Making first BBIpe. VERY open to advice.

[Chris Cole]

Hello! I am starting on this bow and I have cut out some rough shapes.
I am hoping it comes in somewhere around 50-55# in the 28-30" draw range.

I got some ipe decking and cut out a 2 inch wide section with my friend's bandsaw. Then Blocked in a fade leaving a 12 in section for the handle.

Currently working on planing the bamboo down with my stanley sureform rasp.

However I have question. Below is my piece of walnut I want to use for my riser. See that crack...

 

Now I also have this piece of Paduak:
     

Do you think I should avoid that piece of walnut and just use the paduak?

Here are a few pictures of my ipe and bamboo.

   

   

     

   

[PZee]

Hi Chris,

Look at putting a powerlam in between your bamboo and Ipe of about 16inches, this helps with quite a few riser issues. I would recommend you look at Sam Harpers website poofolkbows.com. It is brilliant. I still read through his build alongs everytime, before I put a bow together.

Good luck.

Pete

[Pat B]

Don't make your bow too wide or you will end up with very thin ipe belly. 1 1/4" to 1 3/8" should be plenty wide enough for any bow weight you want to build.

[Echatham]

some lessons learned from my last laminated bow:
make sure that your bamboo is the same thickness from one side to the other... so when viewed from the end it doesn't look like this.
   

if your ipe is thick enough that the dips will extend into it you won't need a powerlam... the poorfolkbows website explains that well enough.

thickness taper your bamboo.  on my BBI i left the bamboo 1/8" thick tip to tip, and my ipe ended up thinner than the bamboo, and that was 51#@28"   66" ntn.

use more padding on the bamboo when clamping than you think you need.  foam pipe insulation works good.  i didn't pad it on my first one and it eventually lifted splinters at the same spot on both limbs... right where my center post clamps were.

if it were me i wouldn't use that walnut... but it would probably be fine if you filled it with  sawdust and ca glue or something.

[mmgrode]

Ipe makes an excellent belly wood.  The kicker with using ipe is it's density.  While that density translates into significant bend resistance per volume of wood, it also means that with a normal width double lam bow of it you'll find tips need to be exceedingly narrow to cut down on handshock.

[LittleBen]

you can cut the width down to probably 1 1/4" ... 2" is going to be really wide for ipe unless thats a really short bow. Or ridiculously high draw weight ... i.e. 100#+

[T Callahan]

I agree with PZee. Sam harpers page is a big help

[Chris Cole]

Yea Sam Harper and Poorfolkbows inspired me to do this BBI build.

I bugged him alot on my red oak build and he was awesome and helped me out a ton.

I figured I would broaden the range of people to nag for help so I don't fill Sams mailbox.

I cut it 2 inches wide so I would have more wood to start with.

I am always of the mindset that you can take wood off but it is mighty tricky to put it back on  :p .

My handle wood/bamboo/ and Ipe are all 2 inches wide in the riser section and I thought this would let me narrow them all at the same time on a bandsaw or scroll saw so I would not have any unevenness.

[Chris Cole]

I just ordered my smooth on from 3 rivers archery and will hopefully do the glue up next week before my trip to Texas.

One question I have is that my Stanley sureform rasp  barely works at all on the Ipe. On other woods like bamboo and the red oak it would remove quite a lot of wood.

I have some cabinet scrapers that I am using and they remove alot more than the rasp but it is still very slow.

My 9 inch smooth plane is messing the wood up as well.

Any recommendations on tools for tapering and removing wood from the belly/sides of my Ipe?

I am super broke and working out of my apartment garage so no powertools.

[bowhntineverythingnh03743]

If you are able to purchase a small sander from the orange store would be a good bet. Also do a search of toothing plans which will help out as well.

For glue with bamboo backed bows you really want to use Unibond 800 instead of smooth on. Smooth on is for glass laminated bows and has to be cured at a higher temp. For my glass bows I use smooth on and cure at 165 to 185 degrees for 6 hours. Unibond I just glue up in my house around 70 degrees in the basement.

Just some info for you to think about... If you would like I will leave the link to some BBO builds I did... Hopefully our BBO expert Ol' Roy will chime in and help ya...

OHHHHH ROOOOOOYYYY????????

 http://tradgang.com/noncgi/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=125;t=007847;p=1#000000

[macbow]

You have a lot of thickness to remove yet.
Would have been good if you could have rewawn it to 1/2 or 3/8 with the band saw at the beginning.

IPE is tough. The Nicholson rasps 49 and 50 work but clog easily.

The smooth on glue will work but like stated should be cured at a higher temp. Some light bulbs and a blanket for a tent could help.

I use unibond 800 because I don't use a heat box only the tent.

IPE is tough to work with out power sanders etc.

[fujimo]

i use a spoke shave with great success on the ipe, both belly and sides,then finish with the cabinet scrapers.-the last 5 or 6" of the tiller
in fact i use spokeshaves on all my bows- set it fine enough it wont tear out the wood, and if the wood is really squirrely in a spot- then i spoke shave around it, and just use my scrapers in that area
i also like to glue in a little bit of reflex, when you take them out of the form they seem to spring back a lot- the ipe is pretty powerful stuff, but then they dont lose much during the tillering- almost as if some of it seems to come back a little as the ipe is thinned .
but for a first bow i might build them with a flat profile
there is a lot of talk about flat bellies versus round bellies.
flat is probably better- especially first time round( but round the edges well- before you bend it at all- even during the tillering stages)
i have had only one of my ipe bows fail- when the backing failed.
it was a flat belly, and i shot an ELB extensively,bamboo /ipe- so a very rounded belly- with a bit of string follow- what a sweet shooter- but then it was made by bert frelink- and it had a lot of shooting!i sure liked that bow!- so they can be built with a rounded belly successfully, i still build mine with flat bellies though.

personally i build most of mine with hickory backings( i have done boo on a few)- i prefer it- less chance of hassles, and splinters lifting, BUT i do think that the boo backing looks so much nicer.
i dont like to use clamps in the glue up- can lead to problems  if your not careful.
but then again a lot of folks here build some really great bows with boo backings using clamps, and do "ok at it i guess..."  but this is just how i do mine- everyone is different- thats what so cool about this affliction- so many different ways to express your passion- and still be right!!
unlike being married of course   :D  

last very important thing-BEWARE BEWARE, the ipe is toxic, especially when sanding it, wear protection.

[LittleBen]

As fujimo said, some people have severe alergic reaction to ipoe, so be cautious because you wont know till your head swells up like melon ...

[Chris Cole]

I almost ordered a spokeshave when I bought my Glue.

I am using gloves and a respirator when I work on any of my bows.

Pretty sure I am not ready for doing any reflex tillering yet. This will be my 4th bow(not counting the two I helped my friends make).

Going to Glue it up flat, and then remove all the wood together to get it down to 1.5-1.25 inches wide.

I am going to see if I can find someone at work with a belt sander to at least help me get in that ballpark.

[Onehair]

The rasp do clog but I have started running water over the rasp after I use them, wait for a bit and the wood swells up and sweeps out easier.

[Chris Cole]

Did some more work on the bow tonight.
Went to a friends house and got to use his belt sander and his scroll saw(for knock tips).

I got my riser blocked out and dished the fades.

Waiting on my Epoxy to get in.

There is a slight dip in the bamboo at one point.
Any suggestions on fixing that? I have it clamped up to a flat surface for the next day or two. I know it will spring back but I hope it is a least a little better.

   

     
   

   

[fujimo]

looking good

[T Callahan]

Is there a risk of the riser popping off because you didn't use a powerlam?

[Chris Cole]

I am going to be tapering the fade into the Ipe. Which I am told is just as viable as the powerlam.

[LittleBen]

You are correct chris, just taper the fades right into the ipe and should be fine. is that a jatoba handle? I love me some jatoba.

Looking good so far. You'll need to narrow those tips alot once you get farther along , but so far so good.