Red Oak Boardbow Build Along

[Flyboy718]

Been wanting to do this for awhile and since I took my first deer with a recurve this season I want to work towards my new goal of taking a deer with a selfbow, self made arrow and knapped broadhead.  
With that said, I am following along with Poor Folk Bows (www.poorfolkbows.com) instructions.  I have a question for all you self builders.  
I have a very good piece of red oak and the center of the bow lines up pretty close with the center of the tips...however I just want to make sure I am doing this correctly.  I used a string with weights on each end down the legth of the bow running through the center of it.  I used the string to adjust the center of the tips to make both tips line up with the center of the bow.  My question is after I mark the tips do I use a straight edge to make a mark from one tip to the center and then the same on the opposite limb or one line at one time through all three points?

[GRINCH]

Fly boy if you'll post this on the bowyers bench I'm sure you'll recieve answers to all your questions.

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Line from tip 2 tip, then line out the width from fades to tips.. Go slow and take Your time.. This isn't a race to build a bow..

[fish n chicks]

This is all you need brother. Have fun and go to town.

 http://tradgang.com/noncgi/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=125;t=002064

[Flyboy718]

Thanks guys...if someone is a Mod and can move it to the bowyers bench that would be great.

[Pat B]

Just start a new thread there!

[Flyboy718]

I don't know how to upload pictures to this site so I will just tell you what I have done so far:  I have all my lines drawn and checked and re-checked them and I am ready to start shaving some wood!  Only problem is that the little rasp I have won't 'cut' it, so I will have to get me a draw knife.  By the way, I deffinately can see where a caliper would come in very handy for making sure that everything is uniform the entire length of the bow.

[hova]

fly , i too am still new to all this. the one thing i should have done a long time ago was A: get a sureform. you cant save your scrap , but thats ok right now , as chances are youll have one break sooner or later , and then you can cannibalize most of that for scrap.

and b: get a rip saw. i have yet to do this , as the only ones available locally are jap pull saws , and using a 12" blade to cut 60" backing strips would be a tedious task. thats why  i got on here and asked for some broken bandsaw blade... theres a thing called a frame saw , and that will let me not  only make backings , but it will allow me to cut out my profiles like a bandsaw...


and for calipers , harbor frieght has a set of measuring tools for about ten bucks , comes with a few rulers , a caliper , and a micrometer. i paid a lot more for my automotive micrometer  , but of course it doesnt work on wood ...


-hov

[Flyboy718]

Originally posted by hova:
fly , i too am still new to all this. the one thing i should have done a long time ago was A: get a sureform. you cant save your scrap , but thats ok right now , as chances are youll have one break sooner or later , and then you can cannibalize most of that for scrap.

and b: get a rip saw. i have yet to do this , as the only ones available locally are jap pull saws , and using a 12" blade to cut 60" backing strips would be a tedious task. thats why  i got on here and asked for some broken bandsaw blade... theres a thing called a frame saw , and that will let me not  only make backings , but it will allow me to cut out my profiles like a bandsaw...


and for calipers , harbor frieght has a set of measuring tools for about ten bucks , comes with a few rulers , a caliper , and a micrometer. i paid a lot more for my automotive micrometer  , but of course it doesnt work on wood ...


-hov

Can you enlighten me a bit on the frame saw and where I can get one.

[Pat B]

Unless you are building glass lam bows or maybe all wood lam bows you shouldn't need calipers. Just remove wood until the limbs bend evenly and together.

[George Tsoukalas]

Plenty of buildalongs here.
 http://georgeandjoni.home.comcast.net/~georgeandjoni/
You really shouldn't be moving the string around to line it up center on the handle. You have to draw a center line following the lateral or vertical grain. I'll let you read it on my site. See Boy Lay out and other topics.. Jawge

[Flyboy718]

Originally posted by George Tsoukalas:
Plenty of buildalongs here.
  http://georgeandjoni.home.comcast.net/~georgeandjoni/  
You really shouldn't be moving the string around to line it up center on the handle. You have to draw a center line following the lateral or vertical grain. I'll let you read it on my site. See Boy Lay out and other topics.. Jawge

jawge...just following along with what the poor folk bows red oak board bow says...I didn't know any better.

[hova]

dont worry too much about it. just learn as you go.


if you google frame saw , you should get a couple hits. its basically a big square frame , with a piece of bandsaw blade stretched in it. kind of like a big hacksaw , only with way more blade , and made for wood. i have been using a hacksaw , cause i cant find a rip-saw locally , and let me tell you how much it sucks....


-hov

[kountzer0]

Hacksaw...ripping hardwood...makes me hurt thinking about it.

Believe it or not those little japanese pull saws will surprise you.  Very easy to follow a line on a pull stroke with little practice, but yeah a frame saw using a bandsaw blade would prolly be your best bet.

I used a well tuned hand plane on my daughter's red-oak bow with a straight taper from fades to tips, but i'm thinking about renting time on my buddies bandsaw (with beer currency mind you)or using my home-made router table on my first full sized bow.

hacksaw for cutting ncks OK but ripping...ugh i feel for ya brother

(kountzer0 reaches for advil and alleeve and doans)

[hova]

i even tried making a sort of veneer saw , but it just wasnt happening. 12" of stroke with 18+ tpi sucked. i ended up cutting about 1/3 of each side , and ended up splitting it off. waaaay easier , but way messier.

i saw a pull saw at lowes , but it was cobalt , and i shy away from them...i think a framesaw will be just what i need. i can get all kinds of hardwood locally for not that much money , but they wont even cut one slice rip-wise. they will plane the whole thing down to 1/4 or 1/8 of an inch , but that wastes 90% of the price , and its an extra 20% for the planing...


po folks makes an easy bow. i used white oak for mine , and made a bend handle bow . its about 44# at 28 , with a stretchy string on it.


just keep at it. you'll probably break a few. we all have.

-hov

[Osagetree]

How about a chaulk line?

[hova]

the one tip i have for ya , is dont always line it up based on how the board is cut. just cause the board is cut like |||| that , doesnt mean you cant(or shouldnt) line the bow in the board like this //// ... know what i mean ? i just measured my first ones based on how the board was cut , and i think this gave me entirely too many runs. the one thats held together was cut at an angle on the face , and it was tilted inside the board , so that i had as close to perfect quarter grain as i could get. its a little tricky to tilt the bow while its still in the board , but you'll figure it out.

-hov

[Flyboy718]

Originally posted by Osagetree:
How about a chaulk line?

A chalk line in my opinion would have achieved the same results...I think the reason why it wasn't used in the poor folk bow is because it is based on little to know tools and a piece of string is cheaper than a chalk box I guess.

[SubXeroArcher]

here is a crude interpretation of a frame saw...it's a very basic saw you can make from scrape materials and if put together well you can make a great saw from it...its also great for taking on camping trips since it comes apart

the brace bar in the middle needs to be close to the center of the outter frame pieces and snug but still a bit loose so the outter pieces can tilt when tensioning the string. once you have it as tight as you like you can tighten the bolts and wing nuts on the brace bar to help keep it from slipping. the string tensioner slips in between the string and you wind it up like you would a rubber band airplane. when you're done winding it up let it rest on the brace bar. it needs to be long enough that the string doesn't slip off and you can rest it on the brace bar but not so long that it makes it hard to twist between the string and brace.

maybe this can help those looking at making their own or at least give them the general idea of it

   

[hova]

thats a bow saw. it gets confusing , cause some people do indeed call that a frame saw , but this is what i was talking about.


   


this gives you a wide platform to grip , a long blade for long cuts , and a good heft so you arent muscling the saw through.

most people who use em reccomend a mirror on the backside to keep your cut straight.


-hov