TG BOW SWAP 2011 (pics and post)

[Roy from Pa]

Ouch that hurts, but that's  bow making. Hope it works out for you.

[canopyboy]

It's not me it has to work out for, it's ****.  If it was me I wouldn't care as much.

[Pat B]

Sorry for your problems!  How wide is the bow? I have found that ipe likes to be fairly narrow...like 1 1/4" or less at the widest.
  By grinding down both sides of the boo and removing the nodes you will eliminate the power fibers making the boo more likely to fail.
  When you first thinned your boo did you cut it to shape first? This makes a big difference for the final outcome.

[canopyboy]

Pat-

It was 1-3/8 at the widest.  You think I'd be better going even thinner then?  I can do that.

I did not cut to shape before thinning, but quickly wished that I had.  This next time I will.

I instinctively feel better about leaving the nodes on.  But I thought I had read/seen more than once that it doesn't really matter.  From there I jumped to the idea that it might make my life easier and less risky to have a nice, uniform backing.  Maybe I'll stick with the instincts then after all.

[KellyG]

sorry to hear canopyboy. But you get to work on a new bow and you have time.

[Pat B]

David, 1 3/8 would be my max for BBI. If the limbs are getting too thin you can do your reduction from the sides of the limbs also.
 Ipe is a very hard wood but I have fretted it and don't know why. On one bow I built(1" wide HBI)the fret went almost all the way through the ipe. I was shocked to see it.
  Cut your boo to the profile you want and then thin it to 1/8" or less at the crown at the fades. From there you can taper it to the tips or leave it flat. Mine were always left flat at 1/8" from tip to tip.

[canopyboy]

I just read the poorfolkbows.com bbi build-along which helps a bit too.

Just a risk you take when you try something for the first time.  (Hence the hickory stave as a backup.)  Of course now it will be my second time.

[tenbrook]

Round 2 is all glued up and ready to start tillering.

 

 

 

[KellyG]

[SEMO_HUNTER]

I feel your pain David. My first BBI didn't turn out so well either, but it happened the other way around. I had an ever so slightly noticeable hinge near the bottom fade and fully intended on fixing it, but was excercising the limbs in between material removal when I notice the boo had cracked right on the hingy area. My Ipe over powered the boo and caused a crack, but I think I might save it? I raised the crack with a tootpick and mopped some Urac underneath it, then smoothed down the fiber sticking up and left a nice puddle of Urac over top. I sanded it down lightly without getting into the crack so as to leave plenty of Urac on top and just feathered it off at the edges. I'm going to add a short osage lam on the belly side from the fade out about 8-10" or so and feather that into the limb. Hopefully that will work? Dunno, never did this before.........so I guess I'll see what happens?

Tenbrook- Doesn't seem like your having such good luck with the Ipe either? Maybe we should start a self help group where we can all vent our frustrations?   :mad:    

[eagleone]

I wanna join your club too semo.....

my bbi glue up from this weekend is no more...

boo popped off on a 12" section north of the power lam- I shoulda just reglued it down but i sanded everything off..

oh well- gotta get another slice of boo prepped

[Inuumarue]

Got my backing and core made, just a few more tweaks before I glue them up tomorrow..  Should have her roughed out by Thursday.  Then the slow work starts.

Adam

[John Scifres]

I walked in after a 2 hour elk hunt prep workout to find this arrived.

 

I knew exactly what it was and about flipped a lid.  Ask my wife.  Despite my exhaustion, I just had to shoot it.

 

I took one shot at my cardboard bow stuffed with plastic bags and prompty shot through it and busted one of my pickets in my fence  

Went back to the flooded yard (2" of rain this morning) and shot the deer target 3 times.

She's super sweet and quiet.  I am so thrilled.  Thanks so much Jess.  It is better than anything I could have hoped for!

And to top it off, I got this in the mail today too.

 

Guess someone is telling me I might have a new elk bow!

[fujimo]

i will tell you what Bert Frelink told me- and he has built a bunch of bows- i shot an elb BBI of his for quite a while- i loved it.
he said- to always make sure the the taper on the ipe is very consistant- other wise the ipe WILL chrysall/fail.
so i geuss if the backing is inconsistant( like boo is at the nodes) then that is where the ipe is going to want to be thinner i geuss- and prone to failure.
this is where i defer to greater experience- and hope that some others chime in here- particularly Big Bert.
i have built probably six ipe bows now, all of them have been HBI, and all have survived.
some have had up to 3" of reflex glued into them and were only 55" long( with a 24" draw though)
but i swear by the revered gizmo, and go by what pat says about preparing hickory backings.
i glue all up with urac, i prep all with acetone, i scour all surfaces with a sawzall blade- i find the hacksaw blade not aggressive enough.
i dont like to use clamps, as i feel that they create high pressure areas- that will glue starve.
not saying they dont work- just saying what i use, that has worked for me- but i am a far cry from being an expert- say you know the definition of an expert;
ex- is a has been
spert- is a drip under pressure.
 i geuss an airhose, or inner tube wrap form will work well.
but this is what i use.
   
reflex on one side. D/R on the other. clamp holes for heating and bending staves, and the short dowel rods for the stationary quality extra thick rubber bands.

[Monkey Wrench]

Please add me to group!!!


 

Originally posted by SEMO_HUNTER:
I feel your pain David. My first BBI didn't turn out so well either, but it happened the other way around. I had an ever so slightly noticeable hinge near the bottom fade and fully intended on fixing it, but was excercising the limbs in between material removal when I notice the boo had cracked right on the hingy area. My Ipe over powered the boo and caused a crack, but I think I might save it? I raised the crack with a tootpick and mopped some Urac underneath it, then smoothed down the fiber sticking up and left a nice puddle of Urac over top. I sanded it down lightly without getting into the crack so as to leave plenty of Urac on top and just feathered it off at the edges. I'm going to add a short osage lam on the belly side from the fade out about 8-10" or so and feather that into the limb. Hopefully that will work? Dunno, never did this before.........so I guess I'll see what happens?

Tenbrook- Doesn't seem like your having such good luck with the Ipe either? Maybe we should start a self help group where we can all vent our frustrations?    :mad:        

[KellyG]

Nice bow John glad to see them showing up.

[SEMO_HUNTER]

Dang guys! I had no idea there were so many BBI's all going south? I don't feel quite so bad about mine now. Thanks for the pick me up.   :D  

The only good thing is that I know exactly what caused my failure and I'm not left wondering about it. It was completely my fault and I won't make that same mistake again because it was turning out fine otherwise.  

[jsweka]

Sweet bow John!!  Looks like an elk bow to me.

[Stiks-n-Strings]

Good for you John!    

 Now go get to shooting and get that get that thing ready for Elk. I'll be expecting some elk meat on the fire, LOL.

[AKmud]

Well....

I didn't get my grip/rest finished and I'm leaving on a 5 day motorcycle trip to Dawson City, YT Wednesday morning so it looks like I won't get it shipped till next Monday.  

Put me on hold Kelly....