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.

[Kirkll]

That's a very cool overlay transition from the riser to limb connection point. Can't say i've ever seen that one pulled off... Nicely done Jon.

That's sad you have to move... Why are you selling your place and moving?  Greener pastures, Bigger shop next time?

[Jon Lipovac]

Thanks guys.

Moving just to build equity. I was a custom home builder for years and used to move a fair bit. Before our current home we lived in 3 houses in 8 yrs. Been in our current home 9yrs and now the youngest is in college. So we will most likely build 3 more homes and move every 2 yrs until we settle down for a bit.

No dedicated shop in the new home so will be putting all the fools on wheels so I can pull them out every once in a while.

The new garage has a 3rd bay that is 20’x53’ in which i will be doing PPF wraps on cars for some side money. I really enjoy doing them as I did do Custom Auto Painting in my 20’s for 9 yrs.

Here is an example of my wifes car I wrapped in cosmetic PPF last month.

[Kirkll]

Wow!  Is this the same material that they wrap boat hulls with?

[Jon Lipovac]

Not sure about boats. This PPF is  Thermoplastic Polyurethane (TPU). Traditionally used in a clear form on the front end of cars to protect from rock/bug chips and road debris.
This is were the cosmetic wrap industry is leaning bs a normal vinyl wrap. Typical vinyls are 2-2.5 mils thick vs PPF coming in at 7.5-8.5 mils.

[Kirkll]

Wow! That’s some pretty thick material…. Can you repair a scratch in it without replacing a whole section? Or can you heat it and pull it off again?

[Jon Lipovac]

Small superficial scratches like the stuff you get going through a car wash will self heal on a hot sunny day or with a heat gun. A painted surface would need to be polished to remove that type of scratch.

Anything that mars the film without tearing it can be heated up and mostly healed. Worst case, you pull the film off that panel and re-wrap it.

[Jon Lipovac]

Different Brand than what I have used so far, but this is an example of how it heals.

[bdsmith1]

Made a shopvac port for my pattern sander. I 3d printed it with a magnetic base so that I can stick it down anywhere on the table. It's so much nicer than trying to clamp something down.

[Smguinnip]

Took a short cut today, using a grinder with an aggressive wheel to save time shaping a bow for a friend and got careless.

wasn’t trying to grind the tip, just flipping the bow over to work on the other side with bow in one hand and grinder in the other.

[Jon Lipovac]

Dang it. Those were looking good too.
You can probable still save that if the glass is ground out too far. It'll just be a short base on the tip but still look decent.
Besides, less tip overlay=faster tips....Trying to look at the bright side

[Smguinnip]

That thought crossed my mind, but I might try and grind it down to the glass and start over. Luckily, it barely nicked the glass, either way, I’m pretty sure it can be saved.

[Jon Lipovac]

That thought crossed my mind, but I might try and grind it down to the glass and start over. Luckily, it barely nicked the glass, either way, I’m pretty sure it can be saved.

Agreed

[Kirkll]

Don't feel bad bro... we all get our share of oooops! going on.   I'd take em off myself and start again too.  That's the part about using power tools to save time that can be expensive sometimes. one wrong move and its toast....

I use a dremel tool with a ceramic tile bit to rough cut my tip notch grooves. I learned the hard way to dull up the brand new bits on a piece of steel and knock the edge off. Those brand new ceramic bits eat like a lion! I ended up piking a few bows an inch shorter because of that lion...

[Jeff tech]

Glued up another  66"  straight longbow.  #60. 45 to 47 lb at 28 in the razor is the Cody Osage and Wenger
Limbs are Osage under clear glass Amber action Boo from a flooring that I cut down and grind. Going to be a sweet one going to North Dakota.

[Watsonjay]

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. 

Man thats pretty!!