Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: toomanyknots on February 14, 2013, 07:45:48 pm
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Here is a copy/paste from a build I started on paleoplanet today...
Well I got bored the other day, and I thought I would do a build along. I know most of the build alongs I do are mostly just a picture of a stave, and then a picture of a finished bow,... and I know that sucks, :). I will try to do a little better job and show the basic outline of what I do to. And yes, I hope I am driving everyone bonkers with the sapwood backed osage, :). The stave started out 67 7/8" or so NTN. I started taking pictures after it was floor tillered. Hopefully it will turn out to be a nice little light weight mini - longbow.
(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/Osage%20Snakey%20Longbow/DSCN1319.jpg)
(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/Osage%20Snakey%20Longbow/DSCN1321.jpg)
(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/Osage%20Snakey%20Longbow/DSCN1346.jpg)
To get it floor tillered and begin longstring tillering, I will use my farriers rasp. I used the rough side for floor tillering. Then switch to the smooth side during longstring tillering, and remove all the big gouges from using the rough side of the farriers rasp. If the tiller looks good, I will switch to a finer file and remove all the marks from the farriers rasp. Then I will check the tiller again. If it is good, I will finally switch to a card scrapper, which I will use for the rest of the tillering process. Keep in mind that this is all before I string it, all for longstring tillering. I am quite aware of the ability to create a whip tillered bow by too much longstring tillering, but this has been working for me lately.
Farriers rasp, and finer file...
(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/Osage%20Snakey%20Longbow/DSCN1328.jpg)
(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/Osage%20Snakey%20Longbow/DSCN1329.jpg)
My card scrapper...
(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/Osage%20Snakey%20Longbow/DSCN1335.jpg)
To do about all of my tillering, I have started using this mirror instead of my tillering tree. I believe I get less set this way. I am thinking I might set up a pully system in our basement if the landlord (and more importantly, my wife) allows it. But for now this is working nicely. My wife uses it in this room to paint, as she is supposed to be painting her portrait in her collage classes right now. So right now, I am allowed to use it, yay!
(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/Osage%20Snakey%20Longbow/DSCN1327.jpg)
(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/Osage%20Snakey%20Longbow/DSCN1338.jpg)
(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/Osage%20Snakey%20Longbow/DSCN1339.jpg)
To the newbies, I am probably pulling this bow too far on the longstring. Normally you would of had it strung by now.
My temperary nocks...
(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/Osage%20Snakey%20Longbow/DSCN1349.jpg)
(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/Osage%20Snakey%20Longbow/DSCN1350.jpg)
EDIT: I fixed all the typos, there was a lot, sorry, I didn't proof read it before I posted it.
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Well here is pretty close to where I started out with this stave. I know it might be hard to tell with this picture, since both limbs have already been a bit deflexed from being worked, but the right limb in this picture started out with a slight deflexed spot around midlimb:
(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/Osage%20Snakey%20Longbow/DSCN1323.jpg)
Now there are two ways to deal with that in my book. You can do the smart thing, and heat it out to match the other limb. Or you can do the lazy, and aggravating thing, and just go with it, like I have did here. If you do just go with it, the deflex is going to need to be thicker and have more material than the rest of the bow. If you don't leave more material in the deflex, you will soon end up with a huge hinge. So when roughing out the profile, it is best to remember this early on instead of having to deal with it later. The deflexed limb will be my bottom limb, for a couple reasons. The first, is that the snakey part is cool, so I want it to be on the top, :). The second is that the deflexed limb of a bow will almost always be stronger I have noticed, even if the bow is tillered evenly. I was going to go with a positive tiller on this bow, like I did that last, but it just was "positively" driving me nuts looking at a longbow with an uneven brace profile.
Here is what I was going with at first:
(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/Osage%20Snakey%20Longbow/DSCN1353.jpg)
...and I just couldn't live with it. Had to fix it:
(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/Osage%20Snakey%20Longbow/DSCN1356.jpg)
So far the bow is tillered out to fulldraw, 28", 30", which ever one of those it is going to be. I did this completely using the mirror. I will pull it by stepping on the string, and also by turning the mirror upright and drawing it. And ya, this is gonna be a pretty sacrilegious longbow, :). Especially since, after piking it more times than I should of, I ended up at 62 1/2" NTN! I figure, screw it now. Why not flip the tips too? So, after shooting it in, I guess that is my next step before putting on the horn nocks. Right now it is sanded to 120, all the tool marks are out.
Heres a couple current fulldraws (well, 28" anyway.)
(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/Osage%20Snakey%20Longbow/2.jpg)
(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/Osage%20Snakey%20Longbow/3.jpg)
I am pretty happy with the tiller. I am figuring I will just stick with it as long as it doesn't change when I am shooting it in. It is pulling around 47# @ 28", so I guess it will probably end up around 45# @ 28", or maybe 50# @ 30". I can't decide yet if I want to flip the tips, or not. I got some perfect forms for it, that would just flip a couple inches slightly, but I am lazy, and it is looking like a bow right now. I'll probably make up my mind tonight, and if I want to, I will steam and flip them tonight. It is a rather short bow for a 30" draw, so I was thinking that it would at least help out stack.
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Tiller looks awesome.. and that is one fine curvy looking bow knots.
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Tiller looks excellent. I have a couple questions. Firstly about choosing the stronger limb. Wouldn't the reflexed limb be stronger since the tip has to travel a greater distance and would therefore have more individual energy storage than the deflexed limb? Also how do you measure your draw weight tillering with the mirror? I use a mirror and tillering tree hand in hand but I only measure my draw weight on the tree.
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Tiller looks excellent. I have a couple questions. Firstly about choosing the stronger limb. Wouldn't the reflexed limb be stronger since the tip has to travel a greater distance and would therefore have more individual energy storage than the deflexed limb? Also how do you measure your draw weight tillering with the mirror? I use a mirror and tillering tree hand in hand but I only measure my draw weight on the tree.
Thank you. The limb with the deflexed spot is always stronger. Probably because it is not moving as much as the reflexed limb is to reach the same spot. Think about how the stave looked in the beginning, and about how much each limb has to move to reach the same spot. For the purpose of explaining this, you could say the reflexed limb bends alot, while the deflexed limb only bends a little, to reach the same spot. Even though the tiller looks even. The reflexed limb has to be substantially weaker in most cases to bend so much, to reach the same position as the limb with the deflexed spot does, which bends less than the reflexed limb. A while ago Del on here recounted a story about a guy telling him that he choose the wrong limb for the bottom limb of a bow. And he had to explain that it was the correct limb, it just didn't look that way, or something along those lines. This is the same reason you can end up with a tiller and brace profile that looks even, but does not work or pull even, when you factor in how the limbs looked before brace. Also, I measure draw weight on my tree as well.
Tiller looks awesome.. and that is one fine curvy looking bow knots.
Thank ya bow101, ;D. Alrighty yall, I can't make up my mind. Should I flip the tips or not? I got like a half an hour to make up my mind if I am gonna do it tonight... ???. It is already a mini - target bow kinda longbow. I am sure I wouldn't hurt it aesthetically anymore than I have already done by cutting it down to 62 1/2" NTN.
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I see what you're trying to say but I'm still skeptical. My understanding was that each limb would take the same amount of force to get to their drawn point but over a greater distance. Since the same poundage is spread out over a greater length in the reflexed limb it just increases at a slower rate seeming weaker than the other limb. The deflexed limb would have to have a more dramatic increase in draw weight to get to the poundage at full draw. I don't see it as a matter of strength so much as I do energy storage in which case the reflexed limb would store more energy. I almost imagine it as two separate bows, one deflexed and the other reflexed, both with the same draw weight and draw length. They can have the same poundage but different energy storage. I don't see how that would change in a bow with a deflexed limb and reflexed limb.
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That looks sweeeet! Like others have said the tiller looks great.
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Nice tiller for sure. Are the tips all sapwood?
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That bow has just the right degree of snakiness, combined with the lovely arc of tiller I would have to say this is a mighty sweet piece of work. Nice work, knothead. Can't wait to see what you do for horn nocks!
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That looks sweeeet! Like others have said the tiller looks great.
Thank ya!
Nice tiller for sure. Are the tips all sapwood?
Thank ya Pearl. The tips are actually probably half sap and half heart wood. You just can't see it in the pictures.
That bow has just the right degree of snakiness, combined with the lovely arc of tiller I would have to say this is a mighty sweet piece of work. Nice work, knothead. Can't wait to see what you do for horn nocks!
:) Thank ya JW. Should I flip the tips yall? I really can't make my mind up...
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Man that is looking good, tiller looks great, question,do you plan on tip overlays ? Pretty scarry cutting across the back like that if your not. You are asking the wrong guy on tip flipping,I do on most all of mine,my answer is YES. :)
Pappy
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That's looking good. A bandsaw sure speeds the bowmaking process up doesn't it.
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Nice tiller, so busy looking at that I'd completely forgotten the snakiness!
Cool bow.
Del
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Nice tiller, so busy looking at that I'd completely forgotten the snakiness!
Cool bow.
Del
Me too Del! I was so impressed with the tiller that I had to scroll back up to look at how snaky it is. Cool looking bow. I would flip them a little too.
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sleek, looks like it will be a great shooter for you. Nicely done. Jawge
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Man that is looking good, tiller looks great, question,do you plan on tip overlays ? Pretty scarry cutting across the back like that if your not. You are asking the wrong guy on tip flipping,I do on most all of mine,my answer is YES. :)
Pappy
Thank ya Pappy! To answer your question, I plan to try some horn nocks on this guy. I do have to say though, I have never had any problems with self nocks like this, even on bows up to 110# @ 32" or so. Even on a 70" NTN or so 90# @ 26" hackberry.
That's looking good. A bandsaw sure speeds the bowmaking process up doesn't it.
Thank ya Outlaw. Ha, I tried to rough out one honey suckle stave, very rough, and ended up going farther than I want instantly. ;D It will be a while till I get enough balls to use it on a stave again. (Need to get a good blade on it anyhow.) I am tempted to mill out some hackberry backings though, >:D.
Nice tiller, so busy looking at that I'd completely forgotten the snakiness!
Cool bow.
Del
Thank ya Del!
Nice tiller, so busy looking at that I'd completely forgotten the snakiness!
Cool bow.
Del
Me too Del! I was so impressed with the tiller that I had to scroll back up to look at how snaky it is. Cool looking bow. I would flip them a little too.
Thank ya!
sleek, looks like it will be a great shooter for you. Nicely done. Jawge
Thank ya George!
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amazing work! it looks great!
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Looks good, i've seen a few sapwood backed osage bows and i like the contrast. Makes it resemble yew more.
As for your deflex spot being stiffer, well that's cuz you leave it extra thick (which means the rest of your limb is doing extra work, and being the lower is even more strained :o). While it is easy to make a hinge at a deflex spot, there's no reason you can't have it more uniform and bending with the rest of the bow. However that doesn't mean you'll have a normal curve progression on your limb. A limb that shows a deflex spot unbraced, and no deflex spot at brace/full draw isn't tillered correctly (or should i say, the strain is not distributed throughout the limb as in a limb with no deflex). I see lot's of bows with the deflex "tillered out" in the full draw pic, but i prefer to leave mine in and make it work (or heat it out all together). ;D
My 2cents and i'm no expert. ;)
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amazing work! it looks great!
Thank ya Ionicmuffin!
Looks good, i've seen a few sapwood backed osage bows and i like the contrast. Makes it resemble yew more.
As for your deflex spot being stiffer, well that's cuz you leave it extra thick (which means the rest of your limb is doing extra work, and being the lower is even more strained :o). While it is easy to make a hinge at a deflex spot, there's no reason you can't have it more uniform and bending with the rest of the bow. However that doesn't mean you'll have a normal curve progression on your limb. A limb that shows a deflex spot unbraced, and no deflex spot at brace/full draw isn't tillered correctly (or should i say, the strain is not distributed throughout the limb as in a limb with no deflex). I see lot's of bows with the deflex "tillered out" in the full draw pic, but i prefer to leave mine in and make it work (or heat it out all together). ;D
My 2cents and i'm no expert. ;)
Thank ya Khat. I understand what your saying. I do feel it is important to work the stave according to the profile of the stave, and get the stave working evenly. But when it comes to small delfexed spots, I think it is easy to run into a hinge. I figure there is more than one way to go about it. When you factor everything in, in my eyes it's just not worth it to get everything working to the exact same degree, when dealing with a stave with a deflex. If I did that, I would end up with a strange looking braced profile, with what would appear to be extreme positive tiller, and a good deal of stack due to the deflexed limb bending more. I think it is like starting out with a hinge, and keeping it. I've tried doing that on a couple bows, and IMO it just doesn't usually work out for the best. Instead, when dealing with a stave like this or really any funky stave, I try to get the tiller to look good to the eye as much as possible, and typically it will pull balanced and perform just like it was straight to begin with, I really don't see a difference. You say that the strain is not distributed evenly, but why would you want the strain to be distributed evenly in the first place? So that the bow is stressed evenly and takes set evenly, resulting in a nice performing bow of course. :) But if you make the deflexed spot work, and it takes set, the set it usually will take is huge, and that kills the bow, which kills performance. I don't know, thats just my experience,/2 cents. And I'm no expert either, and plus I'm probably half retarded too. ;)
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Nice lookin bow, dude.
Everyone has their own way of working with staves that are less than perfect. I think of these character bows as more of a piece of art than a bow, so saying that you should have done this or that differently would be no different than telling Picasso that he should have painted a face more symmetrically. The fact is that you made something that shoots an arrow and looks pretty damn cool.
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Whoa now haus, wasn't necessarily saying he did it wrong, just saying that's not the only way. Like you said, each has his own way of dealing with these, but i hope it's acceptable to discuss alternatives, ESPECIALLY for noobs that may be reading these threads from time to time. i also hope that everyone who posts on here is open to, even expecting, constructive criticism. ;)
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Nice lookin bow, dude.
Everyone has their own way of working with staves that are less than perfect. I think of these character bows as more of a piece of art than a bow, so saying that you should have done this or that differently would be no different than telling Picasso that he should have painted a face more symmetrically. The fact is that you made something that shoots an arrow and looks pretty damn cool.
Thank you Cameroo. I appreciate the kind words. :)
Whoa now haus, wasn't necessarily saying he did it wrong, just saying that's not the only way. Like you said, each has his own way of dealing with these, but i hope it's acceptable to discuss alternatives, ESPECIALLY for noobs that may be reading these threads from time to time. i also hope that everyone who posts on here is open to, even expecting, constructive criticism. ;)
No worries here Khat, my ears are always open to any advice or criticism in any thread I post... maybe too open sometimes, where they go in one ear and out the other... maybe thats the problem,... ;D. Well I guess I have decided not to flip the tips, since I was thinking I would probably have to make some new tip flipper forms for this short of a bow, and I guess I was just feeling lazy. So I started putting the horn nocks on this time. I am going to try and do a better job on these nocks than the last time, and try to get rid of that "step" in the transition from wood to horn I had in the top nock. My wife bought me a file that is round on one side, and has a narrow point from a antique store for 6 bucks, and it works like new, and is great for getting the transition smooth without gouging the back of the bow in the process. I have been a bit busy, but sometime soon I should have some more pictures.
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Very cool bow and nice tiller TMK. Want to see this one when it's completo!
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Whoa now haus, wasn't necessarily saying he did it wrong
I didn't mean it like that K-hat, and I wasn't referring to anyone in particular. Of course everyone is free to offer advice and constructive criticism. I'm just sayin, there are lots of ways to look at this, and none are more "right" than the other. It's all good 8)
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:) 8)
Ya that horn/wood transition is a bugger. Decided on my next i'm gonna get the horn as thin/finished as i can before i lay it on. Lookn forward to seeing the finished product TMK
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Ok, finally got around to getting some more pictures of this bow uploaded. I am basically following Del's and Rod from paleoplanets advice on these horn nocks, so thank you guy's both for the knowledge needed to make these darn things!!, :). I used some horn tips I got from off the internet:
(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/Osage%20Snakey%20Longbow/DSCN1380.jpg)
(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/Osage%20Snakey%20Longbow/DSCN1386.jpg)
I used the 3/8" spade bit since the diameter at the tips of this light weight osage bow (in the 60"s NTN as well) is pretty narrow, and I think a 1/2" bit would drill way too deep for the diameter of this bow at the tips.
(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/Osage%20Snakey%20Longbow/DSCN1382.jpg)
(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/Osage%20Snakey%20Longbow/DSCN1387.jpg)
First, I took del's tip and put a piece of tape 6" from the nock for reference. (Never used to do this, clever tip, thank ya, ;D ) Than what I will do to decide where to start making the taper for the nock, is take a tooth pick and shove it into the horn, and mark how deep it goes. Than I take the horn, and hold it up to the tips so that the nock will fall where I want it to on the horn. This is basically what I used to do only, but the tape trick is alot smarter. Anyway, I mark the bottom of the horn nock when holding it where I want it, to where the nock will fall on the horn where I want it, than I take the tooth pick and mark how deep the wood needs to be to match the hole in the horn nock, so I know how much wood to remove and where to start the taper.
(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/Osage%20Snakey%20Longbow/DSCN1399.jpg)
(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/Osage%20Snakey%20Longbow/DSCN1400.jpg)
(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/Osage%20Snakey%20Longbow/DSCN1401.jpg)
(Yes that tip has 3 nocks, your guess is as good as mine.)
Now I will rasp and file the tip to match the horn as closely as possible, and then because I am too lazy and sorry to make a sanding jig, ;), I just shove a piece of sand paper into the horn and use that as a sanding jig. Than I will go back and forth between filing and sanding until I have a good fit with no play. It helps to have a nice wide file when doing this I find, preferably wider than the length of the taper, as a narrow file can make a curve which will not fit if your spade bit is straight like mine. Although, I guess if your spade bit is curved, it probably doesn't matter?
Sandpaper shove in the horn:
(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/Osage%20Snakey%20Longbow/DSCN1388.jpg)
(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/Osage%20Snakey%20Longbow/DSCN1389.jpg)
Sometimes I will tape it there so it doesn't move:
(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/Osage%20Snakey%20Longbow/DSCN1404.jpg)
(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/Osage%20Snakey%20Longbow/DSCN1403.jpg)
Once I have a good fit, I clean off the surfaces, and apply a good bit of gel super glue into the horn. I always make sure to get a good brand too, as some generic gel super glues have ended up failing on me. I will only use loctite anymore, and nothing else. I squish the glue filled horn on the tip, twist it around without pressing down, take it off and wipe off the glue with a damp rag, than put it back on, twist it around a little bit and hold it down tight. If I do this right, I will have just enough glue squeeze out to tell me I got enough glue, but not enough to soak the tip in glue. As always though, I do know too much glue is always better than not enough, :). I hold it in place for about 30 - 45 seconds and it should be good to go.
(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/Osage%20Snakey%20Longbow/DSCN1395.jpg)
(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/Osage%20Snakey%20Longbow/DSCN1397.jpg)
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The first thing I do when shaping em is use this small rounded wood rasp, which seems to work the horn great, to rough out the skirt of the nock:
(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/Osage%20Snakey%20Longbow/DSCN1408.jpg)
(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/Osage%20Snakey%20Longbow/DSCN1407.jpg)
(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/Osage%20Snakey%20Longbow/DSCN1405.jpg)
Rod from paleoplanet pointed out to me how much of a step I left in one of my last nocks, which I agree with him is poor craftsmanship, and on heavier bows could probably get in the way when trying to slip on the string. I wasn't exactly sure what tool to use for getting rid of that step, without cutting into the bow. Luckily, my wife recently bought me a rounded pointed file that works great for doing just that. ;D
(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/Osage%20Snakey%20Longbow/DSCN1410.jpg)
(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/Osage%20Snakey%20Longbow/DSCN1412.jpg)
I use the rounded side turned upwards to get the skirt worked down, which works great since the file is thin and narrow on it's edge, so it is easy to keep from cutting into the wood. After than, I use the pointed part to smooth down the last bits of it to get a good transition. Hopefully these will turn out better.
(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/Osage%20Snakey%20Longbow/DSCN1413.jpg)
(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/Osage%20Snakey%20Longbow/DSCN1425.jpg)
(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/Osage%20Snakey%20Longbow/DSCN1415.jpg)
(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/Osage%20Snakey%20Longbow/DSCN1418.jpg)
Than I shape the rest of the nock with that wood rasp and files. I drilled a hole into this one with a small drill bit for a string keeper, which I think I will actually try out this time.
(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/Osage%20Snakey%20Longbow/DSCN1440.jpg)
(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/Osage%20Snakey%20Longbow/DSCN1444.jpg)
Bottom:
(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/Osage%20Snakey%20Longbow/DSCN1454.jpg)
The nocks are cut first with a small rattail file, and than widened by wrapping some sandpaper around the rattail file. Lastly, I will clamp the tips in a vice and work down the shoulders of the wood right near the tips which were created when fitting the nocks, so it is a smooth taper.
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Nice to see the detailed photos showing the steps, tmk. Good work. Good education.
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Nice to see the detailed photos showing the steps, tmk. Good work. Good education.
Heck, I am being as educated as you are the moment, just coping from (read: plagiarizing) Del's horn nock along, ;D.
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So after that, I sand the bow to 1000 grit, nocks and all, and then I sand only the limbs to 2500. I wanted to try a horn overlay arrow pass on this one, as inlays are still way beyond my level at the moment... or at least I need to grow a bigger pair before I try one out, ;D. But I have been overlaying horn arrow shelfs with a good deal of success, so I thought I would try an arrow pass the same way. At first I had some concern of the overlay coming off during draw if the handle bends too much, but it appears to be A - OK and doesn't wanna come off. I think I will doing these more often. First I took a slice of horn, sanded it flat on both sides, and sanded the shape that I wanted out. I sand it flat by sticking some tape to one side and running it across a big sanding block, or the flat side of my big farriers rasp. Than I take sandpaper, and tape it to the bow over the spot I will be gluing the arrow pass too. Then stick some tape again to the side of the arrow pass to be, and sand against the paper I taped to the bow, until the arrow pass contours itself to the curve of the bow. And then just take a tiny bit of loctite gel superglue and dab it on with a tooth pick. I spread it out even and make sure to remove extra glue, and then stick it to the bow. Any extra glue that squeezes out I clean up real quick with a tooth pick and a damp rag.
(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/Osage%20Snakey%20Longbow/DSCN1457.jpg)
(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/Osage%20Snakey%20Longbow/DSCN1458.jpg)
(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/Osage%20Snakey%20Longbow/DSCN1459.jpg)
(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/Osage%20Snakey%20Longbow/DSCN1463.jpg)
(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/Osage%20Snakey%20Longbow/DSCN1464.jpg)
(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/Osage%20Snakey%20Longbow/DSCN1465.jpg)
(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/Osage%20Snakey%20Longbow/DSCN1467.jpg)
(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/Osage%20Snakey%20Longbow/DSCN1474.jpg)
Next I buff the nocks. I used to use baking soda to buff horn, which worked ok, but nowhere near as good as a simple buffing wheel does. Once again, thank you del for pointing me to the light. ;D Only thing to add I guess is that I put some masking tape on the limbs just under the horn to keep from getting buffing compound on the limbs. I guess that probably goes without saying though... kinda like tying long hair up when using a hand drill goes without saying...
(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/Osage%20Snakey%20Longbow/DSCN1476.jpg)
... ;) Ok, after I took care of that situation, since the bow was already sanded to 2500 and was smoother than smooth, I will smooth it out even more by taking a smooth glass bottle, and burnishing the limbs. It really does not take much pressure to burnish at all when you sand to 1000 grit or more, it is more like just wiping on the shine. When I am done it will shine like glass.
(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/Osage%20Snakey%20Longbow/DSCN1496.jpg)
(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/Osage%20Snakey%20Longbow/DSCN1493.jpg)
(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/Osage%20Snakey%20Longbow/DSCN1486.jpg)
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That Bow is looking GOOD Toomany...
Thank You for posting.
-gus
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That Bow is looking GOOD Toomany...
Thank You for posting.
-gus
Thank ya Gus, ;D. No problem, thank ya for looking.
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Ok, next thing after that is to wax it. For this, I take a bit of beeswax and some cheese cloth. What I do is get the beeswax just a bit warm with a hair drier, and than rub it on the bow by hand. If you just soak the cheese cloth with molten beeswax, you can get smudges and stuff on your bow. The way I do it anyway. I don't heat it to soak it in the bow, if I did that than it probably wouldn't matter. But I prefer a lighter coat of beeswax, as I think the best looking wax finish is a relatively thin coat. Now for a bow that will see alot of weathering, I will do a couple healthy coats of tung oil first before waxing. This one is going to be just beeswax. I rub the beeswax in by hand, by taking the cheese cloth with the beeswax on it, and rubbing it up and down the limbs until it is coated pretty good. Then I take a clean piece of cheese cloth, and buff it up real quick. And then repeat maybe if it needs it.
(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/Osage%20Snakey%20Longbow/DSCN1499.jpg)
(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/Osage%20Snakey%20Longbow/DSCN1501.jpg)
(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/Osage%20Snakey%20Longbow/DSCN1505.jpg)
(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/Osage%20Snakey%20Longbow/DSCN1503.jpg)
Well this bow is complete, but I will have to wait till Thursday or so until I can take some full draw photos, as my ultimate lithium batteries are all dead and I won't be able to get some till then, but here are a couple photos I got taken today before they died. Rod, please let me know what you think of the nocks, I tried my best to get rid of the step I had before, although I do know they are pretty darn oversized for the bow, ::).
(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/Osage%20Snakey%20Longbow/DSCN1553.jpg)
(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/Osage%20Snakey%20Longbow/DSCN1528.jpg)
(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/Osage%20Snakey%20Longbow/DSCN1550.jpg)
(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/Osage%20Snakey%20Longbow/DSCN1532.jpg)
(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/Osage%20Snakey%20Longbow/DSCN1539.jpg)
(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/Osage%20Snakey%20Longbow/DSCN1520.jpg)
(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/Osage%20Snakey%20Longbow/DSCN1558.jpg)
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This guy takes pride in his work, that much is obvious. Nice work, for a knothead! Thanks for sharing!
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Yup, good on ya tmk. She turned out real sweet lookin. I like the horn arrow pass, think i'll do that in the near future.
thanks for taking the time out to do this. I look forward to the money shot!
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Very nice. Gotta say I appreciate the details you give on this stuff. Course I'm long winded myself :)
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Thanks guys! And ain't no need to thank me, build alongs give me something ta do. Thank you for checking it out, ;).
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The dolling up work is looking good,love the tips/grip and stricker plate,very nice work. :)
Pappy
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Finally got a fulldraw picture. Tiller ain't super perfect, but I am going with it. It was a bit weird to tiller as the snakyness made the tiller appear different on each side you look at it.
(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/Osage%20Snakey%20Longbow/DSCN1664.jpg)
(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/Osage%20Snakey%20Longbow/DSCN1660.jpg)
(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/Osage%20Snakey%20Longbow/DSCN1652.jpg)
(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/Osage%20Snakey%20Longbow/DSCN1675.jpg)
(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/Osage%20Snakey%20Longbow/DSCN1677.jpg)
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Looks very good to me,nice job. :)
Pappy
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Well done! That's work to be proud of!
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Thank ya guys!
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You did a heck of a job on that stave. That picture at the top is awesome! :)
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Thank you Cameroo!
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great bow and great build along. the finish work looks excellent too. thanks for taking the time to do this.
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nice work tmk.looks real good.
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Too Many.... beautifully done sir! I enjoyed your humor throughout the build along as well. If you keep this bow around, I would love to see pics of it after the patina sets into the heartwood. Once again, nicely done sir! Josh
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No problem danny, thank ya for looking. :) Thank ya Steve. How have you been doing out there in middletown by the way? Making any bows? By the way, you wantin to get together this spring and cut some bow wood? I never got around to taking you up on that offer the other year before... Gun Doc, thank you Sir, :). I have thought sometimes of aging the bow in my yard in the sun for a couple days to a week maybe before applying the finish... but then I slap myself for wantin it to look like yew, aint nothing wrong with some yellow wood, ;D. lol With my luck some neighbor hood kid would snatch it anyway... haha