New bow build for Scott! "Finished"

[eman614]

thanks but, i was talking about the ones you glued to your piece of aluminum. it may not be rubber, i was just assuming it was.
thanks, eric

[Apex Predator]

They are used for flooring.  I forget what they are called.  They come 4' long by about 5-6" wide.

[Dano]

Nice work Marty, your making it look way too easy.   :rolleyes:    

[Apex Predator]

Well, my lam stack guess on this one was off pretty far.  Since it's my first on this form, I can live with it.  Scott settled on a 64" bow, since that is what offers the highest performance potential.  He really wanted a 60-62".  It was only gonna make a 41-42# bow though! The blank drew 45@28.  I cut it down to 62" NTN and it drew 51@28.  Finally after chopping another inch off each end to get it to 60" NTN, the blank draws 56@28.  I think he will be very happy.  I figure it will finish in the 53# range.

Here are the overlay materials that I will laminate onto the bow tonight.  Another photo shows the net reflex.  It's just under an inch, which should be plenty.

 

 

[James Oertel]

this looks great ,I am building a form as we speak.Can't wait to get building my first homemad bow!

[Apex Predator]

This morning I hit it again before work.

I decided to go with wenge/osage instead of phenolic/osage for the overlays.  So I had to build them.  I used rubber strips for clamping and thought all was good until lay-up.  I could press the end of the riser overlay and get quite a bit of squeeze out after clamping.  I had to clamp it tighter with c-clamps.  I think it's all good now.  My heat lamps will give me about 130 deg at this distance from the bow.

 

 

 

 

In order to get good transitions between my overlays and the back glass, I wipe any beaded up epoxy off the joint, and start with pre-beveled pieces.

[TNstickn]

       

[Apex Predator]

This morning I worked on tips.  These are the tools I use to cut my string grooves.  I draw a diagnal line on both sides 1" down from the very end.  I cut a small line with the triangle file right along the line.  Then I widen it with the tile saw.  Finally to full size with the chainsaw file.  I do a lot of eye balling while cutting grooves.  Between tools I can correct any alignment discrepancies when going to the next larger cutting tool.  

 

Here is my tip after taking off the clamps.

 

 

First I go to the belt sander and take the overlays down to match the profile of the limb.  I'll start contouring the sides here as well.

 

 

[ron w]

Looking good !!

[Apex Predator]

Now I file the groove over the sides of the overlay, staying online with the original groove.  It's critical to pay attention to what you are doing here.  Eye ball it from all angles constantly as you go.  I carefully take the grooves over the top a small amount at the time.  Small alignment errors can be corrected as you go.  This is an incremental process for me.

 

 

 

 

I like to keep my tips square until the groove is cut initially.  It helps me keep everything aligned.  I then round the top of the tip and profile it all the way around.

Here you can see after rounding the top.  The groove needs to be deepened and dressed.

 

Getting smoother here!  Notice how I feathered the joint as well.  If you have a clean glue-up, and aren't afraid of 80 grit, you can make a jam up job of it.

 

[Apex Predator]

Now I take my chainsaw file and carry the groove towards the belly.  

 

I've got some new files to try out.  These are Cutzall files in 26, 80, and I think 120 grit.  They are carbide files and suposed to work really well on wood and glass.

 

I now have to relieve the limb tip on the belly just past the string groove so that the string doesn't hang on the front of the groove when drawing the bow.  That 80 grit file worked really well!

 

Here is her strung profile.

 

Total time for both tips this morning was around 1.5 hours.

[bjansen]

Man that looks great Apex!..great  overlay tutorial...i wish i would have saw this 8 months ago!..Looks excellent

[ron w]

That thing just looks fast, great lines. I'm a "D" bow kinda guy, but that bow looks like its good to be hot!!!

[dave_570]

u wouldn't happen to have a paper template of that
form i could have,,,,Do u ??? thanks in advance.

[wharvey]

And I would love to know the details on the lams, thickness, tapers and so forth.  I can probably use the photos on this and photoshop them to get the form lines.

At any rate I feel I've learned more following this that I have in the last several months looking at other build alongs. Specially like seeing the rubberband form used. I know many use this in making all wood bows but didn't know if it would work good with glass bows.

[wihill]

Love that profile, Marty.  That thing just looks wickedly understated.  

Where did you pick those files up at?  Local or off the web?  They look like they could make quick work of a grip with a little patience.

Keep it goin'!!

[TNstickn]

Lookin good Marty!!

[eman614]

apex i really love your build-a-longs!!! i learn lots from them. out of curiosity, do you have a set depth that you cut your string grooves? not that i know that much about building bows but, this one is looking good as all the others you build. can't wait for the next post.
  eric

[Apex Predator]

Wharvey,  I used .040 glass, the riser is 17" long, my core is one .001/inch tapered action boo lam, and two .001/inch tapered bamboo lams.  Total stack, measured at the butt end of the lams is .377. She will finish out at 52@28 and is 60" NTN.

Wihill,  I ordered these off of the big auction site.  Cutzall closeouts, I think.  They were $10-12 each.

eman614,  I just eye ball them.

[Apex Predator]

I got some more work done last night and this morning.  First I took the riser to my spindle sander.

 

Now the scary part!  I use a hack saw and chisel to cut out the sight window.  I start by drawing a center line on back and belly for reference.  I want to take this one to center.  I will cut almost to the line with the hack saw and then chisel out the chunks.  After most of the removal is done I will take it to the line with a rasp.