how do you..question

[bbs383ci]

i really really like the bow that sporthunter is building for the bow swap its on the last page of that thread. its a hackberry selfbow with flipped tips, how the heck do you go about building a bow like that.

this is something i am new too, i have only built on bow, a red oak board bow, and it shoots great, but i really like that bow of sporthunters.  can anyone point me in the right direction? i ordered the first bowyers bible just waiting on it to come in.

[Pat B]

In TBB2 there is a section on recurves and a section on bending wood.

[SportHunter]

Thanks for the compliments. What I have done to flip tips is to build a form and steam or boil the tips for 35-45 min and quickly put them on the form and clamp them. I use a metal yardstick on top under the clamps so I don't damage the wood. You'll get the hang of it.  Many woods can also be bent with dry heat.

Rough out your bow so the tips are under 5/8" thick before bending. Pat is right about TBB2, great chapter on bending in there. The hackberry bow has a 4" handle, 3" fades, I think the limbs are straight for 18" then go to 1/2" rough tips. The limbs started 2" rough cut wide but after working on it finished at 1 3/4" wide which is what TBB recommended for hackberry width. Also I made the top limb 1" longer by working the fades off center and tillered it about 1" above center.

I had to steam one tip 2x to eliminate most of the prop twist and had to steam the handle area to align the limbs. I probably have 25 hrs (not counting research) in this project so far but now that I've done it I could probably do it in half the time on the next try.

[bbs383ci]

Ive been coin some reading and some watching and I think I'm gonna try one to find some hickory and some white oak trees that I can cut some logs from.
Since I don't the tabby yet when is a good time to cut logs like white oak or hickory and about how long does it take them to dry to be able to use?

Sorry for all the questions I'm sure ill find all this out when I read the book but I don't know when it will be in.

[SportHunter]

I just measured the final limb shape, they run 12" straight from fades then taper to tips.

[bbs383ci]

sorry about my previuos post i read it all the way through just now and i hate auto correct on the kindle fire have no idea where tabby came from lol its supposed to be TBB

[John Scifres]

I use a heatgun.

[oops sorry]

Thank you for that video John!!

[bbs383ci]

Yes thank you it really helped me understand what's going kn I'm a visual learner