First Glass Bow...

[Ice Mike]

I'll go ahead and reserve this spot..

I just placed an order with BigJim for a quart of Smooth On, a couple of .001 and .002 tapered lams with .125 butts to use as tapered lam sleds, and a couple of clear glass sticks in .040..

Can't wait for the shipment to arrive so I can get started!!

[fujimo]

well be watching...bring it on!!  

[Ice Mike]

I'm excited about it. I've learned a lot breaking boards and laminating firewood, so I can safely say I have high hopes for this one. Here's my plan. I'm going at this as a complete newbie so if you guys see any errors here please chime in.

Total Stack .376

Back to belly

.040 glass
.074 parallel (walnut)
.074 taper .002 (walnut)
Riser (Afromsia/Pecan)
.074 taper .001 (walnut)
.074 parallel (pecan)
.040 clear glass

I may put a strip on the back of the handle and may also put a pecan power lam. Haven't decided yet.  

I used the Kenny plans for a reference for stack thickness. I plan to taper the limb width from 1.5 to .5 starting about 10-12 inches from the end of the fades. I'm hoping for ~55 lbs @ 28.

[Ice Mike]

Oh yeah forgot. Length will be 64" ntn.

[cunruhshoot]

This is a great place to receive a wealth of insight and direction which has saved me a lot of pain and added a great deal of success to my bow building habit.

[EHK]

Be careful working with that walnut.  I did some finish sanding on a Walnut riser about two weeks ago  without a mask on.  Been on an inhaler for a week and a half now.

[Ice Mike]

Originally posted by EHK:
Be careful working with that walnut.  I did some finish sanding on a Walnut riser about two weeks ago  without a mask on.  Been on an inhaler for a week and a half now.

I think I read that thread. Good advice and thank you. I have to wear a respirator even if it's just pine I'm sanding. I use an inhaler almost every day because i have asthma. A respirator is a good practice no matter what.

Most people don't realize how important being able to breathe is until they all of a sudden can't do it!

[Crooked Stic]

You will get better working taper all the way to the fades.

[breazyears]

Ya, I would start the taper from 12 inches out from the center of the bow.

[Ice Mike]

Thanks guys. I'll keep that in mind.

[Ice Mike]

Quick question guys. ..

I got my shipment in from Big Jim yesterday (awesome and insanely fast may I say).I was going over my plan in my mind and if my calculations are correct...i may have a problem. If I make a .002 taper with a butt thickness of .074, at 36 inches long I'm looking at a thin end of just .002 inches. I don't think I can get that thin without eating into my precious new factory sled. My question is..would it make more sense to just make a .003 taper with a .148 butt thickness and get rid of the .074 thick .001 and .002 tapers? The only difference that would make for my design that I can see is that instead of a back - parallel - taper - riser - taper - parallel - belly it would have instead a back - parallel - taper - riser - parallel - belly configuration.

Would this change my final design target in any way?

[fujimo]

where it makes a difference for me- (only having built 4 glass bows now!! so take this from whence it comes  :D  )
is  if you are trying to get the butt end of the taper to go up the curved suface of the riser ramp.
and if it is on the back , then you have to sand and match the lams to the riser back well to avoid gaps-just what i learn in a hurry.

what i did with my kenny m bows, was to put the oo2 taper on the back- and sand the riser  to get a good fit, then the oo1 and the other // going up the ramp. with the 001 being closer to being // its easier to sand it thin enough that the butt is nice and thin and flexible.
just me- may be way over thinking things here- were are the experienced hands at this??

[macbow]

Ice Mike, little confused. Why are you running your tapers on a,sled.
Aren't they already to go?

[kennym]

Make the .002 a bit thicker and the .001 thinner.

DON'T eat the new sled!!

Or if you are set on .074 for the .002, figure how much you will cut off to lay up the bow and cut em, then move the tapers to the rear of the sled and flush there.(If you grind with the thick end in first)

6" cut off will give you an extra .012" at thin end.....

[Ice Mike]

Thanks for the advice Kenny!!

@macbow..I just bought the factory tapers to use as a sled to grind my own tapered lams. I've got a thing for as much DIY as I can..

[Ice Mike]

Well, after a long day I got my hot box built and my tapers ground. It's buttered up with some smooth on and sitting in the oven now, I will be unplugging it in about 2-3 more hours.

   

   

   

[Ice Mike]

WTH????!!!!

I pulled it out of the box after 4 hours. Smooth on was hard as a rock so it should have cured fine. I let it cool to room temperature (took about an hour and a half) and started taking clamps off. I had the form taped up pretty good before I started si it popped out pretty easily. Started taking the masking tape off of the clear glass to see what the wood looked like through it and found THIS!!!

   

First question..Why in heck would it just crack like that? Bad piece of glass?

Second question..Can it be fixed? I'm not 100% sure if it's a crack all the way through the glass or not because I can't see the side of the lam due to the squeezed out epoxy, but once I sand it down I can tell more.

I'd sure hate to lose my first glass bow before I even get to taper the limbs!!

[critman]

maybe just a scratch?

[breazyears]

I would expect to see a little glue if it were a crack???
 Did you use rubber, or cork on those pressure strips?

[Ice Mike]

I used rubber breazy.