autocad design/build a long. (DONE! finished pics added page 4)

[Russell S.]

ok my last design turned out great so here we go again.  the idea is to build a 48" bow on this form then take it out to 56" and try to get a 28" draw.  

this time the goals are:  
short bow
24" draw /28" draw
first bow between 10-15#@24/ 50#@28
limb at a time construction one piece.  

here is my inital drawing.  sorry it is dotted.  had to convert it to PDF then JPG then shrink...
       

what do you guys think of the shape..  going to cut the form in the next couple days so if you see something wrong please yell out!

[Russell S.]

oh yea, the way i plan to accomplish all that.  
first Artificially high brace height from all the deflex out of the riser (7-10deg.  that pic is 7).  >> longer draw length.  14" riser vice the 18" and 17" i used before>> more working limb.  straight angle on back of riser to facilitate limb at once.  no curve coming out of riser to minimize hing stress at riser tips.  Healthy recurve (on the big one at least!!)  low or no tapper to help prevent stacking further out.  more tappered limbs to compensate some. the tapperem till it bends right.

[Russell S.]

made some progress here is the riser stack.
 
 
 

smooth on is on and block is clamped

 

in to the oven to bake for 3 hrs.

 

[Russell S.]

got a bit more work done today.  here is the pics of the progress

riser getting squared on the disk sander.
 

taking the riser down to 1.50,  got a bit over zelious its 1.492...  oh well..

 

re marking the center
 

glueing on the autocad pattern,  you can see the notchs cut in the pattern to line up the center.
 

here you can see the notchs i use to line up the pattern.
 

checking the the seam is strait.
 

here is the pattern squared up on the block
 

once the kids are asleep and the glue is dry i am going to cut the back and fades.  then maybe try to put some epoxy clear coat on the last bow i built and still haven't finished.

[Kanga]

Looking good so far.

[Russell S.]

thinking of changing it to a d/r  dont know what draw length i can get, but i can make the form longer so that stretching it out will not be a problem with too much recurve and to keep the tillering easier.    what do you guys think?

[JEFF B]

looks good so far

[IdahoCurt]

Cool!

[Russell S.]

here is the options i came up with.  so far i am leaning twords sticking with the recurve.

 

I trued up the "limb pads on the disk sander, went slow and made sure the point formed in the middle lined up with the center marks front and back.
 

next i worked on of the fades i will not do the other until the first limb is glued up.
 

 I picked up some wood for a form today but the printer is out of ink..  i am going to see what i can do.  
if you haven't figured it out yet, the action shots are not true action shots..  my 5 yr old photographer is not allowed in the shop while i am grinding/sanding/cutting, unless under direct supervision.

[Russell S.]

I am going to go with the brown line.  printed the pattern out, this time i glued it up prior to putting it on the wood, i have found when you are glueing several pieces of pattern together it is easier to line up if you do the paper by it self first.  office max can print them full size but they have to be PDF,  i am always concerned with the drawing getting distorted when it gets converted.  and office max is a couple mile drive.

i dont have a table saw, so its a board for the rip fence and a battery powered circle saw...  
   

here i am glueing up the form,  it needs to be 31X9  so i am laying up 31X10.5 and i will cut it to size, that way the bottom is nice and square.
   

i seem to be buying another of bottle of TBIII every week, every time i get a bigger bottle..  i think that one lasted about 2 weeks...  


now we wait!!!  i am also working on the System3 epoxy finish on the last recuve and some jigs for the band saw.  i think the wife is going to rope me in to putting up Christmas lights so i dont know how much more will get done tonight.  wish me luck, climbing on anything higher then 6FT off the ground scares the hell out of me....  I have been told it is pretty amusing watching me go up a tree in the climber.

[Russell S.]

i got the form cut, some lams sawed, clamp reinforcement in, my arc cutter half way done, and the Christmas lights up.

here is some pics of cutting the form.


my fence is a piece of Junk..  gota square it up every time.
 

sawing a block of hard maple down to lams.
 

pattern layed out on the form
 

cutting the form, this is the notch for the reinforcement
 

checking to form square,  just to be sure.
 

test fitting the riser.  looks like i will need a bit of tweeking,  i may use a rubber pad on the non glued side.
 

[Russell S.]

here is a good look at the reinforcing pad.  i plan to use 3/4" thick feet,  the clamp will not quite fit under them so the reinforcement is rebated.
 

i had some issues with risers sliding around on the last form, i figured out the reinforcement i used was not square, here i am making sure that doesn't happen again.
 

i used the riser to clamp in the reinforcement so i dont damage the top of the form.  the fit up was not perfect so i used gorilla glue on this one.
 

thats all for now, next to add a Formica strip, cross drill, and put the feet on, then the form will be ready to go.  i am not going to use tappers in the limbs so i will not put reverses on the form. if i later try some tappers i can grind the riser to compensate.

[Russell S.]

so my daughter won i am going to cut her a riser for this form as well.  i am going to try a 14 degree limb pad and a 12" riser on this one.  here is the autocad and artist rendition..  its going to walnut and purple heart. (i think)
 

 

i am going to use power lambs on both bows.  the first i think i will use 0.050 black glass.  going to finish the form and grind some lams today. hopefully my glass shows up from kenny tomorrow so  i can make a bow!

[IdahoCurt]

Thanks for sharing,nice job!

[Russell S.]

thank you Curt.  

i decided to grind the lams out.  i have no idea how thick a stack i need,  i just ground till the saw marks where gone.  i did decided to go with a 0.002 tapper plus a 10in 0.010 tapper power lam.

here is the pics from this afternoons work.

grinding the power lams (they are packing material from kenny,  walnut i think.)
 

after the power lams are ground the edges are paper thin.  i wish i could get my fads that thin..
 

next the parallels are going thru.
 

here is the stack.
 
 the o.oo2 tapper is 0.050 at the butt, all lams are 24" long...  you got it that makes the tips 0.002 thick..   i hope i can glue them without breaking them.

you can see that i marked the end to use on the tip (on the parallels).  i didn't check every inch with the calipers.  so that makes sure any imperfections end up in the same place on both limbs.

ended up with:
 0.050 tapper
 0.040 parr
 0.050 parr

plus the 0.030 glass X2
for a total of .210 minus the power lam.  

power lam is .100 at the butt 0.010 tapper.

[kennym]

Glass should be there tomorrow! Shipped 12/03

Lookin good there!!

[Russell S.]

thanks kenny!

[Russell S.]

didnt take any pictures tonight..  i have been working on the finish on my recurve.  i did get the formica strips glued on the form, next i need to cross drill it, then make a pressure strip and wait on the mail!

[Russell S.]

SO heres the update. I got the glass in the mail.  finished the form with the exception of the alignment washers and unsuccessfully did a dry run.  maybe tomorrow we will get to glueing..  here is the pics from tonight.  
here is the form.
 

laying out the glass to cut, first i put high temp masking tape on the back.  i use 2" then cut it to width.  
 

here is the components of the pressure strip you can see one piece of rubber i have not cut down yet.  i am glueing it on with contact cement prior to bending.
 

here is the pressure strip assembled you can see the thinner rubber on the back i use to ensure the bands push on the center of the strip.
 

the fade on the dry run.  
 

the riser on the dry run
 

[Russell S.]

here is the final clamp up,  there is still 2 little gaps, one is on the riser where it will get ground out, the other is at the riser/powerlam interface.  i think once i get some better clamps i can close that one.
 

so when i made my oven i only made it 20 inchs high, so the false top is split that causes a recess in the top about 4 inchs wide that gives clearance for the claps.  the bar clamps hit false top...  time for some new clamps i guess...