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

[Russell S.]

we also came to the first design flaw today.  the form allows for 7 degress of angle and fits the riser perfectly.  it does not how ever account for the taper of the power lam.  if my trig is right  it is about 1 degree off per lam.  it is eough to screw up the clamp up.  so i covered the other power lam with stretch wrap and stacked it with another lam and shimmed the riser with it.  seems backwards but it  worked.

[Apex Predator]

Get a bigger (3") drum for your drill press.  You'll thank me.  

That aggressive curve on your fade is gonna be tough.  If you tweak your pressure strip to match, it can assist in getting a good glue line.

Your forms profile looks more longbowish than recurve, not that it matters.

You have been a busy beaver Russ.  I'm really enjoying watching from across the country!  Tell Missy I said hello.

[Russell S.]

I will pass along the message.  I changed the profile of the form before i cut it.  hopefully it comes out with the string off the limbs.  the form has 1 inch of deflex 1.5 inchs of reflex.  i have the bigger drum i was just to lazy to change it.  however i may tweek it now.

[Chad Orde]

How did you make that grinder!!!
Its sweet!!
Chad

[Russell S.]

D-I-Y,  brute force and ignorance mainly, but a bit of sound engineering and consideration for stress helped...

[Russell S.]

ok i got some 4 in clamps, couldn't work yesterday, the wife's car finally bit the dust and i hate cars so i nothing but 4wd's ever again for my family long story short, i had to drive to Seattle to buy a a SUV...  those famous Seattle ferry rides really are amazing by the way!

back to the bow.  i didn't take any pictures yet tonight.  The fit up is perfect with some tweaking of the pressure strip and the addition of 2 c-clamps, on high on the fade and one at the limb/fade interface. the only place the fitup is not 100% is at the center point on the riser, where i plan to grind off round anyways.  cranked the oven up to 110 degrees it so the smooth-on and bow form are warming up (its 42 in the shop)after the kids are clean and tucked in bed i am going to  glue and bake it.   still left to do is build a devider for the oven so i can do a half bake, also going to put a thermometer on both sides so i can keep an eye on the temp of the baking limb and the cool limb.  hoping i do not have to split the top of the oven to keep the cool side cool because i think it will need more  reinforcement to maintain it strong enough to stand on.

just remembered i still have to drill and attach the guide washers, so maybe i will get it glued tonight maybe not.

[kennym]

Don't rush it Russell,take your time.

When I hurry,I screw stuff up!

[Russell S.]

trying not to kenny, however there is a boat coming with my name on it so i am trying to get a lot done!!!

[Russell S.]

first picture post today!!

final clamping pattern i decided on
 

drilling the guide washers, go really slow and use a backing board.  i am not lubing the bit, and i don't what it to blow out on the back if they do blow out just file them down flush. plus if you go fast and are not using a clamp it might rip the washer out of your hand and give your fingers a pounding.
 

guide washers installed on form.  yea i am using a lot.  i bought 10 so i used 10, i am concerned about the riser not sitting strait and the limbs being out of wack, 2 guides on the riser should help.
 

form and work space are covered in plastic,  i don't like the thin stuff, seems like everyone is split 50/50 i use thick plastic drop cloth.  i have only bought 1 piece so far, just cut off the width i want from the folded up piece. style points here, if all the plastic ends up down and not bunched up the buggers go down and are easy to snap off by hand.  if the plastic bunches it makes big boogers on the side of the bow.
 

i decided to protect the unused side of the riser as best i can because i don't want to screw up the angle when i clean it back up.  like i said before the point is going to get ground off so i am not worried about a bit of glue there.  
 

off to get some monsters in bed and glue it up.  smooth-on has been at 110 for about 2 hrs now.

[Russell S.]

progress finally!

first limb is in the oven.  i noticed 1 issue, once it was all clamped the riser had slid i expected that and since it is limb at once it doesnt really matter, however the power lam did not slide quite as much.  the limbs dont have tapper so i am not worried about the lams.  the power lam is 1/4" to long now.  i am going to try to compensate on the other side. if it doesn't work out i will try to fix it with limb tapper.  i figure if they are close worst case i will have a decent positive tiller.  


work area ready to go, you can see i keep a box of gloves on hand, i change my gloves about 4 times.  dont what any smooth-on on those clamps.
 

here is my smooth on heater, i mix it for about 2 mins till the color is uniform then put in under the light for about 10 mins.  drives some of the bubbles out and gets it nice and soft.  
 

limb is ready to clamp!  you can see i have quite a bit of smooth on left.  i mixed a bit over 3 ozs. and ended up with 1 oz left over.  i used a bondo spreader cut to 2 inchs this time. the only place i went heavy was the riser back, the power lam and the fade. good info for the other side.  this bow will take quite a bit less then the last.  I have been using about 7 oz total.  
 

bands are on and its ready to bake! oven was preheated by the time the bow went in. it will bake for about 3.5 hrs then slowly cool overnight.  i used a lot of bands.  about the same amount i use on half of the 72" form. hopefully with that much pressure the thin smooth on is enough!  
 

thats it for tonight, if i get up early enough i will pull it out in the morning and post some pics.

[Russell S.]

got her off the form this morning. here is the first look, looks good only minior issues i see are the slid powerlam and the top glass is about 1/8 off to the side on the riser.  guess she will not be 1.5 at the fades!!
 
glue lines look good as much as i can see them, guide washers are now stuck up on the form... oh well.  limb squeezed out along the entire length the glue every where accept on the riser was paper thin and easy to break off by hand.  i will clean her up tonight and hopefully get limb two glued.

[Russell S.]

got her sanded down and cleaned up,  second limb is baking now,  i took a picture but it didnt seem to save.  same as the first glue up only with half a bow sticking out the other side.  i did not divide the oven.  i should have, maybe on the next one.  it was a long day at work so i deceided just to glue this one up.  i did manage to get the power limb off set a bit, and this dry run was a perfect fit up, so we will see how it comes out!

here is a picture of the first fade.  there is a bit of wanut on the tip of the fade that is not a gap,  i hope it shows up better once the bow is finished.  
 

[Apex Predator]

Good job Russ!  Looking forward to the next installment.

How much longer to do you have looking at the sun each morning?

[Russell S.]

we will be refitting after christmas, when we are done we go.

[Russell S.]

today i got the limbs ground,  1.36 inchs at the 6" from center then tapered to 1/2 inch at the tips. i am happy i didn't use the limb taper, i don't like how much the bow is bending that the tips.  i might beef up the last 6 inches or so with a fiberglass wedge.  the power lam really did more then i thought it would.  it doesn't appear to be bending at all.  i have only bend the bow with the bow stringer (no nocks yet.)  here are the pictures of tonight's progress

bow cleaned up and ready to mark center
 

back of riser is rough ground to shape,  you can start to see the final shape.  
 

center is marked with a strait edge (advantage of the 48" bow!)  here is how i am measuring the tips.  i take the calipers set them to half the distance then spin and etch a line where it crosses the tip line
 

I am marking the tapper with a "flexable" ruler
 

here is the final profile prior to retaping (again)  you can see the back of the riser as well.
 

thinking about coco riser overlay and tips but i haven't decided yet.  also considering laying some white glass down then black on the last 4-6" of the tip to get them stiffer.  i will nock it in the morning and start bending before i decide what i want to do about the tips.

[Apex Predator]

Awesome!

[Russell S.]

ok string is one, even made a 12 strand flemish.. i am happier with the tips now i i see the bow drawn.  tiller is even, 16#@ 20 inchs and starts stacking right there.  10#@ 16"  still unsure about the coco, if it will match the classic look of walnut and maple.  here are the pics, what do you guys think of the coco?

I HATE FILING NOCKS!!!!  (and am not verry good at it.)


tools for filing the nocks
 

nock is filed with a triangle jewelers file
 

now the nock is opened up with a tile saw blade for the hack saw. it is stiff enough that i dont need to put it on the saw.
 

now the nocks are finished with the chain saw file.
 \\

here they are done.
 


here the bow is at brace.  We have a long bow!
 

i used the bow square with a piece of tap on it to check the tiller.  i mark a distance each way from center line (doesnt matter how long.. but i try for the end of the riser)  then measure the distance to the string to that point.  the sort one is the stiff limb, in this case the limbs are balanced.  

 

here is is at brace (if you wonder why these pics are always on the kitchen floor its because i am using the lines on the floor to compare the limbs

 

[Apex Predator]

Looking good Russ!

[Russell S.]

overlay is going on now, and tips are being glued together.  

here is the supper getto clamp job on the overlay,  i think it is going to work...  notice the MDF will conform to your riser with enough pressure.  
 

here is the tips.
 

i went with cocobolo over black 0.050 glass on the overlay, the tips are
1/16 white glass
1/16 black glass
~1/4 cocobolo

hope the coco match's the bow. i still think it might be a bit much.


do you guys let the coco oxidize prior to finishing it.  i would say smooth on over oxidized coco looks better then over fresh surfaced coco.

[Russell S.]

here is the overlay and tips going on.  here is the coco overlay roughed in.  
 

here is the tip baking.  I pre sanded the tip where it meets the bow.  this time i was real careful to clean up all the smoothon while it was still wet.