Dryad Bow blanks

[brent d.]

Dave,
the rest is built-up of layers of tooling leather and THIN superglue. makes a very hard material with a feel like phenolic. It rasps like wood and is easy to shape. Post some pics when you get going and these tiller experts can talk you through if you have any problems.

[varmint]

Brent's rest is the same as mine,although his came out better I think.Very easy to do,there's a build-along here on Tradgang.Mine is mostly covered by the grip.

[wingnut]

Now Brent don't be showing the guys the profile of the new hunter as a blank.  Those were special only for the "Bowyer's Hunt" guys.  We'll so something special next year on the hunt too.

Mike

[brent d.]

WHOOPS.
I love my other one too!
   
just shaped a little differently. great performer also. Just get mike to tell you about the elk he took with one.

[James Wrenn]

Well I got a rasp and cut those facets in there.Still pretty darn stiff.    Could not find a scraper however anywhere close by.I will have to take a drive to get one of those I guess.Rasping sure is slower than my grinder.  

[Tique]

Thnaks for the arrow rest info. I took a look at the build along, it was very well done but Dave never said how he keeps from glueing his fingers to the leather? What's the secret?

[brent d.]

James: one half from a pair of scissors works pretty well as a scraper. either way, go slow and let the scraper do the work. pushing down too hard will cause ripples and waves in your wood.
Dave, I use plastic gloves or sometimes just a little sandwich bag aver my hand.

[varmint]

Tique,

    Only way I've found is to be very,very careful.I pre-cut each piece before any super glue was used to make sure it would turn out pretty close to the shape I wanted when the glueing was done so there wouldn't be a ton of sanding to do.

[leon]

brent d, That is a nice looking bow.I always wanted to try one of the blanks,after looking at your pics I think I will start saving my money for one.Leon

[wingnut]

Varmit,

We precut ours in 1" squares and glue to the bow with thick CA glue.  Then do the rough shaping. After that we just follow Dave Bullas tutorial.

Mike

[brent d.]

Thanks Leon. I opted for the yew on this one and I really like the way it shoots. I did one not long ago with osage belly... the original hunter style and even though I missed the weight I was looking for, I continue to be really impressed with the way the bow hurls a heavy 650 grain arrow. (That is a lot of working limb)
I forgot that Mike and Jason had put something special together for those of us on the Dryad Bows/7th Age Bowhunting hunt. I hope they know how much we appreciate that.
The only problem with doing a blank from Wingnut &  
Son is that after seeing how tight those glue-ups are I cant bring myself to glue anything.

[T-Mac]

Here is a link where I sought very good help while I was tillering a Dryad Bow Blank. I don't have my camera "wife has it at the moment" or I would put pictures of finished bow up. She will be home tomorrow will try then. Remember this was my 1st try and I am happy with it even though I am sure people can find many faults with finished product.

 http://tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=043925

The project was not all that difficult and I had never attempted anything like this before. The tools were not expensive and I made my on tillering tree very cheaply. Had a great time doing it and I plan on doing others.

[James Wrenn]

Well I have got to the point of putting a short string on this one.I am about 3hrs into it now.It looks like a bow a bit now.I narrowed it down a little because I could not stand limbs that fat.    I got to rig up a tillering tree of sorts before I can go much farther.Looking in the mirror won't go but so far when you have a little morror.  

[Tique]

Got the facets done and the handle shaped. As soon as I get a round file or rasp I'll do the nocks and then on to the dreaded TREE. Moving along slow, trying not to mess it up too bad.

[James Wrenn]

Well mine is all finished up.  :mad:  The tiller was almost perfect and I was at 40 at 21".I had worked it a lot and pulled it back after scraping a little and BAM it was all over!The bamboo went right between two nodes.It reminded me why I usually build glass bows.  :D

[RedTx]

Originally posted by James Wrenn:
Well mine is all finished up.   :mad:   The tiller was almost perfect and I was at 40 at 21".I had worked it a lot and pulled it back after scraping a little and BAM it was all over!The bamboo went right between two nodes.It reminded me why I usually build glass bows.   :D  

This is what I am scared of    

[wingnut]

Dang James that sucks.  Pack it up and send it to me.  My only concern is that you decided to redesign the bow and narrow the limbs.

"I narrowed it down a little because I could not stand limbs that fat."

Of course if it was the wood or bamboo that caused the failure I'll replace it no charge.

Thanks,

mike

[James Wrenn]

Thanks Mike but there is no need for that.Wood is a natural product and everything you sent me looked good.You can't control what happens when it leaves your hands.Sometimes things just happen.

This is the first time I have had anything with bamboo break and it was bending so smooth it really was a shocker.We know when you start running into problems things can go south but when everything is falling in place so nice and one goes it sucks.    

I have plenty of stuff here to glue up another one when the wounds all heal.Thank you for the offer just the same but there was nothing done wrong on your end and I would never give the impression it was otherwise.

[varmint]

Dang!!Sorry to hear that......

I would have been heartbroken if mine had done that.It gets you all wrapped up in it.Definately plan on doing another,got a good while before my Osage that I brought back from Illinois is done drying.....then I'll try one from start to finish.

[ber643]

Sorry to hear that, James. I know it had to be a disappointment. As I have come to expect, both you and Wingnut (Mike) handled it as the true genmtlemen you both are. Bless your hearts.

Glad you didn't get smacked in the headbone or anything, in the process.