1st build

[smartbomb]

OK so 3 weeks ago I started looking at bows/archery.  Till now I had never gave it any serious thought.  Over these past 3 weeks I have scoured every site i can find to learn as much as i can on the basics.  

This is where my mind set departs from most others.  My 1st bow has to be a home build and done by me.  I am not new to fabrication and have built 10-15 rifles from kits. My shop has most if not all the tools i will need.

here is my major dilema. 7 years ago i shattered my left humerus.

   

Last week, I shot a friends #45 recurve that was at the verge of discomfort.  My upper left arm cannot tolerate too much compression.

what i want to build is something in the high 30's. Given the low pull, i need to compensate for efficiency. This will be mostly for target shooting, but if the urge hits maybe use it to chase a turkey.

I am looking at a 1 piece recurve or possibly a D/R. I dont have a target length yet but am leaning toward 58-60". Any advice is appreciated.

Cheers
Scott

[razorback]

Welcome to tradgang, you will find plenty of help here.
First piece of advice is to take the photo of the gun down. That's a big no-no on here and the mods will pull it real quick. Others will chime in with ideas but one would be to start with a 30-35# bow and build up shooting strength. Building the particular muscles that hold the bow will help you get to a higher poundage bow, though I doubt you will work up to a real heavy bow. Good luck.

[smartbomb]

razorback, thanks for the heads up.  done!

[John Scifres]

Fiberglass or wood?

[smartbomb]

john,
leaning toward tapered laminations with glass backing.  i have roughly 100 square feet of plain weave carbon fiber that may come into play.  for the sake of expediency, i may do a take down solely because it will give me flexibility to swap limbs.  i am convinced that building a solid riser with limb interchangeability will be best in the long run.  

what is really funny is laminating bow limbs is mechanically no different than laminating skateboard decks.  in my misguided youth, i built many.  

where i get twisted is the limb shapes.  my next move is to run to the local archery shop and look at the various bows and recon what feels right.  from there i can make a decision and move ahead.

the plan:

18" riser, I beam with mahogany/phenolic/purpleheart. i have some mahogany/purpleheart on hand so it will be an easy  source of material.  limb pads at 10-12 degrees.

limbs will be layered glass (maybe CF), 0.003 taper bamboo (x2), glass (CF).  if i go the CF route, i will lay a single layer between the bamboo tapers to prevent blowing the bamboo laminations apart.  i plan on a 8" wedge with the 1/4" purpleheart.  given my draw weight limitations the width will start at 1.75 but will/can go narrower to hit the draw i am looking for.

of course this is all vaporware at this stage of the game.  i still have a bit more reading to do before i actually commit to a build.

[LittleBen]

I do not recommend going with carbon fiber for two reasons.

1) it's more expensive and it isn't going to matter a whole hell of alot.

2) if you have carbon cloth, you may not even exceed the strength-weight ratio of pre-made glass laminations because you likely can't impregnate the fabric as effeciantly as the factory, no offense meant by this.

I'd stick with the glass, it's more familiar, you'll get alot better advice on stack thickness for your target weight from guys here using glass than carbon.

I'd also recommend that you choose a bow design before choosing how much taper, some recurves don't have any thickness taper in the limbs for example. .003 taper x2 laminations is definately going to be too much thickness taper for a fairly short takedown of fairly low draw weight.

I'd recommend considering one of the plans, like Binghams .... they ahve a 3 piece takedown of that length I believe. Or consider Kenny M on here, he sells the plans for a nice 1 piece RD longbow and all the materials you would need to build it and he can assist you in choosing the proper taper and stack thickness.

One thing to consider is that a takedown can and probably will take more tiem to build than a 1 piece. So even thoguh you can make a second set of limbs, for about the same price and maybe a bit more time total you could have two complete 1 piece bows.

Lastly, I would encourage you not to limit yourself to turkeys ... with high 30#'s and a normal draw length you can kill deer. I shot one this year with 43# @ 25" and it did not go far ... you just will need to be close, and heavy arrow/sharp 2 blade COC broadhead, thats all.