I've had several folks ask about stippling a riser and how it's done. I've always been hesitant to stipple someones elses riser just because once it's done...it's done. I'm also concerned about voiding someone's warranty. Stippling your own riser is not very hard to do and I thought I'd share "my methods" so that some of you can give a try yourself.
My good friend and I got the idea of stippling while at a shoot several years ago. We saw a gentleman shooting a Thunderhorn and loved both the look and feel of Duane's stippled grip. At that point my buddy gave it a try and I soon followed. We've done several makes of recurves and longbows and I must caution you on bows that have a considerable amount of phenolic, it's tough on dremmel tools!
It's just a coincidence that the bow shown is a Thunderhorn that I bought and stippled myself. Duane's workmanship on his bows and leathers is incredible. I just don't have any other photos available of bows I've done.
HERE'S HOW I DO IT:
To be honest it’s very easy to do and any small screw ups can be blended rather easy. I first set the outter edge of the area to be stippled with a pencil. I than go back and cover the entire penciled edge with masking tape which I will stipple up to. I use a whole bunch of little ripped off pieces of tape so that I can go around edges easier. You can be as fancy as you'd like. If your riser has a heavy accent stripe down the middle you may want to leave that and stipple up and down each side. This gives the riser a real nice look.
That is the prep work on the riser.
You will need a dremmel tool with a small bit and a nice magnifier of some type, either glasses or the head mount system work fine. A nice shop vacuum will also be helpful. All can be purchased a Lowe's or Home Depot.
I take the riser and lay it on a padded bar stool under very good lighting. I hang the dremmel tool above the stool so the cords don’t get in the way. I rig the vacuum hose right next to the riser so it continually draws all the dust and keeps the riser free of cuttings. That’s my setup.
To get started you can either use a checkering tool to set the outline or very carefully set the edge using the dremmel tool. I do just the edge first and move very slowly you can not afford to screw up on the edge. I usually take a break after completing the edge. The edge dots should just touch each other.
Now to the meat of the job. Pick a side and start stippling over the entire area within the tape. I run the dremmel tool at about 75% speed. Too slow it will grab and too fast will leave you with a deep hole. Some other folks that stipple like to keep each dot separate, I prefer to run the dots together basically removing all the finish and stippling the entire riser. When complete you will have little shiny spots throughout the riser, go back and lightly touch with the dremmel tool.
To complete I run a piece of steel wool over the completed area, making sure that no material from the steel wool is left on the riser. I remove the tape and make sure that there are no pencil marks left, if so erase them. I than take Tru Oil and a soft tooth brush, put a dab of tru oil on the riser with my finger and lightly brush in, do this on the entire stippled area and let dry. I usually apply two coats.
Good Luck!
Topic: Stippling a grip - How I do it. (Read 517 times)
