Kenny 58"/60" R/D Longbow Form Build Questions?

[Archer Dave]

Hey guys. I finally have a little break from building my house and want to start building my first bow form.

I found a place where I can buy LVL by the foot in 1-3/4" x 11-7/8" to make a form for Kenny's 58"/60" pattern longbow, but not sure how long this form should be.

What length should I make the form?

I guess I will need to plane it down to 1-1/2" thickness as well correct?

Is there a tutorial on making the air hose style form? Not 100% sure what the best way to do it is.

Thanks for the advise. I am planning on going to pick up the LVL this afternoon, so any recommendations would be appreciated.

Thanks
Dave

[SKITCH]

I was just looking into the same thing last night.  Do a search on both Pow Wow and the builders forum and you can find a lot.  Also I found a blog from a guy that has built a bunch of bows after working with a lot of Tradganger's. Sorry I don't know his Trad Gang name but he has a bunch of pretty detailed build alongs on his blog.  Might help. They are pretty detailed and go through it as he is learning. He worked with Kenny a lot and used to order supplies from him.   Check out his blog.... wookieswords.blogspot.com.  

I'm sure a lot of others will chime in with help. I hope to build one soon as well.    Good luck.

[kennym]

Here is a build on a different design but the basics will be the same. Forgive what this bow ended up looking like! LOL

 http://tradgang.com/noncgi/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=125;t=012422;p=1#000000

My 58/60 form is 68" long BTW but you could do with a couple less inches. Built it long to see if I wanted a 62" off it. Better at 58/60....

[Archer Dave]

Skitch- thanks for the link. I had seen that one a while back, but haven't had Internet in a while and am out of the loop.

Kenny -- Thanks. I thought you might chime in with what I needed.  :D   Thanks for the link to your form build post. I had seen that last year, but never can find things again later when I search for them.

I will have to wait till next week now to go get the LVL, but now I know what I need. Think I will get 6' and cut it to around 66". The next thing to figure out is how to get it planed down to 1-1/2". I have a buddy that has a cabinet shop, but he is in Haiti this time of the year. Maybe I could talk to one of his guys and see if they would let me run it through one of the planers.

I thought about using plywood, but as I have found out while building my house, none of the ply I get around here is remotely straight. LVL seems like it would be less fuss, other then needing to reduce the thickness.

Thanks again,
Dave

[bowhntineverythingnh03743]

You could always keep it the 1.75 width of the LVL. Good thing is that you can use the extra .25 for shaping the handle and get some of the cool curves and contours you see some builders have. I know it may cost a few more dollars in material when ordering but you will have some gains with the design.

I know if I make a new form I will keep it the total 1.75 width.

Just another thought for ya!

Justin