Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => HowTo's and Build-a-longs => Topic started by: wytetale on May 02, 2008, 11:31:08 pm
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Okay guys here we go, This is the first build-a-long that I have done so bear with me on this. As I go along I will explain the way that my Dad and I build our bows. If you have any questions on something or don't understand how I explain something feel free to comment on it. Any way what we plan on for a finished product is a 62" ntn 50# Reflex/Deflex Bamboo backed Osage tri-lam with snake skins and deer antler overlays on the nocks
Here what we have to start with 2x2x72 Argentine Osage.This is really great stuff we have made the last 50plus bows out of this stuff. If you haven't ever used it before you should try it. 72" piece of Boo and a 2x2x16 piece of Birds eye Maple
(http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p133/wytetale/build-a-long002.jpg)
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Now I am going to rip a piece of Osage 3/8" thick. Plane it down to 5/16" to clean it up and that will be the thickness I start at before tapering it down. Once It is cleaned up and 5/16" cut it to the overall length of the bow you want. This one will be 64". Find your center and draw a line 32" now divide each half into thirds and mark your lines, so on this piece I would measure down 10 5/8" from the middle and draw a line across and then measure down 10 5/8" again and draw a line,do the same on the other half of the plank. The lines act as reference points when your planing your taper. I use a 6"benchtop. I set it at a dept of 1/16" so when I am done it will end up at 1/4" in the middle tapering down to 1/8" on each tip. If you were not going to make a tri-lam I would start my plank thickness at 7/16 so my taper would end up being 3/8" in the center to 1/4" on the tips.
(http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p133/wytetale/build-a-long004.jpg)
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Now to cut the taper. Run the plank into the planer to the first line then lift it off and then start again and run it to the second line and lift it off again. Start again and run it all the way up to the centerline. Do the same for the other half of the plank. Make sure you draw your line all the way around your plank so you can see were your at.
(http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p133/wytetale/build-a-long005.jpg)
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Tapered plank should look something like this
(http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p133/wytetale/build-a-long006.jpg)
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Now that the Osage plank is ready its time to start on the Bamboo. First plane down the belly to get a flat surface so you can draw out the profile of your bow on it. A couple of passes across the planer will usually do it
(http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p133/wytetale/build-a-long007.jpg)
Here it is all flattened out.
(http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p133/wytetale/build-a-long008.jpg)
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Now you have to cut your bamboo to length. You can lay your cut Osage plank next to the bamboo and see were the nodes on the bamboo end up. You want to try and keep the node as far back from the tips as possible. but it don't always work like that especially if you have only one or two pieces to work with. The farther apart the nodes are the easier it is to tiller. I got lucky on this piece I have about 11" between the nodes
(http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p133/wytetale/build-a-long009.jpg)
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Now I am ready to lay the profile of the bow out and then cut it out. Draw a center line, 32" on this one. Now find the center of the width and draw a line. Next I use a string line to get a straight line all the way through the length of the bamboo to the tips. It helps to do it this way if your bamboo has a twist or a bow in it. Now I will draw my limb tapers. From my center line I measure out 4 1/2" on each side and draw a line.That is were my fades will end. This bow will be 1 3/8 wide straight tapered to 5/8" at the tips. Before tillering I will narrow the last 6" of the tips down to 1/2" or a little less. I will post pics tomorrow of what the lay out looks like. the pics came out really blurry today and couldn't use them.
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Now to cut out the profile of the bow with the bandsaw. I leave the whole handle section the same width as the fades 1 3/8" I don't lay out any of the riser until it is all tillered out.
(http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p133/wytetale/build-a-long011.jpg)
When you cut it out leave the line showing so you can sand it in to the line and have a nice straight taper
(http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p133/wytetale/build-a-long013.jpg)
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Profile is all cut to shape so now we have to get it to the right thickness. Its about 3/8" thick now. We always go about 1/8" between the nodes sometimes a bit less but never thicker than 1/8". First we'll run it across the planer so we dont have to sand as much.
(http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p133/wytetale/build-a-long014.jpg)
Then take a pencil and draw a line down the whole length of the bamboo about 1/8" from the back.
(http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p133/wytetale/build-a-long015.jpg)
Now we will sand the bamboo to remove some more of the thickness off of it. We use a 1" belt sander and sand it to the line. we use a real course belt so we can remove alot of the bamboo this way.
(http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p133/wytetale/build-a-long016.jpg)
Once we have it sanded close to the line we then use the 6" belt sander to even out the belly and get it really flat and right to 1/8" thick. we will keep measuring with a pair of calipers as we are sanding.
(http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p133/wytetale/build-a-long017.jpg)
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Once your bamboo is flat and at the thickness you want, clamp it or press it down tight on to a flat surface to check and make sure that it don't have any little dips or dishes on the edges. You want it to be perfect for a nice tight glue line. . It takes us longer to work the bamboo than it does to lay out the rest of the bow.
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Ok, Osage is tapered. Bamboo is ready, now for the Power-lam or strip. The riser on this bow is going to be 12" so my power-strip will be 16". Bows from 58" to 62" will have 12" riser and a 14" power strip. Bows from 64" to 68" will have a 14"riser and a 18" power strip. The power lam will be 1/4" thick tapered to a knife edge on the tips. I usually lay masking tape over the edge and draw my taper on it and then sand it to shape with the belt sander
(http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p133/wytetale/build-a-long020.jpg)
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Alright, every thing is ready to go for the first glue up. Here is a picture of the form that we will be using for this glue up
(http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p133/wytetale/build-a-long021.jpg)
Picture of mock glue up to make sure everything is tight and looks okay.
(http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p133/wytetale/build-a-long022.jpg)
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Everything looked real good. Last thing to do is groove the back of the Osage. Lay the bamboo an the osage and trace it out. We use a dremel tool with a sanding disk to make grooves in the osage along the whole length of it. Make sure you stay inside of the line though. If you run out of the line it will show up along the glue line when finished.
(http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p133/wytetale/build-a-long023.jpg)
After that I take a piece of sandpaper and sand it lightly to remove and loose pieces. Then I will take everything over to the compresser and blow them all off to get rid of any dust thats on them. I never wipe any of my wood down with acetone or any other solvents.
Ready to mix up some Urac-185 and glue this thing together.
(http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p133/wytetale/build-a-long024.jpg)
There it is all glued up. We use as many clamps as we can fit on it. Tommarow we will cut the riser out and fit it to the bow ,then glue it on.
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Here are a couple of pics from yesterday showing how we lay out the bamboo with the string line so we can get a centerline down the whole length of the bamboo.
(http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p133/wytetale/GERANALpictures011.jpg)
(http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p133/wytetale/GERANALpictures013.jpg)
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Okay, we had taken the bow off the form and are ready to lay out the riser section and glue it up. Here is a pic of it .
(http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p133/wytetale/GERANALpictures018-1.jpg)
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I have my Birds eye Maple block ready. I laid some maskingtape over it and and drew my centerline on it. Now I am ready to trace the profile of the bow on it and cut it out.
(http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p133/wytetale/GERANALpictures019-1.jpg)
Now it is cut out so I am going to sand it in so I get a really good fit to the riser, I have a pretty good fit now.
(http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p133/wytetale/GERANALpictures021-1.jpg)
Now I am going to trace the same arc again about a 1/2" down and cut it out agian so I can put an accent strip of osage in the riser
(http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p133/wytetale/GERANALpictures022.jpg)
Here is a pic of the riser now all ready to be glued up.
(http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p133/wytetale/GERANALpictures023.jpg)
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Here it is all glued up till tomorrow. We will cut in the fades and make the lamination for the belly and get that all glued up then.
We also glued up another bow like this today but not a tri-lam. It is a 60" and it has a Bacote riser. Post some pics of that one tomorrow,
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(http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p133/wytetale/GERANALpictures025.jpg)
(http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p133/wytetale/GERANALpictures026.jpg)
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This is a very good build-a-long. I am learning much by following it. Thank you.
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Thanks very much for this build along! There is much to be learned here.
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Thanks for doing this wytetale. What wood are you using for the power strip?
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why is that piece called "power strip" or "power lam"? It seems mainly to be a handle thickener...i could use some advice here, thanks.
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The power strip is made of maple also, I usually try to match it to the riser wood. The Power lam or strip acts as a stiffener for the riser. It extends 2" past each end of the riser. It strengthen the limb so when you draw back it helps to eliminate some of the stress on the riser. On this type of design the riser has a deflex built in to it so there ain't much stress.Thats why I make them a 1/4". On the other type of form that I use where you glue up a square block for a riser I make my power strips 3/8".They seem to work I have never had a riser pop off or come loose.
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awesome, that makes perfect sense.
Thanks
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Had to do my honey do's today. Thurseday we will cut the fades and glue the belly lams on.
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This is good info... I'm watching closely and hope to try one of these. Jim
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Monday and Tuesady will be putting on the belly lams and hopefully tillering it out.
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Wytetale, where are you? We want to see how this goes!
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is that little jointer a good tool? i was thinking of picking one up, to make pre-tapering easier...
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Radius, that little jointer is great, does a really good job.
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We got the belly lams cut and planed down to 1/8". Cut the fades out on the riser. From the center of the riser I measure 2 1/4" from each side this gives me a 4 1/2" handle.Then from my 2 1/4" mark I I draw a taper down to the end of the riser.It will look like this
(http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p133/wytetale/build-a-long030.jpg)
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I lost a couple of pics when my batteries went dead.I t was showing how we fit the belly lams to the fades, I will explain it. First you want to make sure that you have a real smooth transition from your fades on to the center lam. Once you have that mark your belly lams 6" up from the end and taper them to about 1/16". I just use the belt sander. Then Take a couple of spring clamps and clamp the Lam on to the fades and see if you get a tight fit. You might have to sand a bit here or there. After you get a good fit,what we will do is take a heat gun to the lam while it is clamped to the riser so it will take the shape of the fade. It takes stress off of it and it also makes it easier gluing it up. When your ready to glue it up use the blocks that you cut from the fades and use them to clamp the lams in place on to the fades. We are going to make another one this weekend and I'll post the pics of it.
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Here is a pic right after we had taken the clamps off it.
(http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p133/wytetale/fc409ec8.jpg)
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well i've been trying to copy you on this...got a few r/d blanks glued up (2 with hickory back, 1 bamboo...all maple cores) and shaped and attached the riser blocks. Yesterday I tillered one and shaped the handle...but left the riser most of its length...so it's way too long...and the bow only draws 30 pounds. I was going to pike it later today until i saw this post. Instead I'll recut the handle down to more reasonable dimensions, and then attach some belly lams to ride up the fades. I have many 3 foot slats of yew about 3/16 thick. So: you just taper the fade-end of the belly lam so it rides smoothly up the curve? I tried this once before,and got a failure where the belly lam met the tip of the fade: compression fractures and total bow failure...try and try again!
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When we glued the belly lams on we left them 1 1/2" wide. Now I am going to trim it all up on the band saw, I stay about a 1/16" away from the bamboo so that way I can lay the limbs on the belt sander and sand it up to the bamboo.
(http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p133/wytetale/build-a-long028.jpg)
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what's the thickness of the limbs?
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Got all the glue off and everything sanded to the bamboo.My tips are 5/8" wide. Now I will taper them to 1/2" I start the taper 6" back and draw my lines, then just lay the tip in the belt sander and sand to the lines.
(http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p133/wytetale/build-a-long033.jpg)
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Radius, yes just taper the belly side of the lamb to about a 1/16" the last 6" of it. Make sure that you get a real smooth transition from the belly on to the riser fades. Before you glue it up dry run it with your clamps and hold it up to the light to see if you see any gaps. Mark the high spots and sand a little more till you get a really good fit. The thickness on this bow was 1/4" to 1/8" taper on the core and an 1/8" lambination for the belly. It came out really stiff. the next one will be 3/16" tapered to a 1/16" for the core.
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Tips are done now I'll draw a line about 1/4" in along the length of each side of the limbs on the bamboo so I cn trap the back of the bamboo. I use a rasp for that.
(http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p133/wytetale/build-a-long041.jpg)
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Now to the belly,I'll draw my lines the same way on the belly. I might go a little wider with my line or narrower depending on how heavy the bow comes out of the form.
(http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p133/wytetale/build-a-long048.jpg)
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Now I do the overlays I cut two pieces of deer antler 1/4"x2".I mark the tips of the limb 2" and sand a bevel down to the belly lam.That way you dont have all the overlay sticking up and it helps to take a little more weight off the tips.
(http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p133/wytetale/build-a-long038.jpg)
(http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p133/wytetale/build-a-long039.jpg)
Sand the bottom of the antler real flat and glue them on. We have been using super-glue gel and it has worked great. Never had any come off yet
(http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p133/wytetale/build-a-long040.jpg)
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All thats left is to cut a string groove in the nock and then start to tiler it out.Here is a pic of it all cleaned up before tillering. and a pic of a static tip one that my dad was working on that I tillered out.
(http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p133/wytetale/build-a-long031.jpg)
(http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p133/wytetale/build-a-long032.jpg)
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First pull with the longstring was about 14" when I hit 50# When we get a bow off the form. Ilike to be able to pull it to about 20",Then I know that I will be pretty close to getting a string on it at about a 2-3 in brace. I only had a 1/8" belly lam to work with on this one, not a whole lot of room for mistakes. I took some more off from the fades to mid limb and started to get it to bend. Got a short string on it and am at 50# AT 22" with a 2" brace. right limb is a little stiffer yet.
(http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p133/wytetale/build-a-long050.jpg)
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50# at 25" right limb starting to bend to much after the fades, going to start taking alittle more off twords the outer limbs.
(http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p133/wytetale/build-a-long051.jpg)
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Here it is at 28" 50lbs. still needs a little work. Will be working on it Wed and Thurs doing the final tiller and cutting out the riser and shaping it along with the nocks
(http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p133/wytetale/build-a-long053.jpg)
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I ended up taking to much off in the mid limb area, and not enough in the last third. I wanted to leave the tips fairly stiff, but not that much.Sometimes when your tillering everything seems fine. You stop come back to it and you see something different. When I posted this it was the first I saw the pic and could really see how much it was bending in the mid. What I am going to do is start to get the last third of the linbs bending more.
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Did a little more work on the tillering. Got theouter third of the limbs bending a little. Looks alot better, lost 5# doing so.45# at 28" now. The whole key to tillering I think is getting your thickness of your lamination or your belly wood at the proper dementions before you glue up. This one was way to heavy to start. The demensions I used worked fine for a 66" bow, but for a 60" it was way to stiff to start with. The more wood you have to remove and the more you have to tiller the more you have a chance of getting a hinge or fret in the belly. Probably should of had a taper of 3/16 to 1/16 on the mid lam and kept the 1/8 on the belly. That will be in my notes for the next one.
(http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p133/wytetale/build-a-long062.jpg)
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Tillering is done now to lay out the handle, you can lay it out on the bamboo before you glue it up and cut to shape then, or like I do I do it after everything is glued up. I draw a centerline through the handle length wise. Find center of the bow and mark it.Next I measure 2 1/4" off each side of center. That my handle. From center again measure 4 1/2" off each side that will be the end of the fades. At the end of my handle marks I mark the width on each side 1" overall. Then draw my lines in. Should look like this.
(http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p133/wytetale/build-a-long065.jpg)
Then cut it out
(http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p133/wytetale/build-a-long067.jpg)
Now to cut in the shelf, word of caution make sure you mark the top or bottom limb, I have cut the shelf on the wrong side already, you either have a lefty or you have to go back and retiller it to switch the limbs from top to bottom. I measure 2" up from center for my shelf, Then I go 3/8"deep and taper up 3" for the sight window.
(http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p133/wytetale/build-a-long.jpg)
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After the shelf is cut out I will measure down 1/4" and draw a line across the handle and then draw a radius on it. Then I will mark the handle. and cut it out.
(http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p133/wytetale/build-a-long070.jpg)
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Now for the fun part shaping the handle. Everybody has there own way and shape they like. My dad does a lot of bird carvings and two dremel like tools that run on a cable. one is set up for taking the bulk of the wood off and have the other set up with a sanding drum. It takes me a bout 15 min to cut the radius on the shelf and to shape the handle.
(http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p133/wytetale/build-a-long079-1.jpg)
(http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p133/wytetale/build-a-long069.jpg)
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Time to shape the nock. first I brace it at 6 1/2" and then draw a pencil line along the string on each side. That gives me my marks to file for my string grooves then. After I file them in I will lay out my tips to the shape I want. Always experimenting with tip shapes.
(http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p133/wytetale/build-a-long072.jpg)
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All thats left is a final sanding and to dress her up with a little stain and leather grip. That will be this weekends project along with finishing up two more bows. Here is a full draw pic and a braced pic. Shot about 20 arrows out of it and it shoots really sweet.
(http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p133/wytetale/build-a-long073.jpg)
(http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p133/wytetale/build-a-long077.jpg)
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Looks great! this is a great buildalong :)
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excellent. thanks for doing this.
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yes, this is totally awesome...i have just got one tillered in...i shot about 20 arrows out of it, and they f'n fly.!!! but when i weigh it in, it's only 30# at 28!!!! What's up with that? It's 64" long, so I'm going to pike it and see where that takes me...
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I lost a couple of pics when my batteries went dead.I t was showing how we fit the belly lams to the fades, I will explain it. First you want to make sure that you have a real smooth transition from your fades on to the center lam. Once you have that mark your belly lams 6" up from the end and taper them to about 1/16". I just use the belt sander. Then Take a couple of spring clamps and clamp the Lam on to the fades and see if you get a tight fit. You might have to sand a bit here or there. After you get a good fit,what we will do is take a heat gun to the lam while it is clamped to the riser so it will take the shape of the fade. It takes stress off of it and it also makes it easier gluing it up. When your ready to glue it up use the blocks that you cut from the fades and use them to clamp the lams in place on to the fades. We are going to make another one this weekend and I'll post the pics of it.
Wytetale: You don't find that using heat on the belly lam, while it is clamped to the bow, affects the glue-up at all? I tried heat-treating the belly of a bamboo/maple bow and the epoxy crapped out on me...
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First pull with the longstring was about 14" when I hit 50# When we get a bow off the form. Ilike to be able to pull it to about 20",Then I know that I will be pretty close to getting a string on it at about a 2-3 in brace. I only had a 1/8" belly lam to work with on this one, not a whole lot of room for mistakes. I took some more off from the fades to mid limb and started to get it to bend. Got a short string on it and am at 50# AT 22" with a 2" brace. right limb is a little stiffer yet.
(http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p133/wytetale/build-a-long050.jpg)
to pull it to 20"...how much longer than the stave is the long string? 4 inches? 8? just barely long enough to latch onto the nocks?
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Wytetale,
I love the look of your bows! I am going to try to build my first bow using your design as a model. I have a couple of questions. Where did you get the Argentine Osage and the Boo? What are the the measurements of your form? How long is the form, what angle is used on the end blocks and how tall are the 2x4 blocks that create the reflex/ deflex? Thanks for the great build along!!
seantOH
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EVERYONE!!!
Bell Forest Products in Michigan (i think) has just rec'd a large shipment of 4/4 argentine osage. The price is $18 a board foot. You can get a piece 12" wide by 6 feet long by 1 inch thick for just over 100 bucks. Compare that to paying $30 or more for a "bow blank"!!!!
The email address is eric@bellforestproducts.com. Please tell him that Scott McCall referred you. Thanks.
Scott
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Hello Good Afternoon excuse my intrusion a little late (120 days) but I would tell them that in my country Argentina there timber Osage wood that is very similar to the Osage that you know is called Cloudberry or yatauba
I know it's late to clarify this issue but be careful with people who are cheating maybe telling them about our country's wood that does not exist
For any information about this please contact us at: arcosnewen@gmail.com from esters and their willingness to tell them about our wood, we clarified that Woods is my country and I work with them every day making bows.
http://arcostradicionalesnewen.jimdo.com/
I'm sorry if my English is not good
Regards
Gabriel
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this is a great buildalong. thanks for all your work
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As others have said great build allong thanks a bunch!
Josh
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i know this is old but this build a long is awesome thanks for making it
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I know this is an old topic but i was wondering about the jig, it looks perfect for me, i was wondering the dimensions of the raised areas, whats your measurements on it??
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Where can i buy the wood?
Ron Mowry
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Wher can i buy bamboo?