Bowyers needed for build along FINISHED thanks all

[Joshua Lee]

I have embarked on building my first longbow.  I ordered most of the supplies from bingham's.  The laminations are osage with action boo core and covered in fiberglass?  I'm not sure of the thickness of the lams.  It will become apparent that I'm new to this but I'm very excited to get rolling.  For the riser I bought a chunk of figured shedua.  The bow is going to be 68", 60#s at 28#(hopefully) straight longbow.  I have built the heatbox (per RGK) and the riser, and I'm about to build the lamination press (the kind with the Rubber tube clamps). So my first question is about building the press.  I do not have a joiner and want to make the board on the back of the bow square, level and perfect.  Also I was wondering what the best material is to place between the back of the bow and the board or if it is necessary.  One more question.. is there a good way to keep the lams from slipping when pressing them?  Thanks to everyone on this forum it has been fantastic to read all the bowyer information.  
I'm having trouble posting pics of hotbox and riser any help there would be great as well.

[Joshua Lee]

I figured out the pictures..


 
 

[Apex Predator]

Drill a hole on the edge of some large fender washers.  Secure them to critical points along the edge of your form.  I like them towards the end of my riser fades and then near the tips.  Swivel them up to keep your parts from sliding around.

 

I use an aluminum strip 1.5" wide glued to the wood surface of my forms.  I glue some 1/8" rubber to the top of this.  Works great!

[Joshua Lee]

Awesome
Thank Apex,, I will do the aluminum strip. The 1/8" rubber I don't quite understand.  Is the rubber used to create a pressure on the back of the bow.. and what kind of rubber is it,,and where can I get 1/8 inch rubber?
Thanks for the Help
Josh

[Apex Predator]

The rubber makes the pressure spread evenly on the bows back.  You can buy some 36" wide pieces from Lowes that is used for some kind of flooring threshold.  I cut that into 1.5" strips.  Comes in several colors and is just a few dollars each.  Sorry I don't know what they are called.

[Joshua Lee]

Thanks again, and I forget to mention the washer trick is great.  Hopefully I will get to cook a bow this weekend.
Josh

[Joshua Lee]

Apex (Marty)
Just checked out your website, some beautiful bows, stunning.  I think my next bow I'll try the laminated riser, Yours have some real character.

Josh

[jsweka]

Josh,

Looks like you're off to a good start.  I've built several straight limbed longbows from Binghams kits, and if you follow their blueprints you will come within a couple pounds of your desired draw weight.

Your riser looks good.  Just be sure to sand the fadeouts paper thin at the ends to give you a good glue line.

Your hot box looks a lot nicer than mine  

Keep posting pics.

Good luck,

John

[Joshua Lee]

Thanks John
I think I have more shedua in my lungs than in my riser (I know wear a mask). Since the riser pic I have sanded quite a bit off. I'm taking my time so I don't sand too far.  I will take a pic when i'm done, If I don't die of shedua consumption                 .
I did a dry run of the lamination and realized I had a way to go on the fades.  Thanks for the tip.
Josh

[jess stuart]

You might find a cabinet shop in your area and ask them to run your form across their joiner.  I know back when I first started I used my local cabinet shop several times.  When they found out what I was trying to do, they were very helpful and always asked to see the bow when I finished it.

[lovethehunt]

Looks great so far. There is an article in a 2005 issue of TBM on building straight limb bows, check out their form ideas. I have a Rigid oscilating belt/spindle sander that is a real workhorse in bow making, even for grinding lams. There are some links for jigs, check them  out

[Stagmitis]

Joshua,

If you want a "straight" end longbow you have to build about about 1/2 reflex in your form. If you use a "straight" form you will get about a 1/2" string follow bow.

[Joshua Lee]

Hey stamitis
Being a newbie, I'm not sure what you mean about a "1/2" string follow bow".  Also, did you mean a half inch reflex in the form.  
Thanks
Josh

[razorsharptokill]

It means that your bow will take a set or  a memory as it were. It will be bent toward you a 1/2 " when unstrung.
1/2" of reflex built in will allow it to take a set and be "straight" when unstrung.

[Joshua Lee]

Thanks for the explanation.  I looked around and did some reading on forums about string follow and I agree, a slight reflex is needed.  This has the potential of causing me to scratch my head this weekend instead of cooking a nice bow BBQ.  My dilemma is how to make the form.  I would guess that I should begin the reflex at the end of the riser.  Second I also would guess that I don't want to simply draw a straight line from zero to a half inch.  Two thoughts on how to make the curve...1)Take a hundred or so feet of string and tie a pencil to one end to make the curve (not really) or 2)Connect the dots with incremental measurements, for example half way would be a quarter inch reflex, 1/4 distance would be 1/8"..etc.  So any help here to avoid playing connect the dots would be great help.  
Thanks
Josh

[Joshua Lee]

On second thought maybe the reflex is simply a straight line from 0 to a half inch? Since If I play connect the dots I would get a straight line (Dough).
Josh

[Joshua Lee]

On second thought maybe the reflex is simply a straight line from 0 to a half inch? Since If I play connect the dots I would get a straight line (Dough).
Josh

[Jason Scott]

You can take a piece of the fiberglass and use it as your trace line. Put a small nail at the tips of the riser and, limb tips and wherever you want the middle of the bend. Weave the glass around them and trace it. You can use the system you described in your second thought above as to where to drive the small nails. A slight curve would be good for comming off the riser and then straighten out toward the tips. There is really nothing wrong with a little string follow if you were to build a straight form. Not much noticable performance gains in adding an inch reflex (couple fps) and a little follow will be more forgiving anyway. If you don't have a router and don't feel like spending the many hours getting the edge square and smooth again with a file and sanding block you may opt go ahead and build it straight form. A lot of times, depending on the moisture content in the lams, the bow will gradually return to straight after a while being unstrung. Likewise for the one built with a little backset, eventually it would return to a little backset instead of straight. If the lam moisture is a little higher than optimal you will notice more set.

[Joshua Lee]

Thanks Jason
Good idea with tracing the glass.  Any suggestions on how far to put the middle nail for the curve. Maybe 1/3 the distance or 2/5.  I just converted to traditional archery and I'm currently shooting a howard hill wesley special on loan from a friend, and this bow has a slight reflex.  So in the interest of eliminating error from my shot, I think I will try to make this bow shoot similar to the one I'm cutting my teeth on.
Thanks again
Josh

[Jason Scott]

In that case you can lay the hill bow on your form and either trace it or at least mark where the bends occur. If you no longer have it then you can try to remember how it looked. Basically, most backset hills are a continuous arch. The only flat spot is in the riser area I guess. Since you already have a straight riser I would pop a chalk line, measure the one inch backset at the tips and mark those spots. Then measure a couple inches outside the spot where the fades end and mark those spots on the chalk line. Drive nails at those four locations and weave the glass through the nails so the glass is on the back side of the tip nails and the belly side of the fade nails. Then press the riser into place up to the chalk line which will take the arch out between those two inside fade nails. This will give you a good swooping backset profile with a flat riser section.