Let's try that HBI again...

[John Cooper]

Last week I snapped my first hickory backed ipe due to weak glue lines.  A buddy has a thickness sander, so I took the thickness planed lams over to finish out on his sander to get a fresh glue joint.  I also made a new form out of metal.  Let's see THAT twist! haha

Well...here's the form:
   

Glued up with extra clamps at the end of the power lam.  I also used 2 courses of inner tube tires going in opposite directions.
 
 

Off the form, it retained 2 1/4" reflex
 

and it's straight!
 

[John Cooper]

I cut it to shape, cleaned it up,
 

and the glue lines look nice.
 

I'm crossing my fingers for this one!

[walkabout]

looks good, hope this one turns out for you

[John Cooper]

Yesterday, I put on the handle and overlay laminations and I cleaned it up a bit this morning.
 
 

I weighed it and it came to 27.3 oz.  At 1 1/4" wide straight tapering to 1/2" and .6" thick, it's barely moving at floor tiller.  Here's a question: should I narrow it more, or start reducing thickness?  I haven't made this type of bow before, so does Ipe like to be rectangular in cross section, or should I facet and round it off like Dean Torges?  I think I made this one waaayy too thick! haha...

[John Cooper]

Oh, and I'm aiming for around 55lbs at 27".

~John

[bjansen]

Looking great...nice bandsaw too!

[John Cooper]

Thanks!  Best wedding present ever!

[Bob Barnes]

1 1/4" wide will make a nice fast bow with a flat belly and rounded edges or facets...your choice...I like the Ipe that's wide like that to be flat on the belly until I'm about finished and then I round the edges just a little.  I have just about finished an ELB HBI any it's a hair under an inch wide with a round belly...it seems to work great as well...maybe a little more 'set' but it comes back to a slight reflex after unstrung a few minutes.  The tips on it are like 1/4"...my first bow like this.
My hunting bow is boo backed Ipe 1 1/4" wide with lots of glued in D/R...very fast and holds it's shape after lots of shooting.
Looking good!
Bob

[John Cooper]

I'd like to try one of those ELB designs next.  It's like they're just a sliver of wood.  Thanks for your advise.  I think I'll go with the flat belly and keep rounding a little as I go.  If it seems like it's keeping its reflex, I'll lighten 'er up by rounding it out.

~John

[Bob Barnes]

John, so far I like it...not that I will quit shooting my D/R bows and switch to an ELB...it's fun to shoot in a different way.
Bob
   

[John Cooper]

Those tips are amazingly small!  Beautiful bow.  What thickness did you start with on your hickory and ipe?  It looks pretty thick at the tips, but I'm sure ipe can handle it.  What type of glue did you go with?

~John

[Bob Barnes]

the hickory is pretty thick but I was going for a thick sapwood look...it's about 1/4" thick.  The Ipe tapers from 3/4" at the grip to 1/4" at the tips...that arrow is Japanese cane and only about 1/4" in diameter... It doesn't take much Ipe to make a bow...

[walkabout]

these bows are stunning, i wish i could find a good source for ipe and hickory nearby. im guessing the hickory back takes care of tension load while the ipe compensates for hickorys lack of compression strength very well. this is on my to do list up there with a boo laminate bow.

[John Cooper]

Bob, that's one of the reasons for the English to use that design.  Didn't take much yew, either.    Nice arc of tiller.  It looks like it's a pretty stout bow.  What did it come out to?

Richard, check to see if you have a lumberyard around that sells decking materials.  It makes a perfect outdoor building material.  You can try asking for it as Brazilian Walnut, too.

~John

[Bob Barnes]

thanks...it's about 50#...so not too stout...it's a very skinny stick though.  I put the little horn tip overlays to save tip weight but If I wanted it stouter I could take some off the tips and add some nice english carved tips that I have...

the guys in California send me the Ipe since there's some that's better than other...and they know the difference.  This bow was actually a sliver off the Ipe I cut to make a "normal" d/r bow...

If you have any questions about Ipe ask Rich Saffold...he is the Ipe Guru...

Bob

[John Cooper]

Well...I finally got some time to work on it again. The morning was spent training up my army for the next balloon invasion. (they're not my children, though!) I thought you guys would enjoy seeing the next generation of traditional archers. They even want to learn how to make the bows!  They might be a little young this year, but I'm excited.

 

 

so I spent some time getting my bow to a short (5") brace height. It was tricky being it my first r/d. How's it look to you guys?
 
It's not bending as much on the left, but I don't know which side looks correct for a r/d bow.

So far so good...it hasn't blown yet!

~John