Primitive Archer

Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: nickf on May 30, 2009, 02:56:57 pm

Title: making bamboo backed bamboo bow, builld along
Post by: nickf on May 30, 2009, 02:56:57 pm
I got some great news, there's another beautyfull boo pole coming in! well, I wouldn't want to wast this premium quality for my first attempt at a BBB, so I decided to start right away with the less-perfect stuff I got.

A BBB is a pretty rare composite, though very attractive, and definately worth a try. So, why not make one?

I had this old Maple bow. 62" tall, overwide, tillered for 42#@26", but being drawn to over 29" already. It's a pretty much abused bow, but it would give me a nice and quick core. So, here's what I started with. The maple bow, a longer boo slat, and a pair of shorter slats (initially ment as belly and backing of a scaled down BBB). The bow already lost it’s handle wrap, so that’s why it’s a little lighter there.

(http://i545.photobucket.com/albums/hh367/hanshanssam/bows/bbb%20rd%20test/IMG_0394.jpg)

(http://i545.photobucket.com/albums/hh367/hanshanssam/bows/bbb%20rd%20test/IMG_0395.jpg)

Old bow braced

(http://i545.photobucket.com/albums/hh367/hanshanssam/bows/bbb%20rd%20test/IMG_0397.jpg)

Old bow drawn

(http://i545.photobucket.com/albums/hh367/hanshanssam/bows/bbb%20rd%20test/IMG_0398.jpg)

(http://i545.photobucket.com/albums/hh367/hanshanssam/bows/bbb%20rd%20test/IMG_0400.jpg)

…okay, It’s a long time ago that I made it, … more than three years ago, I was almost 13. Now, it’s time to get rid of it! This is how it looked after a bit of work (softening the fades, narrowing the whole bow)

(http://i545.photobucket.com/albums/hh367/hanshanssam/bows/bbb%20rd%20test/IMG_0405.jpg)

Backing finished (so far)

(http://i545.photobucket.com/albums/hh367/hanshanssam/bows/bbb%20rd%20test/IMG_0407.jpg)


I put them together for a dryrun:

(http://i545.photobucket.com/albums/hh367/hanshanssam/bows/bbb%20rd%20test/IMG_0410.jpg)

And now, glued together.

(http://i545.photobucket.com/albums/hh367/hanshanssam/bows/bbb%20rd%20test/IMG_0411.jpg)

(http://i545.photobucket.com/albums/hh367/hanshanssam/bows/bbb%20rd%20test/IMG_0412.jpg)

(http://i545.photobucket.com/albums/hh367/hanshanssam/bows/bbb%20rd%20test/IMG_0413.jpg)

Belly slats after first tempering, not much colour yet:

(http://i545.photobucket.com/albums/hh367/hanshanssam/bows/bbb%20rd%20test/IMG_0414.jpg)

hope you enjoyed this, I'll keep ya'll updated!!

Nick
Title: Re: making bamboo backed bamboo bow, builld along
Post by: Pat B on May 30, 2009, 03:31:01 pm
This is interesting. Looking forward to the completed bow and your thoughts on the process and the way it turned out.
Title: Re: making bamboo backed bamboo bow, builld along
Post by: nickf on May 30, 2009, 04:33:01 pm
just got it off the 'form' and did some work on it. This is how it looked before some (neccesary!!) sanding

(http://i545.photobucket.com/albums/hh367/hanshanssam/bows/bbb%20rd%20test/Afbeelding002.jpg)

(http://i545.photobucket.com/albums/hh367/hanshanssam/bows/bbb%20rd%20test/Afbeelding003.jpg)

after...

(http://i545.photobucket.com/albums/hh367/hanshanssam/bows/bbb%20rd%20test/Afbeelding005.jpg)

(http://i545.photobucket.com/albums/hh367/hanshanssam/bows/bbb%20rd%20test/Afbeelding006.jpg)


well, I decided to string it. Wasn't too hard, but I was pretty much shocked by the result. In a bad way!

(http://i545.photobucket.com/albums/hh367/hanshanssam/bows/bbb%20rd%20test/IMG_0430.jpg)

after some more work, unstrung and strung:

(http://i545.photobucket.com/albums/hh367/hanshanssam/bows/bbb%20rd%20test/IMG_0436.jpg)

(http://i545.photobucket.com/albums/hh367/hanshanssam/bows/bbb%20rd%20test/IMG_0444.jpg)

after a bit of work:

(http://i545.photobucket.com/albums/hh367/hanshanssam/bows/bbb%20rd%20test/IMG_0445.jpg)


okay, that's it for the tillering.

the belly slats showed some difficluties. They didn't really want to bend around the fades, over the grip, and the belly became concave. I didn't want to loose too much weight, or get troubles when glueing, so I grabbed another ful length slat, and tempered it while it was clamped on the bow Not fully tempered yet, though.

the 'setup'

(http://i545.photobucket.com/albums/hh367/hanshanssam/bows/bbb%20rd%20test/IMG_0448.jpg)

a little closer vieuws:

(http://i545.photobucket.com/albums/hh367/hanshanssam/bows/bbb%20rd%20test/IMG_0451.jpg)

(http://i545.photobucket.com/albums/hh367/hanshanssam/bows/bbb%20rd%20test/IMG_0449.jpg)

to be continued....