Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: OffTiller on August 26, 2014, 08:07:17 pm
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Hey guys, i am starting on a hickory backed black walnut flat bow. I have a thin strip of hickory from last bow but it varies in thickness. If i hand plane it even, how perfect does the thickness need to be, and do i need to worry about anything lifting if i use a hand planer. and what can i use to smooth the backing to keep anything from lifting.
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Sanding might be easier if you have a belt sander. If you have to plane it be sure you go with the grain.
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thanks, and obviously use the sanded side for the glue up?
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As long as the backing is quarter sawn or rift sawn, you can sand or plane it even after you've glued it to the walnut. A thin and flexible strip is difficult to reduce by hand. Just make sure you have one flat surface so you can glue it to the belly wood.
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makes sense, I was thinking 1/8" thickness. should i also trap the backing if using BW? and if so how do i do that with BW?
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You'll want to trap it after glue up too. Then, trap it from back to belly with the belly being wider. You can probably bring each side of each limb in 1/8" or slightly more on the back.
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great, that gives me a great place to start. really grateful to both of you.
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so i took the clamps off my boards today and on one side of the bow past a fade the glue has shrunk and caused a gap on edge of the boards. to get a better idea, lets say it's the top limb on the right side (as an example) my goal was to do an ALB but if i cant figure out how to fix the gap, i feel i might have to cut this into a pyramid bow and hope the gap doesn't run to the middle of my glue up. any suggestions? thanks.
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Heat it up, take the backer off, clean it up and reglue, get some bike innertubes and wrap vs,.clamp
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2x
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so obviously TB3 shrinks as it dries. would another glue be better for backing with woods?
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No.
Nothing wrong with titebond 3.
It has just been improperly clamped by you. You need at least 30 clamps to make them work, but a much better technique is to use bike inner tubes as elastic bands.
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so just cut em' to length and use a square knot? since tighbond need air maybe wrap around every 4-6 inches. would that be enough
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Your glue up needs even distribution of clamping force more than big gaps for air. Little gaps between the wraps of bike tubes is enough. Do a search for bike tube and see how some of the other guys use em. If I was gluing on a backing that was 1/8" thick, I would leave gaps no bigger than 1/4" in my bike tube wraps. Hope that helps. Leave em long and tuck the end and start another. In my opinion, air will get in there.
John D.
Boise
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i have seen those set ups before, just didn't stick and now i'm kicking myself for it, i'm gonna give it another go. thanks.