Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: PEARL DRUMS on December 08, 2011, 08:23:46 pm
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62 1/2" ttt osage - no backing or overlays
1 1/8 wide
3/8 tips
47@ 27"
I grabbed the ugliest billet I could find last summer and split sister's out of it. My goal was simple. Try to make a bow that would basically involve ALMOST every common challenge a bow building person (Im not a bowyer) can stumble upon. I wanted checks, twists, undulations, horrible tip alignment and of course snakes. I got what I wanted and more. I am going to attempt a stumble along. Its my first attempt doing so, and of course our trusty 1/2 mega pixel camera in tow. Please bare with me as I get these posts together and sorted out. Thanks for looking and feel free to ask any questins I know answers to! ;)
Below are pictures of the billets after roughing them out and getting the splice cut in. I used all hand tools on this bow except the splice cut. The splice is a simple "v" splice 4" deep. That gave me 16" of glue surface in the joint. Good enough for me. I had to warm up the splice and get my fit closer to where I wanted it. My heat gun did the trick nicely.
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I like URAC for high stress glueing, but TBIII will work done properly. The handle area was tore up bad by the chainsaw so I used URAC to fill in the blanks! I use my dual work lights to cure my URAC in a few hours. I had an old handle section I cut off a broken bow that I kept around for too long so it was used up on this bow. I use URAC to glue it down as well. Its just starting to look like a bow. This is where I start getting anxious and excited. I am naturally high strung and its hard to let glue cure! But I did for 12-15 hours. The pics below show what kind of a twisted, undulated mess I took on. What a blast!
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After my 12-15 hour wait I set out roughing the handle in and cleaning up the rest of the bow to get it ready for heat. I didnt want to take out anymore character than I needed to make a durable bow. This billet came right from the base of the trunk. Thats where the funky riser profile came from. I m mentioned earlier the riser was chainsaw beat. I mixed up a concoction of TBIII and hedge dust to fill in the gaps. I push it in as good as I can and tightly wrap electrical tape around it for 12 hrs, then unwrap it and let it cure hard for another 12 hours. The finish product is very sandable and takes a finish well.
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wow- that does look tricky. Lots of obstacles to overcome, and a lot of manipulation to do. It might not want to, but I think twisted sisters is gonna take it and make a fine bow.
good luck!
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As you could see in earlier pics I have my share of twisting. I will tolerate plenty of twist in a relatively straight proflied bow. I feel Snakey bows need to be as flat as I can get them. I used a wrench, rag and half full bucket of paint to hold the limb down during heating and cooling. The tip/handle alignment was off a good inch, so I made that correction simultaneously. I leave my gun on low and hold it 6-8" away until the limb starts to level off, I let it go past level and shut the gun off. I turned the tips up slightly due to the shortness and narrowness of this bow, plus its sexy as hell I think. ;) The form is just the bottom of a five gallon bucket traced unto a 1 x 8 maple board, nothing too fancy. 1" paddle drill holes will accept most small/medium clamp jaws. I set my heat gun on low and hold it about 6-8" from the bow for about 8 to10 minutes prior to bending. I have found flipped tips dont require allot of heat to move and stay put. The last pic is hot off the press 12 hours after correcting the twist. She kept about 80-90% of the correction I made. Good enough me.
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Now the work. Its time to get her floor tillered and on a short string. The first pic is the first "pull" on this bow. Flat spots are quite obvious on both limbs and need correction, the right side really needs work. I was faced with some challenging tillering on this bow one limb reflexed and one limb deflexed right off the handle. The last pic is at a 3" brace. The riser/handle area was very deceiving to my eyes because it wasnt parallel to the string like Im used to seeing while I tiller. I had to take pics of this bow and turn them 180 degrees to get a good visual of my progress.
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PD, great work! Jawge
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That is going to be one sweet bow when you get her all finished up. Your tiller might not look right to you because the handle isn't bending ;D ;D
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The back of this bow was wavy, snaky, twisty and solid a rock! It was the most challenging tiller job ever for me, but hey that what I wanted from the start right? I will spare you the boring tiller details and skip right to tillered pics and some finish shaping pics.
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Its time to sew up a new dress for the ball! One lucky lady is going out in style! I sanded the entire bow with 150 grit paper then worked down to 220 grit, then 400 grit then OOOO steel wool. I finished her off with four coats of hand rubbed Formby's. I really like what steel wool does for the grain. It sure makes it cover easy with less tung oil. The handle is just black leather from Wolverine Boot's. I use sticky Velcro dots for strike plates, simple and nonobtrusive, as well as easily replaced with no damage to my finish. The rest is stacked up leather from an old belt I had. I glued three one inch squares together with CA glue and shaped it with sandpaper and a mild rasp. The string is my favorite, a 9 strand D10 with muskrat silencers. I forgot to mention earlier, before I sanded the bow down I filled in the wind checks with CA glue......just in case ;)
This skinny little booger is probably my fastest bow yet. It loves the skinny string and skinny tips. It gives you a nice little "thump" upon release and spits that arrow out quickly with very little noticable hand shock.
This concludes my stumble along. If I missed anything you want to know, just ask and I will try to answer. Even a blind squirrel finds a nut on occasion hey!?! Enjoy and thanks for looking.
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Nice build-a-long, but you forgot the most important thing. Full Draw pics man!!
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You whiner Clint.........
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Nice one PD! It comes alive in the full draw pic. Reminds me of an old Ferret saying, "Clear wood makes good bows, character wood make good bowyers."
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I think I liked the silent film version better :P....just kidding. Good job posting all that and taking the time to explain most of it. See...that wasn't so bad/hard now was it. 8).....now next time try it in real time :laugh:....im sure more than one person will benefit from this...and yes including me.
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Thanks. That's better ;D That's some fine work on that mess of a stave
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Wow Chris I got a headache just reading this one.... great job, it never would have started with me :)
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Good work, Drums! You definitely picked a challenge piece. Appropriately named, I might add.
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Nicely done Pearlie. 8)
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Amazing! Just out of newbie curiosity, how many hours went into this particular bow? Thanks for the build-a-long. I always learn something from these.
Mark
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excellent stumble-a-long PD, can't believe you got that beast to that nice of a full draw. very cool stuff
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Pearlie that was a blast to read, really appreciate you taking the time
to do it. And it looks to be one hell of a bow. Nice job all around.
Lane
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U r correct that is sexy :D nice job!!!
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Very good work on a challenging piece, I use to love them twisted pieces to work on ,not so much anymore. ;) ;D ;D Still love to look and that is a looker. :):)
Pappy
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Very nice work. Its posts like this that get my blood flowing and motivates me to get off my dead butt and start another project. Not one as tough as that mind you but I need to get to scrapping. Danny
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Amazing! Just out of newbie curiosity, how many hours went into this particular bow? Thanks for the build-a-long. I always learn something from these.
Mark
Mark I may have about 6-8 hours in it. Not counting wait time of course. I break my building down in sections in my head. Unless I run acrosss an obstacle I usually stay on target. I was telling Blackhawk the other day that I sit around thinking about a particular stave for 2-3 months then spend 2-3 days building what I see in my minds eye. My personality doesnt allow me to stray or go out of order or vary from my plan much! Im quirky like that.
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Wow Chris I got a headache just reading this one.... great job, it never would have started with me :)
Two or three old farts (Pat, Artsy to name just a few) that frequent our sites always convey the same message, "slow and steady win's the race". It took me about 20-30 bows to realize they are right! If you go about things deliberately and thoughfully its really not that tough to build a mess of a bow. I spent plenty of time sitting around in the shop staring at the glued up blank, the short braced bow and the profile. The more you look the more you see and understand what has to happen to make that bugger bend evenly. My belly is pancake flat while the back undulates all over up to 3/8" variance. I tillered those spots out by width reduction because I dont like any dips in my bellys if I can help it. Dips collapse over time in my experience.
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Great build along.
Super bow.
Del
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In your first post in this thread you wrote...
( I'm not a bower) Ha.
Some people consider lying to be a sin. :(
Some people consider lying to be an art. ;D
I don't know which catergory you fit in?????
That is one nice bow. And from such a challenging piece of wood..
David
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In your first post in this thread you wrote...
( I'm not a bower) Ha.
Some people consider lying to be a sin. :(
Some people consider lying to be an art. ;D
I don't know which catergory you fit in?????
That is one nice bow. And from such a challenging piece of wood..
David
If I cant make a living building bows or teaching, then Im just a wood bender! I built a dog house once, that doesnt make me a carpenter!
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I have no doubts that you could make a living at it if you gave it a go, this bow pretty well proves it! Hey, and you're teaching me a thing or two, not to mention all the other rookies who see this thread! ;D
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Great work Pearl Drums! Great bow great post!
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This was really fun to watch. Awesome job sticking with a challenging piece of wood (or two challenging pieces of wood in fact :D)
Gabe
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Thanks for posting this up, looks like you did a great job on a very challenging bow and it turned out great!
Josh
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Beautiful bow! Makes me want to jump into something with character when my skills are up to the challenge.
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Excellent Job!
On this Bow and the build along!
Thank You!
-gus
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Thanks everyone of you for your comments! I hope it helps somebody sometime or another get through a nasty spot during a build. It feels very good having the same people that I absorbed so much info from comment positively on my bow's. Very, very cool feeling. Thanks again and Im sure the NEW OWNER will be happy with his new tag-a-long!
MERRY CHRISTMAS HEDGE APPLE JOE!
I sure hope he doesnt pick today as one of his bi-monthly log-ons......It'll be my own fault!
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Very good buildalong Pearl. You pulled that off very well with a tricky piece of wood. Congratultions on a fine bow!
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Ye were bonkers to take that on, but you killed it nice job.
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Thanks for the build along. You did an awesome job overcoming all of the obstacles with this one.
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Well my buddy Joe got his Christmas present on Saturday. He was blown away, totally happy and couldn't wait to head out for some late doe hunting in Indiana with her. I was nervous about my friends at the USPS getting it there in one piece.
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Sweet...good news..and good job buddy ;).....now where's mine..it hasn't showed up yet? :P
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Yours is STILL drying pal. Dang thing just keeps dripping sap on my floor? I was told red pine makes a fine bow, so thats what I got for yours!
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I guess that's what we get for trying to be good to him !!
No more Mr Nice Guy! >:D
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that is a nice bow...and all the hard work you put into it...i am glad that you did that kind of splice i have all ways wanted to see it done...there is alot of differant kind of splices but only a few are used...thanks john
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Great bow man! I dont know how I missed this one ::) Awesome job on a very challenging piece of wood :) :) :)
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Nice work on a challenging piece tiller looks mighty fine to me,just love all that character-Hammertime
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Can I glue a handle the same way as this onto a hickory backed osage bow?
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Pearl D,
Your sure give a person encouragement to tackle problems in marginal? wood.
atta boy!
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Truely inspirational. Love the splice and the glue up. The challenge you made for yourself and the end result both were awesome. Thanks for sharing.
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Wow talk about an cage fight, fifth round by submission!!!
You really wrestled everything out of those billets... Great bow !!
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Well Chris, this is my bi-monthly visit to the website and found this build-along of the bow you gave me. I love it and it shoots like a dream! I can actually hit close to where I am aiming!(comming from a wheelie bow guy) This shows me how much time and effort you put into it and I really appreciate it.
Thanks again on a job well done!!
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Great build along, and a beauty of a bow! Thanks for the lesson.
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Very good work on a challenging piece, I use to love them twisted pieces to work on ,not so much anymore. ;) ;D ;D Still love to look and that is a looker. :):)
Pappy
What are you talking about you joker! I believe you just posted a snakey somethin' or another? CONSIDERABLEY more twisted than this ol' girl is :) You couldnt quit the twisted ones if ya' wanted to!......me either!
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Very good work on a challenging piece, I use to love them twisted pieces to work on ,not so much anymore. ;) ;D ;D Still love to look and that is a looker. :):)
Pappy
What are you talking about you joker! I believe you just posted a snakey somethin' or another? CONSIDERABLEY more twisted than this ol' girl is :) You couldnt quit the twisted ones if ya' wanted to!......me either!
BUSTED..... :laugh: