Beginner Questions

[Whitetail Chaser]

Greetings all, I've finally got around to starting my first lam bow build. Going to be a 3 piece longbow. Got all the bingham information, blue prints, and video.  Here are a few questions I have so far.

Do I have to cook my riser in the oven if I laminate in some wood/phenolic strips?

My form came out to 1.75" but my riser pattern is only 1.5". Can I just build the limbs and then shave them back to fit the riser?  Should I start over and make a 1.5 inch form to match my riser width?

Thanks,

Brett

[Trux Turning]

It's not a bad idea to cure the riser with heat but smooth on will cure in 24 hours without it.

On your limbs you can glue them up at 1.75" and grind them down to 1.5" to fit your riser. Just make sure you use the lam stack for 1.5" limbs if you go that route.
Good luck.

[kennym]

What he said.

And rough up the riser parts, especially the phenolic which is slick

I use 40 to 60 grit paper.

Good luck and keep us posted!  

[Whitetail Chaser]

Thanks guys.

Kenny, I plan on ordering some lam stuff from you as soon as I have my stack formula figured out.

Need to get my hot box started I guess.

[kennym]

I think my next hotbox may be a foldup unit that is open on bottom and sits on floor over form.

Guess I'm tired of a 7' long box in the way!! LOL

[beachbowhunter]

I'm in the same boat as you, only a little bit ahead. I made a hot box just large enough to use for either riser or a takedown limb form using a single sheet of foil backed insulation board. It has worked great so far. I dont have room for a huge box and didnt want a heavy plywood thing to move around.  I'll put up some pics when I get a chance. Cooked my first set of limbs last weekend and they came out great.

[Whitetail Chaser]

I have a pattern for the insulation board type hotbox.  

I have a nice piece of dymondwood that I want to use for my riser, but I don't have the guts to rip it on my table saw just yet.

[Glunt]

Dive in!   Its normal (and smart) to think it all through before cutting and grinding, but eventually you gotta make the sawdust fly.  The great thing about a 3 piece is that if you screw up, you only have to redo 1/3!

Its a lot of fun but if you are like most guys, you will have the materials on order for #2 before #1 is done.  You learn a bunch of stuff on #1 that you want to apply to the next one...and so on...and so on...and...

[Mike Most]

Yeppers Dive right in.....

I even did a practice riser from a pine 2x4 one day (recurve), just to see what it would look like,

[7 Lakes]

It would be best to have a 1.5" form and use 1.5" materials.  Glass, wood and glue would be less expensive.

Next best choice since your form is already 1.75" wide is to use 1.75" materials.  Build a cut out pattern the way you want it and use it to cut away the excess.