Working on one for my nephew.

[fujimo]

hey Kelly- man you are one persistent sonofa..    :D     you just dont know when to quit              
anyway, you are getting all the right kind of advice by the best out there- so i will not venture into their realm, the only thing i will say- that i have learnt the very hard way-
tis those darn tillering sticks- pulling them out to a long/full draw, then stepping back and taking the photo- to me that usually spells the death of the bow, or at the very least a lot more set. just sitting under full load, while we fart around getting the pic is not good for these wooden bows- i like the tillering tree, with the rope and pulley, i use a nice long rope so that i can get nice and far back for good perspective, and with the mechanical advantage- i can pull the rope with one hand, and very quickly click the photo with the other, then let down immediately, i dont like to hold my bows at full draw more than two seconds- i use 2 sec. because the way i shoot: i pull to full draw, then pause for a second or so, then release.
just what i have found- but everybody does everything a little different
cheers mate
wayne

[KellyG]

fujimo,
Thanks I use a tree if you look in the pics you can see the hook and rope. I do however hold it longer then I like for It is on my horse and not on a wall so I have to sit on it. If I don't it will just pull the horse. So I tie off the end for a bit to take pics but I don't take pics every time I shave it. maybe every 2 or 3 inches.

In the summer I put it in my vice but it is outside and it has been a bit cold. I need to get pics up of my new attempt. I have cut to its profile and thinned. I am working on a laminate handle. Before I put it on the bow plan on tillering it a bit to see where the string tracks.

I will try and get pics up tomorrow.

[KellyG]

The board I am using is the sister to the one that I just cracked. it is in the first pic on the thread the one on the left.

[KellyG]

ok here is the profile pic

 

and a brace pic

 

it looks like it is bending in the handle a bit much. I have it pulling to 24" and around 30#. I will put some heat on it tomorrow and get the string tracking a bit better then glue on a laminated handle.

Once that is done I will see how it is looks that might make the limbs bend a bit better and increase the weight a bit because there will be a total of 7" less of bending section.

I will get some pic of the heating up after I get it done.

[mikkekeswick]

A powerlam should extend into the fades. That the purpose of them to stiffen the fades. I would go 2 inches past each end minimum.

[KellyG]

So mike make an 11" piece to glue on the back of the bow?

[KellyG]

Ok I prefitted the clamps.

 

Then I greased up the area to be heated.

 

then I heated it up then clamped it and heated it some more then strapped it in place then heated it more.

 

Once cool I will take it off the form.

[KellyG]

How thick should a power lamb be? I have some white oak, hickory, hedge, ipe, black locus all about a 1/4" thick. Ipe and hedge are a bit thinner but not much.

[KellyG]

Ok I had a hickory backing strip laying around. It had a not in one end. So I cut out my 11" power lame and had plenty to back that first bow that cracked and lifted one heck of a splinter. Why? well why not?. So I got a bit done on 2 bows.
The strip

   

The knot

   

The Power lam and backing strip cut out.

 

[KellyG]

The bow with the strip

 

I thinned both with a hand held belt sander.

On the backing I only did the last 19" of eadh end.

So I mocked up the strip to the bow and then applied the glue.

 

And I the handle is getting glued on the second bow. Then I will do the power lam.
 

[KellyG]

oh and don't tell the wife I glued up the bow on the counter top.

[KellyG]

oh the crack. I used super glue and lifted the splinter a bit and just filled it with super glue. Then clamped it back down.

 

[fujimo]

on the bottom side of the handle- is that an optical illusion, or is there a gap there?

[KellyG]

might be a bit of a gap. I will look at it later if it is I will fill it with wood glue and saw dust. I know it is cheating but I never seem to get no gapes with my set up so we shall see.

[KellyG]

if it weren't for bad luck I'd have no luck at all, blues, despair and agony on me. woah

I broke the third one I was working on this is not cool at all. It might be the dryness in the air due to the super cold temps out.

Well I am going to hit the stave pile. I need to get some pics up of some any way for a trade I need to do.

[bigbob2]

geez Kelly seems like you have the same type of luck that haunts me most times.Hang in there son perseverance and all that!  

[Roy from Pa]

Kelly I think you need to find some better wood. Even if you have to cut two staves in half and splice two good half's together.

[KellyG]

roy I had made bows for sisters stave of that wood. A very nice one in fact. They just did not like being boards I guess. This one gave in a place I did not expect I will try and get a pic up. Yall might see something I did not.

[fujimo]

real sorry to hear that kelly, chin up!!
did you back the boards, or chase a ring on them?
i dont remember seeing that    

[KellyG]

They were quarter sawn boards I cut from a thin ringed stave. That stave had thin stuff I did not want to chase a ring a good one was deep so I tried something new.