learn to see what needs to be worked, but it feels like a slow learning process.

Prop twist can be worked with heat and a tip from the Ferret - use a crecent wrench to apply corrective twist. Any heat and bending is potentially damaging and care should be used.

Time to work on thinning those tips and see where we get to today. Maybe to shooting a few arrows by this afternoon.

Shaun · « **Reply #51 on:** March 13, 2005, 01:42:00 PM »

More tillering, some sanding and shaped the hadle. Starting to look much better.
Braced

Pulled 22"

Pulled 24"

Looks not right to me on the right side at 24" ... running a 6" straight edge along the belly shows slightly more bend mid limb on the right than other areas. Should I correct this by removing some wood both sides of this point or leave it and call this the top limb?

Luke Vander Vennen · « **Reply #52 on:** March 13, 2005, 01:46:00 PM »

this is just what I'm seeing offhand.

you should get a little more bend off the fades on both limbs

the left tip looks a little stiff

nice stuff, it's looking good

Josh_IOWA · « **Reply #53 on:** March 13, 2005, 01:46:00 PM »

Well it is hard to visualize. The rope isn't pulling in the middle of the string and that makes it look cockeyed. The right limb has much more bend midlimb than the left, possibly because the left is stronger, making the left limb bend farther.

John Scifres · « **Reply #54 on:** March 13, 2005, 02:36:00 PM »

Both fades need a few scrapes. Left from fade to just short of mid limb needs a little lovin' too

Huntrdfk · « **Reply #55 on:** March 13, 2005, 02:46:00 PM »

Cool Shaun. I've got a stave that I'll be starting this week and plan on building it using dimensions from that thread also. I've been watching this one from the get go, great job.

David

Shaun · « **Reply #56 on:** March 13, 2005, 02:53:00 PM »

Time to saddle up and take a few shots. Using the weaker (right in the pics) limb as top and shooting about 50 arrows for break in and "tiller by feel". Had son Mike take an action photo as well. Tiller board does not exactly duplicate bow hand and string finger pressure on bow. Pic is drawn at full (just over 27") draw with 29 1/4" BOP arrow.

Bow has about 1" of follow when first unstrung. Shoots better than I hoped. Very stable, medium speed, easy to point.

Luke Vander Vennen · « **Reply #57 on:** March 13, 2005, 02:58:00 PM »

nice job!!

Shaun · « **Reply #58 on:** March 13, 2005, 03:10:00 PM »

Should the bottom limb pull back as far as the top? There is a little distortion from slight cant to the right, but not that much. How about the rest of the bend / tiller?

Luke Vander Vennen · « **Reply #59 on:** March 13, 2005, 03:21:00 PM »

I think the bottom limb could bend a little bit more. The tiller on the top limb looks good. The bottom limb could use a bit more bend at the fade out to about 3 inches

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Author Topic: build along - ultimate wooden bow (Read 16139 times)

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