The "So You Wanna Build a Bow?" Build-Along

[Ricky Wallace]

Are yall still laughing at me    ??

[hova]

looks good!  that last pic i thought you had all your tools mounted on the peg sideways...i thoughht , hmmm thats kinda interesting and different... then i realized you turned the camera....lol...

-hov

[Ricky Wallace]

ha ha,Thats some of my camera skills! I also noticed the little bow is upside down,,geez,I dont know about me sometimes! I should find out today if it works or not.Ill let yall know how it works out.                Rick

[SEMO_HUNTER]

Great build along, I'm learning alot and I've already built 4 Osage bows. It's nice to see how other guys do it and compare notes. I've learned some neat little tricks from reading your posts so far. I'm not even half way through the build along, but I needed to make a post here so I could watch this topic.

Great tutorial.  

[hova]

yeah it took me a few days to read the whole thing...

[Aznboi3644]

I'd be wary of that handle breaking at the arrow pass cut out. How thick is it there?

[Ricky Wallace]

Its 3/4 right there

[Jeff Smith]

That handle probably wont last. The pass looks too small to be usefull.Sorry for sounding so harsh .

[hova]

looks fine to me. i thought it was a bit small , maybe open it up a little taller...

[Ricky Wallace]

Thats not harsh at all Jeff,you guys have alot more experience than me.I think I will open it up a little more,at this point this is an experiment bow.If it dont work,I will learn something! Just like the day before Thanksgiving I learned that my joiner will cut the end of your finger off if you try to run a small strip of bamboo thru!    

[SEMO_HUNTER]

Oh my Lord Ricky......are you OK?

My cousin did that in shop class when he was about 16 years old and they had to graft skin and everything. Man, you got to be careful with those jointers.......they'll get ya!

[Ricky Wallace]

Oh yeah,im OK,I just lost about 1/2 inch of my left index finger,6 hours in the ER ,follow up at the orthopedic,big ol bill to pay,,,, Were going to just let it heal as is,since there wasnt anything left to reattach[GROUND UP] If it dont heal properly surgery is still an option. I think I will use the belt sander on Boo strips from now on!!

[Aznboi3644]

3/4" will break.  

I would say glue on 1/8" lams and build up the thickness.

[hova]

depends on the weight hes going for and draw. if youre going more than a lightweight bow , id reinforce it , just to be safe , but my d-bow has a handle similar to yours without the pass , and its not even 3/4"...just be safe...


-hov

[Ricky Wallace]

Where should I put the lams? I am going for a lighter weightI didnt get a chance to work on it today,im on it tommorow. Thanks for all the input

[hova]

how light are you talking ?

if youre talking 20# or so , id say you should be good. any more than that , i would throw no less than an 1/8" on the back and belly ,just to be safe. id end up rasping most of the back overlay off , just so you had a little extra buildup where your pass is. on the back , id leave as much there as you can. provided you will need to shape and do things like that , but i wouldnt glue the strip on , then make my grip smaller than what you just glued on...know what i mean?


-hov

[Ricky Wallace]

I think I know what you mean,I want to go for around 35# I have some pretty red cedar and some nice black walnut,You think the cedar would be to soft?

[hova]

i am not the one to trust fully , but the cedar should give you some stiffness. the walnut would be better , or just about anything that is stiff should do you. you could also order some phenolic pretty inexpensive , then you would have a nice color accent as well...

i personally dont think you should have a whole lot to worry about...you even using a scale or just winging it?


-hov

[Ricky Wallace]

Im using the bathroom scale method,Walnut it is,,I know its harder than the cedar,I used walnut for my first riser on my very first red oak bow,it looks good and still seems to be fine.phenolic? whats that?    

[hova]

3 rivers carries it , im not sure who else...its sort of like fiberglass , but im pretty sure it doesnt have the glass in it , sort of like micarta...


lots of people here use it for accents in risers. when you see black or white stripes that go through the riser , thats usually phenolic. its pretty nice stuff.


and yeah , id go with walnut too , just to b safe. cedar can be used from time to time , but im not familiar enough with the different types to recommend using it...


good luck and make sure to post pics as ya go!


-hov