Bowyer etiquette

[ouachitamac]

So.... I may have stepped Over the line with asking about a bows specs and trying to build one.  I am new to this and I am not trying to reinvent the wheel, and def do not want to waste time and money on something that will not work. Lol. So I figured I could just base my build off of a proven design.  What do yall think?

[jess stuart]

What type of bow are you wanting to build?  I don't think  you could reinvent the wheel if you tried.  Just about everything has been tried before.  following a proven patter or design is sound wisdom.  Look at some of Binghams Projects designs.  They have been helping do it yourself bowyers for years and years they must be doing something correct.  
No you certainly did not step over any line.  Good luck on your build.

[ouachitamac]

Thanks for that. New bows are expensive. Lol. I love to build things. My kids are gonna be the same way:D   I am going to build a deflex/reflex one piece, narrow taper limbs. It will have a thicker lam stack but thinner profile. 62 to 64" tip to tip. Bamboo and walnut. Anyway, on another site a guy pm' me and basically told me not to use anyone else's design because it is real tough for bowyers making a living at it. Either that or he was upset that I said I could make a 1000 dollar bow and  could do it for 75 bucks. Haha.  Anyway. Thanks guys. All opinions are welcome. And build tips too:)

[mikkekeswick]

Well done if you manage to make a glass bow for 75$....if you manage it let me know how!!!

[macbow]

May have over stated the $1000 vs $75 .
Maybe for the same quality and woods $300.
The rest,would be labor. Then there is the tools.

[Al Dean]

And the form material and oven material and screw ups.  If you can do your first glass bow for less than $500 you are amazing.

[Pat B]

Contact Bingham's Projects for materials lists and instruction sheets. They are very helpful and can give you a very good idea of what the costs will be to build your own bow. You don't need the best of the best to build a good, reliable bow.
 Also there are the all wood lam bow or selfbow options.

[takefive]

Not sure if I'm understanding exactly what kind of bow you want to build.  If it's just bamboo backed walnut, you sure can make one for under $75 in material cost.  I wouldn't recommend it though, because walnut doesn't have the compression strength to handle a bamboo backing.  You'd want to use osage or ipe or maybe hickory.  If you give some more details about the build and the draw weight that you want to hit, somebody will give you some answers.  The glass and the wood guys on here sure don't mind sharing what they know.

[takefive]

Oops, just saw your other posts and realized that you're making a glass bow.  Good luck with it.  

[ouachitamac]

I ordered the black glass and the smooth on, I had some vertically laminated bamboo flooring that is 6 1/2 feet long. I also have a supply of walnut stored in the attic. I already have the form made and worked on the lam grinder last night. It is a 2 hp motor off a pool, I made sure it was wired for 110 because it will go either 110 or 220. I made a sanding drum on the drill press with the hole saw and some advantec 3/4" subfloor, glued all the pieces together and drilled it out to accept the 5/8" electric motor shaft. we jammed it on there real good and plugged the motor up. that thing is fast. we applied the sandpaper and checked if it would grind parallel. we ground down a piece of scrap red cedar, one edge was 0.064" and the other side was 0.069, I'll tweak it a bit and try to get it a little more parallel before I grind the walnut. I got my inner tubes to wrap the bow onto the form today from the tire shop for free. Ill cut them into strips for that purpose. so up to this point I am around 75 bucks into it.

[ouachitamac]

Im hoping for a deflex glass 0.05
walnut 0.09 taper
bamboo 0.09 taper
walnut 0.03 parallel
bamboo 0.09 taper
walnut 0.09 taper
glass 0.05

this makes a total limb thickness of 1/2" and it will taper to 3/8" thick at the limb tips, I think it will work out better for the 1" wide to 1/2" wide limb profile. I don't want the poundage to be over 60 pounds with 55 being the target weight. I may be able to profile the limbs to wider than target and check weight. keep the tips coming:)

[jess stuart]

When using rubber bands as pressure source, be sure and use a pressure pad or strip to apply pressure downward on the glass.  If you don't you will get pressure on the sides of the glass and the limbs will be cupped and not flat.  Do I understand that you are going the build the limbs one inch wide?  One other thing do a couple of dry runs before putting the epoxy on the lams things become slippery and more difficult.

[Krasus]

Don't let anyone tell you you can't use someone's else's design. That's bull.  Every design has been built before and will be built again.  Sounds like you know what you want. Have a look in the build along. Great info on there.

Good luck!

[ouachitamac]

thanks a lot guys! how thick of a backer should I use for the pressure pad? would 1/4 inch do the trick? as far as the design, I have it planned to be around 1 inch wide at the fadeouts and taper straight to 1/2 inch at the tips. i cant wait to get to grinding lams and laying up the riser. I am planning on using walnut for the riser and making it stiffer by sawing it up into 1/4 inch strips and flipping every other strip end for end, then gluing it back up to make a sort of walnut plywood, held together with the smooth on. i think this would make the required stiffness. the black glass will be intact on belly and back sides, with extra material laminated onto the grip section to shape the grip. what is the purpose of adding laminations to the belly side in the grip area? looks or functional stability?

[wood carver 2]

If you ever decide to build bamboo/wood lam bows, you are more than welcome to copy mine to any degree you want. I learned what I know about bow building here on Trad Gang and I am more than happy to share any knowledge I have.
Dave.

[fujimo]

Don't want to discourage you mate, but am going to reiterate what the others have said on here...I really respect your drive and motivation to build your own creation, and that is cool, and  absolutely the right attitude, but I must say, that for a first glass bow, I highly recommend going with a proven design, many on here that will help you out in that regard. Unlike wooden bows, you can't just keep removing wood( to a point!!,) and work at rectifying an issue, with a glass bow you are a lot more restricted, some mistakes are just un fixable . Too heavy or too light, bad glue ups, riser slips etc etc .

Not saying your own fist bow creation won't be a success, and I truly hope that it is, I never wish ill on a fellow trad archer. All of us on here are on the outer fringe of society, at best. With our weird fascination with archery, and are all pushing the boundaries somewhat- from a " normal " social standards perspective, and we all create our own gear all the time, just don't want to see you get disillusioned , maybe even lose that bet with yer mate   :D

[Pago]

A good spec for your pressure strip on a rubber band layup is 1/2 your lam width.

[LittleBen]

I'm useless regarding information about glass bows, but to address your point and etiquette:

Generally I will share any information I'm asked for down to minute details to anyone who asks or will listen. But I also don't do it for a living. I think it's fine to ask for any details you want. Leave it up to the other guy to decide if he would like to share the info. I think you'll find most will share willingly.

[kennym]

My take on etiquette would be if you're gonna build to sell , better use your own design. If you are building for your own use, its all good.

That's just me tho....

[KenH]

a 1/4" backer might be a bit thick; but as long as it follows the curves, you're OK.  I use a rubberband form to make complex recurves like the Scythian design from Central Asia.  You do not NEED an air pressure form.  It might be nice, but it's expensive and finicky.  Tens of thousands of bows were made on rubberband or even tied/rolled on forms with cord long before some wise guy came up with the first air pressure form.