Primitive Archer

Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Gingerbeard20 on December 21, 2023, 09:22:42 pm

Title: Red oak board bow (UPDATED)
Post by: Gingerbeard20 on December 21, 2023, 09:22:42 pm
I had posted this on reddit for a tiller check the other day but after seeing stuckininthemuds post about the slow down of new bowyers posting on this forum I thought Id put it up here as well.  Bow is 67.5" tip to tip  2" at the fades to 9/16" at the tip. I did mess with the handle a little sice I posted on reddit not sure if I like where its at or not yet. This will be the 3rd bow i started with number 2 half tillered and gathering dust in the corner. Ill add more pics as i get more work done in the coming weeks for anybody interested in following along.

https://imgur.com/gallery/Y2RHtU9
Title: Re: Red oak board bow
Post by: Pat B on December 22, 2023, 12:19:38 am
Looks good. I would round over the corners more. Less chance of lifting a splinter. Other than that I think you've got a shooter there.  :OK
Title: Re: Red oak board bow
Post by: superdav95 on December 22, 2023, 12:26:35 am
Good looking bow there.  The tiller looks pretty good to me.  The bend is pretty decent looking.  I’m not crazy about the handle but to each their own.  I’m sure it’s comfortable.  The fades area where you have your slope taper seems a bit angular.  I would round that a bit before you go too much further.  My concern is the abrupt change there.  Make it more rounded and smooth of a translation to spread out those stresses.  You mention you think you may have messed up your handle??? What do you mean.  Are you just not happy with the look or placement of it. 
Title: Re: Red oak board bow
Post by: willie on December 22, 2023, 12:58:42 am
  The fades area where you have your slope taper seems a bit angular.  I would round that a bit before you go too much further.  My concern is the abrupt change there.  Make it more rounded and smooth of a translation to spread out those stresses. 

My first glance said the same, but the limb thickness at the abrupt change spot looks to be a bit thicker than compared to an inch or so further out?  If so that thickness helps.

If you decide to smooth out that abrupt spot, sand the radius back into the handle without reducing any limb thickness in that area and I think you will be ok.

Looks good. I would round over the corners more. Less chance of lifting a splinter. Other than that I think you've got a shooter there.  :OK
the corners on the back are especially critical for rounding.  radiused at least like a round pencil and smooth

tiller looks good but its hard to judge the finer aspects with the cluttered background. 
Title: Re: Red oak board bow
Post by: Gingerbeard20 on December 22, 2023, 03:22:38 am
Quote
I'm not crazy about the handle but to each their own.  I'm sure it’s comfortable.

I'm not really sure how I feel about it either, its fairly comfortable but not really what I had envisioned. I may end up taking the butt looking part down some more.

Quote
My first glance said the same, but the limb thickness at the abrupt change spot looks to be a bit thicker than compared to an inch or so further out?  If so that thickness helps.


You are correct it is thicker just past the hard angle. Its what the drawing I was working off of suggested. But i will definitely smooth that out some there.

Quote
the corners on the back are especially critical for rounding.  radiused at least like a round pencil and smooth

tiller looks good but its hard to judge the finer aspects with the cluttered background.

I will get them rounded off more, they are slightly rounded but I wasn't sure how much is to much. A pencil is a great reference thank you. Sorry about the clutter the only clear walls I have are outside lol when the weather is bad I generally work in my kitchen (somewhat to my wife's displeasure) and set my tillering stick up in the bedroom. A work shop type space is high on my to do list.


Thank you all for your suggestions they are greatly appreciated!
Title: Re: Red oak board bow
Post by: SLIMBOB on December 22, 2023, 10:48:43 am
Nice job. Round the corners before you get this far down the road on one, but overall, this looks good.
Title: Re: Red oak board bow
Post by: Kidder on December 23, 2023, 03:09:39 am
Nice job! To follow up on Superdavs comment - draw your fades with some sort of curved form - like a cut off blade or coffee can, and cut to shape. Solid looking build for number 3.
Title: Re: Red oak board bow
Post by: JW_Halverson on December 25, 2023, 12:07:59 pm
Sweet bends on those limbs. Ought to work just fine!
Title: Re: Red oak board bow
Post by: mmattockx on December 25, 2023, 12:20:24 pm
The fades area where you have your slope taper seems a bit angular.  I would round that a bit before you go too much further.

draw your fades with some sort of curved form - like a cut off blade or coffee can, and cut to shape.

OP, this is more what you want for your fades. Instead of a straight angle you want it to gently transition to nothing on the limb, with no sharp corner or abrupt change.

(https://i.imgur.com/VYsfldZ.jpg)


I agree with the others, the tiller looks very nice. I don't go as far as most rounding the corners on the back at less than a 1/8" radius, but the sharper the corner the higher the risk that it will lift a splinter.


Mark
Title: Re: Red oak board bow
Post by: superdav95 on December 25, 2023, 12:58:40 pm
They say a picture says a thousand words.  This is what I was trying to explain in my reply to op post.  This picture says it better. 
Title: Re: Red oak board bow
Post by: willie on December 25, 2023, 05:54:00 pm

OP, this is more what you want for your fades....



Mark
Have you posted this bow in a different topic? I would like to comment about your handle without hijacking Gingerbeards redoak topic

Title: Re: Red oak board bow
Post by: mmattockx on December 26, 2023, 01:48:12 pm
Mark
Have you posted this bow in a different topic? I would like to comment about your handle without hijacking Gingerbeards redoak topic

Hey willie,

It is from a couple years ago:

http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,70862.msg994666.html#msg994666


Mark
Title: Re: Red oak board bow (UPDATE)
Post by: Gingerbeard20 on December 26, 2023, 03:52:04 pm
I got the fades smoothed in somewhat and the back corners rounded over. Ended up right where I wanted it at 30lb and 28", took about 1& 1/18" set immediately after unstrung that relaxes out to about 1/2 after a few hours. I think it still ended up a little stiff in the inner 1/3s and bottom limb ended up with a little more movement than the top, at brace its about an 1/8" higher at the bottom of the handle than the top. All in all I'm not to upset for my second completed bow maybe Ill go back and see if I can finish the second one I started now. Ill post some more pictures one I get a finish on it and maybe a handle wrap.

https://imgur.com/gallery/uMQ9aey
Title: Re: Red oak board bow (UPDATED)
Post by: Muskyman on December 26, 2023, 06:36:12 pm
Looking good to me Ginger. Always hard to tell from pictures but it kinda looks like your bottom limb has a little more bend than the top.. still much better than my first few attempts. I don’t have the experience that most on here have, not even close. Lots of really good bowyers on here. Keep up the good work.
Also the wife must be a keeper, mine would chase me out of the kitchen if I tried that. :BB
Title: Re: Red oak board bow (UPDATE)
Post by: willie on December 26, 2023, 07:21:24 pm
I think it still ended up a little stiff in the inner 1/3s and bottom limb ended up with a little more movement than the top, at brace its about an 1/8" higher at the bottom of the handle than the top. All in all I'm not to upset for my second completed bow


I think your evaluation is correct. spreading out the bend more will help with the set
are you in a humid part of the country? sometimes bow recovering from set means your wood could be drier.  Another reason is that the wood may have gotten overworked early on in the tiller process if you were pulling too hard or the bend was too concentrated in one part of the limb.
Seeing correct bend at brace height is what I try to achieve, but I have found it challenging.
I would expect that those dimensions with redoak with a target draw weight of 30# could be done withless strain on the wood.

looks like some nice  bow wood is available without having to walk to far from your front door. better choices than redoak boards
Title: Re: Red oak board bow (UPDATED)
Post by: superdav95 on December 26, 2023, 07:23:07 pm
Congrats!  That’s looks and sounds like a smooth shooter.  Well done.  It sounds well balanced.  Bend looks good too. 
Title: Re: Red oak board bow (UPDATE)
Post by: Gingerbeard20 on December 26, 2023, 10:40:25 pm
I think it still ended up a little stiff in the inner 1/3s and bottom limb ended up with a little more movement than the top, at brace its about an 1/8" higher at the bottom of the handle than the top. All in all I'm not to upset for my second completed bow


I think your evaluation is correct. spreading out the bend more will help with the set
are you in a humid part of the country? sometimes bow recovering from set means your wood could be drier.  Another reason is that the wood may have gotten overworked early on in the tiller process if you were pulling too hard or the bend was too concentrated in one part of the limb.
Seeing correct bend at brace height is what I try to achieve, but I have found it challenging.
I would expect that those dimensions with redoak with a target draw weight of 30# could be done withless strain on the wood.

looks like some nice  bow wood is available without having to walk to far from your front door. better choices than redoak boards


Im in the western part of maryand, we have had a real wet winter so far but I heat with wood so the humidity stays pretty low in my house. I never pulled it over 30lb I use a luggage scale when tillering but I had alot of initial movement in the outer thirds and I think that is what caused my set. I have a few reasonably clean maple staves Im going to start work on soon hopefully but the board bow seemed like a good tillering exercise since i didnt have to deal with any character in the wood. It was a fun build now hopefully I can finish the hickory mollegabet i have started then move on to a new peice. I dont have high hopes for it though I made some poor design choices and it already has set halfway tillered but Ill finish ot out and see what happens it bugs my leaving it half done.
Title: Re: Red oak board bow (UPDATED)
Post by: Kidder on December 26, 2023, 10:47:49 pm
Awesome work! Personally I’d probably get the bend a little more into the fades but you’ll also realize you can tiller a bow to nothing. Looks like it shoots great which means you are at a fine place to call it done if you so choose. Either way that’s a bow to be proud of!
Title: Re: Red oak board bow (UPDATED)
Post by: M2A on December 27, 2023, 08:17:40 am
Congrats! Wish my 2nd bow looked that good. Looks well balanced, nice even bend, in the video.
Mike
Title: Re: Red oak board bow (UPDATED)
Post by: Gingerbeard20 on March 10, 2024, 09:12:25 pm
Finally got a couple of better pictures to share with yall. Got a few 100 shots through now and nothing bad has happened so I'll take it as a win. Thank you everybody who helped and gave advice along the way. https://imgur.com/gallery/NBq0kG9
Title: Re: Red oak board bow (UPDATED)
Post by: Pappy on March 11, 2024, 09:45:03 am
Looks mighty fine to me, well done, love the color. :)
 Pappy
Title: Re: Red oak board bow (UPDATED)
Post by: bentstick54 on March 11, 2024, 06:00:35 pm
Very nice bow. Well done sir.