Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: DC on November 24, 2016, 02:31:00 pm
-
I made this splice and now I'm doubting the wisdom of it. The grain goes across the points. I marked where the grain runs with a pencil. I'm thinking of flattening the back and gluing on another piece of sapwood. What would be an acceptable weight to draw it to to test the splice. It's not floor tillered yet and I'll be shooting for 40ish pounds.
-
If its not bending then i would think youd be fine. You can do as you say and add a lam both on the back and front if you want a little insurance/comfort.
-
Yeah, I think a lam along the back would add some security, doesn't need to be thick 1/8 to 3/16 would be fine.
Better safe than sorry.
Del
-
I would want to see how your fade transition is first.
-
I don't think you will have a problem but I always flatten the back and glue on a piece to build up the handle as well as add a bunch more glue surface to the splice.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/ekrewson/bow%20making/limbreplacement11.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/ekrewson/media/bow%20making/limbreplacement11.jpg.html)
-
I would want to see how your fade transition is first.
I haven't done any real shaping yet. It's a real odball arrangement. Just because of the shape there will be a normal fade on one limb but the other bends very sharply into delex so it will look like the fade is on the back. I glued a bamboo lam to the back of the splice. When it's cured I'll think about putting one on the belly. it's a couple of snakey billets I've had for a few years. Heaviest yew I've felt. I can't see the rings in the sapwood and the first 1/4" of heartwood has over 30 rings. Then they thicken up to 20 or so in the next 1/4".
-
I would use some hard wood lams for sure.
-
I would tiller it out to no more than 50lbs just to be cautious, then lay down a bed of epoxy glue on the handle section and bind it up with a couple of courses of unwaxed twine, then run the whole area down with glue, working it into the fibres. Sets rock hard and waterproof.
-
Looks like a proper splice to me.
-
If I had to be critical then I would say the gluelines look a bit thick and the points should go to the bottom of the v's but hard to tell from here :)
Did you steam the pieces and clamp them together before gluing? That is the real trick to getting them perfect it you can't get there without it.
As said wrapping it serving thread or similar strong thread and soaking in epoxy is a good insurance policy.
-
I started with one different billet and boiled and clamped those two together. I didn't like the way the on limb looked(had a lengthwise split that was getting to close to the edge)so I scrapped that one and cut a new splice on a new billet. The joint seemed so good I didn't bother to boil the second try. Yes the points seemed to have slipped out a bit but they go in much deeper than the picture shows. I think what you're seeing is epoxy that hasn't been sanded out yet. The tips were buried a bit because I glued a bit of reflex in. I don't like the idea of drilling and dowelling. The bamboo splint went on nice though :D. You can see how one fade is up and one fade is down in the picture. I know I'm putting a lot of work into the handle before I start tillering but I want to be confident it's not going to come apart.
-
Just wrap it with glass. It's not making the working part break any "rules". Metal sleeve, glass sleeve, permanent glass sleeve. What's the difference?
-
That's a thought. I've got some carbon fiber tow that I could wrap it with. It would be very thin, maybe 20 thou, and a handle wrap would cover it. I don't think I'll do a splice in grain like that again. Too much thinkin' ;D
-
That's your best bet.
-
My first splice I ever did looked worse than that and that bow held together just fine. Nowadays I just use a simple V-splice.
-
How about some pictures of the entire bow?
-
This will probably jinx it ;D ;D
-
Thank you. I was hoping it would look something like that. Good luck with it.
-
I'm a rootin for ya DC!!!!You've come this far.Is that osage?
-
Yew, I'll need all the rootin' I can get ;D
-
One tip to stop things sliding when you clamp is to do your glue-up on top of a scrap board. Clamp both limbs to this (padded of course) and fit your splices together, then when you are happy everything is in the right place clamp the joint itself.
that is quite a wiggley stave! Good luck with it!
-
One tip to stop things sliding when you clamp is to do your glue-up on top of a scrap board. Clamp both limbs to this (padded of course) and fit your splices together, then when you are happy everything is in the right place clamp the joint itself.
that is quite a wiggley stave! Good luck with it!
Thanks Mike. One of my workbenches is an old door. I'll make up a couple of blocks that I can clamp to it to hold the billets in place.
-
I love bows like this. very challenging to follow the back with the belly and decide if the sides shall be perpendicular to the back at all times, etc. I have said this here before, and I will say it again: for me, the key to tillering staves like this is to draw straight lines on the sides of the bow. these serve as a visual reference to judge the bend of a bow with wavy edges a.k.a. rollercoasters. I draw a series of 6 inch line segments down the length of the bow on both sides from tip to tip. Once braced- these lines can act just like having the infamous "tillering gizmo" we all love for straight staves. You can hold a straight edge up to the lines when braced. the pencil line plus straight edge will make a "d" shape, and by measuring the width of the d, you can compare the tiller of various parts of the bow
see: http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,36145.msg475068.html#msg475068
-
... and I would laminate a handle riser on there to further back up the splice. It would be a shame to loose such a lovely bow as that could be.
-
Well it broke but the splice held ;D It looks like I miss read the grain but it was a very narrow piece of wood to start with. That crook you can see at the right of the break was causing the limb to twist and a crack formed. I tried to CA it but it let go at 40#@26". I couldn't(was afraid to) straighten the crook because there is a knot right on the inside of the bend. It was very close to center shot and I did get to shoot it a few times.
-
That's a shame. At least you know the splice wasn't the weak spot.
-
I found a replacement limb in my stash so the spice will get a second chance. The one that broke was the worst half of the spice so it's kind of a lose/ win thing ;D
-
>:( .. .
We are a stubborn bunch us bowyers ... good luck with the new limb
Del
-
Yes sorry to see that but I see you fall into the catagory of being more persistant than smart like a lot of us.Good luck.It can happen that's for sure.