54" Hybrid Build-Along

[chall]

[beachbowhunter]

Drilling a hole across the shelf is genius.

[bigbob2]

Wow thinking outside the box really does the job!      

[chall]

Im really liking this post and want to do
 this some day. Eric

[Ranger44]

This is exactly why build alongs are so great.  New techniques(especially for some of us)keep showing up.  I love the idea of drilling into the raw blank.

[JGR1269]

I had some other things going on today so I didn't get as much done as I would have liked. I did get the tip overlays glued up and curing in the oven. I went with the same color combination as the glass in the riser. There are 8 layers total with a top layer of Bocote.

 

 

Ok, here's where I can hear all the gasps and imagine the looks on some faces. I cut the excess material off the edges of the limbs with my DeWalt cordless circular saw. Yep, you heard me correctly, a circular saw. Surprisingly it does a great job if you are good with one. I stay about 1/32" away from my line so later I can take it the rest of the way down on the belt sander and a long sanding block.

 

 

The circular saw does make a mess of the tape edges so I run a new piece of regular masking tape on the lines and this will be my guide. The contrasting colors makes it easier to follow the edge versus a thin black pen line on blue tape.

 

[JGR1269]

Someone had asked about stack thickness at the fades earlier in this build. I went with a .310 total stack at the butts. So with a 16" riser the total stack at the fades should be approximately .294. My current bow is 54", 51#@27" with a total stack of .311. However, there is no CoreTuff in the stack on that bow so I'm curious to see where this bow comes in for weight with the CoreTuff.

[Mad Max]

I use a 4-1/2" hand grinder with 36 grit to get the excess material off.

I have had one in my hand long enough, it's amazing what you can do with it.

[Mad Max]

I made 2 riser's 1/4" past center for center shot
so I'am curious how you remove excess material
plenty of pictures please.  

[chackworth3]

Great build along Jon!  I like to use a table saw to cut out my limbs, don't think I would be quite steady enough to use a circular saw:)

[bigbob2]

I use a 4'' grinder fitted with a diamond blade similar to one used on masonry to cut the limbs to line and then a 36 grit on rubber backed disc in grinder to go close to lines. All over in few minutes.

[JGR1269]

Must be nice to have a table saw Chris. You pros have all the toys.
Here's a good shot of the offset in the riser on the thumb side of the grip.

 

Here's my tip overlay block out of the clamps and ready to grind the angle on.

 

A little work on the disc sander and it's ready to be cut in half to make two pieces for the tips.

 

I take the bulk of the excess off on the disc sander then finish it to the line with the belt sander.

 

 

 

Now I can peel the masking tape off and go over it with a block and some 80 grit paper.

 

[JGR1269]

I measure 27" each way from center and mark where the string nocks will be.

 

I put a piece of masking tape across the limb roughly 3/32" from the actual line towards the center of the bow. This will be my guide to keep the grooves the same on both sides.

 

Now I clamp the limb to the workbench and file the string grooves on each side at 90 degrees to the limb until the file is flush with the limb edge.

 

 

Ok, I know most builders file a 45 degree groove when they do this but I got to thinking about this a while back. What I came up with is this.

If the groove is filed at 45 degrees at your measured nock to nock length mark before your tip overlays are on then when you extend the groove up and over the overlays after they are on then you've extended the NTN length by as much as 1/2" on each end. The reason this occurred to me was I had several strings that were too short so I had to order longer strings. Does this make sense to anyone else?

Anyway. I round the groove edges so they aren't sharp and as a precaution I put a piece of masking tape over the groove and work it in with the file to protect the tillering string.

 

Here it is strung up for the first time.

 

There is no limb twist and the tiller is 1/8" positive. It's hard to read but they measure 5 1/2" and 5 3/8".

 

 

[JGR1269]

I had to unstring it and add a few twists to get my desired brace height before checking weight. Here is a full draw shot drawn to 27".  

 

Since the limbs are so straight and true I am very happy with where I am for weight right now. If I were to have much tillering or straightening to do I would probably come in a little light on poundage. By the time I get the limb edges rounded and smoothed I hope to be in the 48 pound range.

 

[chall]

Enjoying the post !

[bigbob2]

it's looking terrific, think it will fling an arrow1.Re the nock marks , I measure to length and then step back towards the riser 1/4'' for the very reason you mentioned, regarding the height of overlays adding to length.

[JGR1269]

It finally dried up enough around here to get the lawn mowed so I didn't get much accomplished on the bow tonight.
I did get the sight window and shelf cut out on the bandsaw.

 

 

 

Then I marked the crown on the shelf and the radius for the back and belly of the sight window.

 

 

Tomorrow night I'll get on it with a rasp and file to remove the bulk of the excess. Then I can finish it up on the spindle sander.

[chall]

great post .

[JGR1269]

I removed the majority of the back and belly material with a coarse file.

 

Then I go to work on the spindle sander with the 1/2" drum.

 

I work the radius on the back and belly of the sight window to the marks I made earlier.

 

I get the radius close to where I want it then I'll finish it up by hand with files and sandpaper.

 

 

Tomorrow night I'll work the shelf area flat with this coarse bit that matches the transition where the sight window meets the shelf.

 

[chall]

looks great.