Bow Building Must Haves...What are they???

[nschlag]

Hey fellas,

after lurking for a while i have decided i would like to try to build my first r/d longbow. I have some wood working tools, but what do i need?

i realize there is more than one way to skin a cat and i am assuming that building a bow is much the same.

i like the looks of bingham's 64" r/d longbow and the 62 hybrid; i have read about lams from kenny's custom archery, but have little knowledge on widths/thickness taper,airhose/rubber bands, glass type,etc. you get the idea.

hoping someone can save me some time and point me in the right direction. if it helps i would like to end with a 46-48" @ 29 (43-45 @ 28). any and all wisdom is appreciated.

[BigJim]

#1 item- Quality dust mask! Other than that, I'm sure that there are a lot of different methods out there. I have evolved into quite an array of tools and would hate to say which ones I could do without.
I love me air hose forms, and if  your not going to make your own parts, you can do without many other tools.
BigJim

[SEMO_HUNTER]

If you decide to build an all wood selfbow you can get by with very little.
A draw knife, rasp, and a scraper is really all that's necessary.......the rest is just luxuries.

[George Tsoukalas]

Info on my site. Jawge
 http://georgeandjoni.home.comcast.net/~georgeandjoni/

[Robertfishes]

When I got started I didn't have any ww tools. I bought a used 12 inch band saw, router table and a 6 x 48 belt sander.. I also. bought a couple of hand held electric Sanders. What tools do you already have?

[Dick in Seattle]

fully read six build alongs.   Choose a representative sampling... i.e. air hose, clamps, rubber bands, fiberglass lam, all wood lam, even recurve, RD and straight longbow.   All of these are out there if you just google a bit or search on each site.    In the course of studying this much material, you'll see a lot of the tools in use and get a lot of ideas.

Start with Jawge (above)...  check out Poor Folk Bows...  Look at Kenny Warren's page on form building... check out the info on my site:  www.dickwighman.com  ...  go through the title headings in this forum.   look on You Tube...   You get the idea.     Research it and see which tools come up the most and which you're comfortable using.

[nschlag]

thanks for the input thus far guys.
robert, i currently have a couple routers/table, band saw, sanders miter saw. just basic woodworking tools. i was hoping these would be enough to get started.

thanks again

[Robertfishes]

Sounds like you have enough to me.. I bought a 64inch r/d template from kennym and built a nice form with it using a router table with a 2" flush trim bit.. Kenny has a nice web page.._

[timbermoose]

best tool and most important, i've been told, is patience. good kuck and post some pics of your success.

[levibear]

NERVES OF STEEL  

[nschlag]

levibear, the more i read buildalongs the more i understand what you mean:)

thanks again guys