Main Discussion Area > HowTo's and Build-a-longs
osage board bows: 2 at once
radius:
thanks!
I've never worked with bamboo or osage before...maybe I should just wait til it's a bit warmer outside and epoxy the damn backing on before going any further!
You are very diplomatic, btw.
Gordon:
I asked the question because I cannot think of any good reason to subject the board to the rigors of the short string before gluing on the backing. I only see downside - unnecessary work (you will have to tiller again after the backing is applied), potential set and even breakage if the board is ill-suited to be a selfbow or is not prepared properly. You really only need to get the board bending enough so that any reflex (or deflex) that you glue in is evenly distributed along the length of the limbs and it looks like you already have that.
radius:
ok, thanks Gordon...i admit it: i was impatient to get the bow into shape....there, i said it!
All that other stuff about experimenting and keeping it new is also true, but hey! No point in re-inventing the wheel.
Tomorrow I will glue the bamboo onto the back. Today I salvaged an old inner tube which i can cut into two long strips...i'll put a little reflex into it, and we'll see how it goes from there.
radius:
OK...
This morning I spread tarp on my floor to do my glue-up inside...Gotta love the smell of that epoxy! First of all, I did a dry run. Went into a bike shop yesterday and asked if they had any used old tubes headed for the garbage, so they gave me a large one which I cut into two strips about 6 feet long...
Here is the dry run...
This is the epoxy I have been using...this one has never given me any grief at all...it's especially designed for oily woods, so I did not bother to wash the back of the osage with acetone...I know, it's sacrilege!
Here is the bow fully wrapped. The handle has stretch wrap on it, and so does one tip...
And as an aside, here are three photos of a splice I've done for a kids bow, made from the pieces I cut off the belly of this bow...My handcut z-splice was not so stellar, and I tried a trick I've read about on some forum or another: mix osage sawdust and file shavings into the epoxy. The center cuts received this thickened/reinforced epoxy, while the outside cuts received clear epoxy. We'll see!!!
Today is Saturday, so I will let the epoxy cure for 24 hours, and then we'll let ya know!
radius:
You can all see my reflexing form over there...but I didn't use it this time. I have been hauling on this thing, well over 65# pressure at about 15" draw...and it is as straight as when I first started working on it...so i'll save the reflex form for the thinner pieces I sawed down earlier...
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