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osage board bows: 2 at once
radius:
The clamps and straps are off, and you can see the gluelines in these next few pictures...fortunately, I have to go out today, or I would probably not be able to resist working on them further. The epoxy has set, but it wouldn't hurt to give it a bit more time, right?
Man, I'm not even done yet and I already agree with Pat B: bamboo is more trouble than it's worth, when a simple strip of hickory is so much easier to produce and work with!
You see the bamboo is slightly over at each end...just needs trimming...
radius:
Oh, and you guys! You were so right about the effect of the backing strip on draw weight/flexibility: you saw how much this thing was bending before, but now, with the bamboo, it barely moves at all when i floor tiller it...
radius:
Hi...
Here are a couple photos of the bamboo-backed bow, after trim-sanding...
Here, you can't see it very well, but either the bamboo was shallow or i missed a spot with the epoxy, but there is a...GAP! I actually had a slight gap at each end, so I trimmed about a 16th off each side of each end, and that eliminated the problem.
These next couple pictures are of the stave with the huge divet on one side. The first shows the back marked for demolition.
Now here is the finished product, belt sanded and ready for bamboo. Be careful when belt sanding these babies: my handscrew clamp gave way and the stave shot back at full force into the fence! Make that, the Landlord's fence....
Right now I'm going to epoxy this bow to its backing. This time I made the backing thinner, and maybe I can get some reflex into it...i'll try it out in a dry run and see how it goes....
El Destructo:
Man that one Stave has some bad-assed grain Run Off...even Backing it seems to be a Gamble....if it holds...it will sure be different looking with all of them swirls on the Belly....
radius:
all bowmaking is a gamble, my brother! After all, what do we do but push the envelope, push it a little more, a little more, a little more...we're like little kids bugging our parents for money, or slackers trying to get out early and hope the boss doesn't notice!
This is what yesterday's backed bow looks like immediately after trim-sanding the edges:
Yesterday, before adding the bamboo, but after thinning the thing down with the belt sander, I could draw it about 16" no problem, maybe 40 pounds or so. Here it is today at 8" immediately after trimming.
Spots like this where the grain swirls, you have to change direction with the rasp. You can do it smoothly with no gouges or tear-outs, provided you change direction with the rasp. This spot also proves to be a flat area in the upcoming pictures. It is toward the end of the right hand side of the bow.
At 14" draw:
At 15" draw: Like I said, the flattish area toward the end of the right limb is where the grain swirls and changes direction.
These next two pictures show the tight string running end to end. No brace height at all, just a tight string. The tips of the string are on center, but I can't say the same for the length of the bow.
That's all for today. How do you guys think I should handle the string issue? No big deal, just run with it? Or should I trim the bow width-wise so that the string is centered? It's a strong draw now, about 70 or 80 pounds at 15 inches, on the long string. The long string, by the way, is only a few inches longer than the bow itself.
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