2024 What did you do today

[kennym]

That’s awesome Jon !! No matter what kind of bow , if you can start with them even it will be a big plus!!

[Jon Lipovac]

I’ve been thinking something like this might work. I’ll find out in the next couple of weeks.

I’ve never had a great way to rough cut risers that had fiberglass or G10 in them, whether as accent stripes or an I-beam.
I used to use a jig saw or band saw as much as I could while trying to stay away from the composites.

Not willing to spend $145 on a carbide tipped blade, I ordered one of these portable bandsaws for $100. They cut steel, brass, aluminum, fiberglass, etc.
Built a stand with dust collection out of scrap plywood and hopefully off to the races.
Fingers crossed.

[Crooked Stic]

Will be interesting to see how this works

[Burnsie]

Yeah - G10 will wipe out a standard bandsaw blade in 1 or 2 passes.  I bit the bullet and got a carbide band saw blade - they are pricey, but if you believe the manufacturer they are supposed to last 5 times longer than a regular blade, and can be re-sharpened 4-5  times. Time will tell whether this was a good investment in the long run or not.  I have roughed out a bunch of osage blanks with the new carbide and it went through them like butter - I may not even use the carbide on questionable stuff such as G10 and save it for my osage and any re-sawing I might have.  These blades are supposed to be super for re-saw work.

[mmattockx]

Not willing to spend $145 on a carbide tipped blade, I ordered one of these portable bandsaws for $100. They cut steel, brass, aluminum, fiberglass, etc.
Built a stand with dust collection out of scrap plywood and hopefully off to the races.
Fingers crossed.

Very nice, Jon. I recently bought a similar bandsaw for cutting steel, especially knife blanks. I didn't like the idea of hanging the saw off those two bolts that you have your table attached with, so I made a hanger type stand that carries the weight of the saw on the carry handle instead. Now I just need to make a table from 1/4" plate steel and I will be rolling. Just another option for those looking at this...






Mark

[Jon Lipovac]

That should work nice as well Mark.
The other end of that aluminum plate sits in part of the cooling slot in the case. That carries the majority of the weight.

I cut some scraps this morning that had a 1/4” G10 I-beam in it and cut as tight of a radius as I could do with this half inch blade. It’s not a fast cut but it chewed through it with ultra smooth straight cuts and OK radius cuts. Stayed square the whole way which was nice.

Dust collection worked decent as well.

[Crooked Stic]

Jon where did you get the saw for that price?

[Jon Lipovac]

https://www.amazon.com/WEN-94396-Variable-Handheld-Portable/dp/B07KKXNWXK/ref=mp_s_a_1_7?adgrpid=118985993956&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.KsDb7loKloe8MrBgAKQvMi0aq9xLQsJvWNjxKjwHz3orUw6KtjtZ1X--YhlxzkMLO5BPKG_u5PdzuDm7shwrV5nB3dFN7NTpTSTSpEp0MA7KujJldvDCHLVE9R-5Y1Te2lWRLRIcyYBYqvbV-jLV31SSgWb9PTHY4ADEWGwYtMaUEK8u-D2HcOCmm39MFWciW2WqRfN2hRZMlqUMXuU2eg._4H2eEr1LqUoAgbYyDQiR0B3nNiG9l0w-BLHk-x-P5k&dib_tag=se&hvadid=557252215851&hvdev=m&hvlocphy=9017764&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=7933876544493648847&hvtargid=kwd-370509795807&hydadcr=1316_13436013&keywords=wen+band+saws&qid=1715302902&sr=8-7

[Kirkll]

Yeah - G10 will wipe out a standard bandsaw blade in 1 or 2 passes.  I bit the bullet and got a carbide band saw blade - they are pricey, but if you believe the manufacturer they are supposed to last 5 times longer than a regular blade, and can be re-sharpened 4-5  times. Time will tell whether this was a good investment in the long run or not.  I have roughed out a bunch of osage blanks with the new carbide and it went through them like butter - I may not even use the carbide on questionable stuff such as G10 and save it for my osage and any re-sawing I might have.  These blades are supposed to be super for re-saw work.

I got my first 1/2" 4 TPI carbide tooth bandsaw blade in 2008 and it lasted 6 years and i cut hundreds of riser blocks with it. glass, g-10, hardwood... no problems. Then it broke and i had it welded and resharpend, and ran it another 4 years.... But this is the only thing i used it for was riser work. I bought a second Bandsaw for just wood.
The second one i bought lasted 4 years and couldn't be welded when i broke it.  Then i couldn't find a replacement in 1/2" depth, So i bought another one a few years ago that was 3/4" and has heavier steel in the blade itself.  It doesn't do radius work well at all but i still cut out shelf cut outs with G-10 I beams no problem...  The carbide tip blades are worth their weight in gold in my opinion.

[Crooked Stic]

I done a 54 in. 12 in. Riser to keep some limb length. This one came in at 47@28 and gained 3 lbs. to 29. I would say 30 would be okay with it. I found a pice of mulberry for a riser and some Osage veneers. Clear glass on the tips looks neat.

[Kirkll]

Nice job on shaping that tip Mike.

[Crooked Stic]

Thanks. If you seen me ruffing it out on the spindle sander it would make you nervous 

[Noah70]

I just put the finish on this 62” static recurve, built for a friend that wanted a light fast bow for 3D shooting that he could also take out into the woods in the fall. It finished out at 40# @ 28”
Riser is Bubinga with Wenge I-beam, veneer is Smoked Zebra spliced to Quilted Maple, cores are Toasted Bamboo and Edge Grain Yew. Very pleased with the test results!

[Noah70]

Man - that’s annoying!  Sorry about that everyone, I’ll try again.

[Crooked Stic]

Very nice Noah.
In this month's  PBS magazine

[Kirkll]

Thanks. If you seen me ruffing it out on the spindle sander it would make you nervous 

Not really bro…. I rough mine out with 50 grit on my edge sander.

[Kirkll]

Well it’s almost 5:30 pm and I haven’t even unlocked my shop yet. Went fishing today instead of working….. but I may go out there this evening and start taking down my arctic curtains in preparation for my spring cleaning job… man I got a bloody mess piled up out there this winter.

We hit 85 degrees today here…. Instant summer time.    

[Bryan Adolphe]

Practice with the hvlp , my spraying is getting better i think but still pretty shiny for a matte finish.

[Kirkll]

You can get an almost frosted finish using high gloss material, with a fine mist fan setting at  higher air pressure. That, and move back to 12-14” from the bow when spraying…. The product starts kicking off in mid air before it sticks to the bow.

If it’s too shiny, turn down the volume, and increase the pressure, and back off a couple inches on distance to the surface… I’ve also played with using a bit of reducer to get a finer spray pattern…. One more thing…. In winter when temps are cooler often times you can get a hotter activator for your clear coating. Then go to medium during the warmer months. I’ve never used the slow activator before. I think that is used in more environmentally controlled spray booth conditions where they force dry the finish at high temps. As in auto clear coating shops.   

Just about the time you think you’ve got it dialed in, if you change materials, ya gotta start over again….

[Jon Lipovac]

Man - that’s annoying!  Sorry about that everyone, I’ll try again.

Haha. I had to look twice. I thought, that guy is really good at making his tips look the same!!!


That’s really cool Stic!