2025 What did you do Today

[Shootrj2003]

a bit of advice for your 2nd attempt.

Some say wet wood wet heat and with that steam for a bit longer than you think.  the difference between 38 minutes and 45 minutes can sometimes be the difference between cracking fibers or working with rubber wood.  Keep it a tad thick so if you do get some stress fractures you can shave down past them and still achieve your desired thickness.  you could boil the whole limb if you fancied but that takes some interesting setup. Take care of one major correction at a time and let it sit in whatever clamping setup for longer than youd like as well, ive jumped the gun and erased heat corrections ive made many many times.

   Thank you for the hints, I’ve  for all intents finished the rawhide backed bow and it taught me a lot , I ended with a 40 lb bow but not befor a handle lamination let go for the third time after the rawhide was finished better handle design on the next one I reglued snd clamped this time then reinforced it with a rawhide handle wrap after it dryer I painted it with clear epoxy and wieghed it on the tiller tree -back up to 40 lbs then shot it for an hour no problems so I guess it is what it is , it’s a bow that shoots and I wanted to make one before I kick off! Well now I have two more in the works and several green staves ! ( I guess I’m hooked) thank you for help!

[Pat B]

If your handle is popping off it is probably because the handle area is bending. It doesn't take much bending for that to happen. One thing you can try is making the handle riser from thin layers of graduating lengths. These types of handles risers have enough give so they stay in place unlike a rigid handle riser.

[Jon Lipovac]

Well, it’s a liitle bit hard to do but I started dismantling the woodshop. About 5 yrs ago when I learned how to build bows I partitioned off the 3rd bay in the garage and got set up for woodworking, but mainly bow building.
The time has come to get the house ready to sell and its getting all torn down before the move. I’m gonna sell the big cabinet saw and get all my tools on mobile bases. I’m gonna try and get the dust collection consolidated and mobile as well.

All that to say, I got one last bow finished.

This one was intended for Kenny in the bow swap but came in originally at 60# somehow. I did get her backed off to 52@28. I love shooting this bow though and it looks like I just got to get stronger. 60# at my draw length, but I shoot it well.

Even though it will probably be until next winter before I dig into another build, I’ll be lurking around on here to see what you all got going on. 

[Buemaker]

Excellent attention to detail Jon. Just beautiful.