Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => HowTo's and Build-a-longs => Topic started by: Roger on November 01, 2006, 11:00:45 pm
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I didn't see a proper place to post this other than here. Maybe some of us can give insite to some up and comming bowyers that can save them some frustration and possibly money.
Here are some things I've picked up or discovered that have helped me in the crafting of bows:
1) Use a geometric grid of some kind behind your tiller set-up. It will give instant feedback at a glance as to how the bow is bending.( no tiller sticks...LOL)
2) Always make your overall dimensions slightly larger than you want if using power tools and reduce slowly by hand. You'll be glad you did if a tool slips or you make a boo-boo.
3) If your rasps are loading up during use...chalk them and brush with a brass brush.
4) If you use a belt sander...spend the coin and get a dressing/cleaning stick. They extend the life of your sanding belts by two fold.
5) Sanding...I have found that if you use moderate pressure and let the sandpaper do the work, it will go smoother and last longer. Also step down your paper grits gradually. Don't try to remove tool marks with 200 grit paper. It WILL work but you'll use twice as much and rub twice as long.
6) Removing heavy tool marks...A flat bastard mill file will quickly take those guys down and leave a nice surface to sand.
7) When preparing/stitching leather grips. Cut your leather and fold over and glue the top and bottom for a nice rolled edge. Lay artificial sinew or dental floss inside the fold when you glue them down with the excess hanging out of the edges. When you install, just bring up the tags and tie them to line up the top and bottom edges for a neat fit with no holes.
8) Tip overlays...If you bevel the inboard contact edge before installing you won't gouge the mating surface when sanding after application.
9) Backings... make your backings SLIGHTLY concave with your gooseneck scraper. This will insure a tight seam line at the edges when you apply clamping pressure.
These tips may not be for everyone and is just one way of doing things...I hope this can be of help to someone trying to make a bow.... ;D ;D
Lets get some input from you guru's...I always learn something.
Roger
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Thanks Roger. This is a good post.
...If you find yourself getting agrivated or your mind is wandering, put your tools down and go do something else. Come back when you can concentrate on what you're doing.
...save all your mistakes. As you learn more about building bows these "orphans" are a wealth of knowledge. Pat
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Roger, I would pretty much put you in the category of very knowledeable guys, But I have a question about the backing and concaving, is this mainly when clamps are used or do you also use this method with innertubes, also are you using urac type glues or tightbonds? very good post! Steve
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Steve,
I mostly use Urac for glue ups. On the last one however I used TB with identical prep to the backing. The results have been good so far.
As far as clamps, I use both depending on the application. For straight reflex I just use clamps. For D/R designs, I use a combo of both. I split the bike tubes a wrap "mummy" style, using clamps to secure the blank to the form.
It takes very little scraping to achieve the desired results.
R
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I think one of the most important things a bowyer can do is buy a good wood working vise that will hold a stave still and allow the use of both hands. With a good vise, you will build more, better bows.
Here's an inexpensive 10" vise that would get the job done:
http://da.harborfreight.com/cpisearch/web/attributeSearch.do
J. D. Duff
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When using a bandsaw, you will often find that the blade will lean a bit instead of remaining perfectly perpendicular to the piece. I think it generally wants to lean away from the saw, it is trying to become circular again and is fighting the guides. If you aren't careful, you'll cut to the line which you are following on top of the piece, only to find that the cut is either a bit inside, or a bit outside, where you want it on the bottom side. I've had to deal with a few parallelogram cross sections in my day.
You can minimize the above, by setting your guides as close to the piece as possible. The closer the guides, the less lean you will get. The piece has to fit through of course, sodon't cut it too close or a lsightly thicker section might make you have to shut it down and adjust.
Oh and don't eat yellow snow in your shop.
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I built myself a bench that is a variation of a shaving horse. The stave can be clamped to the top rail and can be moved along it, allowing you to easily work from one end to the other by sliding the stave under the seat. Tyler built a similar bench with an angled top rail that is much nicer on the back while working. I find this preferable to the vice, you just have to make the belly of the stave somewhat flat and square to the back before it can be clamped. Fred
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I know we've had the tillering stick vs tillering tree conversation, however; I use both. I clamp my bow in a vice (using a towel around the handle so I don't mar the wood) to remove wood with the tillering stick suspended above the handle (though it still rests on it) via machinist wire so it's pretty much hands free and safe. I then teach the bow to bend on the tree to help it to learn what I'm asking of it and exercise it to see what my wood removal has done. I go back and forth...
Make a hot box and keep your wood dry. Put a rheostat and temp gauge in it so you don't over bake it.
Don't bring in 'green' wood from the woods without a dusting of Sevin dust to ensure you don't get a wood borer infestation in your prime collection.
Don't be afraid of screwing up...it happens regardless of how long you've made bows so start removing wood.
Tiller slower on white woods...they're less forgiving of 'tillering rush' than woods such as Osage...
Make a heat gun set up that Marc StLouis posted in PA magazine; saves hand/wrist cramping and allows you to drink beer (or other cold beverages) while you slowly move the device along.
Only use kitchen utensils or gadgetry that the wife has pre-approved. Cheers, P1.
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Good post Roger.
I see a lot of people pull scrapers. But you can push one with two hands and have a lot of control. With your thumbs in the backside of the scrapper you can flex it to work a concave surface or for doing some precise work with it. I also round the corners of my scrapers for comfort, and the rounded corners also take the place of a gooseneck scraper.
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I dont have much to offer as for shortcuts and tips, but love hearing them. Kenneth
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Hey Kenneth-What a work ethic-haha-bob
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When I started limiting my tool kit to only a few tools, my bows turned out better. My main tool kit contains a draw knife, a couple of wood rasps(one 4 way, a farriers, a #49 Nichols{thanks TomB} and a scraper. I still use a band saw to eliminate excess bulk but from floor tiller until the first shot I mainly use a scraper with an occasional hit with a rasp.
This has slowed down my process but has given my mind a chance to keep up, and for me, that's very important.
One thing that I don't do enough of is experimenting with "other" woods. For those that do, thanks! If all we had was osage and yew for bows, just think what all of us would be missing. Primitive man used what was available not what everyone told him to use. Pat
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Pat, i think thats good advice, I have really leaned out my tool boxes as well. Even though a moisture meter is not primitive i really recomend getting one if you can afford it, I have had many surprises regarding moisture that were less than desirable. Someone a few years ago posted a primitive moisture meter, it let you know when wood was too damp or dry i think but for the life of me cannot remeber how he did it, anybody here remember, I do know there were not a lot of responses to the thread. Steve
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I think it was Jim Hamm who mentioned that the weight of the wood would decrease when moisture escapes. In that light, you could weigh the bow until it stops losing weight and know you're where you need to be. Is that it?
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When making bows from staves, I first layout the front view (view when the bow would be resting on its belly, and looking at it from directly above). We cut out the excess wood using a bandsaw...when cutting along the limbs I cut outside the line with these initial cuts. After cutting around the front view using this technique, I then layout the fades and limb thickness leaving them on the heavy side which I vary depending on the bow wood and type of bow. When using the band saw to cut out the limb thicknesses, I cut on the outer edge of the line and angle the stave when cutting the limbs to ensure that I'm thick enough on the lower edge that is resting on the bandsaw table. I make four cuts, on along each limb edge, which when finished will leave a crown on the belly. I then remove the majority of the crown carefully with the bandsaw.
At this point I step my way through the rasps, and finally scrappers to get down to my lines. Using the scrappers last ensure that all saw cut marks are removed when you reach your bow layout lines. Then after a session with the roughed in bow on a form for straightening and reflexing, I'm ready for floor tillering, then using the tillering board to get to brace height, and finally the tillering tree for finishing the tiller.
Greg
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Y'all know how you amass tools-well i do anyway. I think Pat b gave really good feedback! I learned how to make wooden bows with a hachet and a knife. Though the years i acquired a bandsaw,Scrapers,spokeshave,rasps blah-blah-blah.Things went faster sure ,but i made more mistakes (mind wasnt catching up with hands-like pat b said) and the thrill was gone so to speak. After a while I went back to a hachet and knife added a rasp and guess what-my work improved and the thrill was back- took longer-so what-for me a very peaceful pre-columbian attitude. Maybe this would appeal to others-dont know -we live in a fast pace modern world.-bob
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ttt
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here's a few shop tips from our millwork shop.
Saw tables: try applying paste wax (such a minwax trewax) to your table saw top and buff it with a clean rag. wood slides easier for more accurate cuts with less binding.
vice: epoxy or screw hardwood to the inside of a vice if you're going to clamp finished or sanded wood in the vice (i use oak in mine). I've never had trouble with a vice marring wood this way.
Router table: a makeshift joiner can be made with a router screwed to the bottom of a home-made table. drill a hole in the center of the table for the router bit to stick through. clamp a board to the table if you want a fence. you can use many different bits for different things. roundovers and plain cutting bits are two i use often. the fence and a cutting bit can used to rough out a stave in a hurry if the grain is straight.
hope this helps somebody.
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Chalking the rasp HMMM
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1). Wax your bow form and work tool tables. It helps the material to move, prevents rust and prevents glue from adhering where it shouldn't.
2). Use pencil marks to mark areas that need removal before sanding or scraping so you can see the progress you make.
3). Let the tool do the work. If you find yourself forcing the tool, it needs sharpening, cleaning or new paper.
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This all great advice, thanks guys
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use disposable latex or exam gloves when using glues, sealers, etc, and when building bows out of staves and boards get an outside caliper, it will save you time and headache and almost make your bows foolproof, when the user isnt too tired to be making bows,save your sawdust for later boo boos on the your bows.
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I use harsh incandescent light bulbs at low angles and over head when working with fine lines and looking for tool marks the over head ones help follow the lines and the low angle ones help tool marks show up. There is something missing in flourescent light and there is a difference in the two. Ronnie
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Making bows at 3 am isnt a good idea when you have a razor sharp drawknife at your belly >:D,
Experience can teach you better than any established education ;).
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Band saws; get some cool blocks, or if you're cheap like me cut your guide blocks out of hardwood, maple is good. set them up so that they are touching your blade. Set your thrust bearings so that they are 1/32" off the back of the blade with no load on the saw, you'll find your cuts are easier to control and that your blade wants to wander less.
Cabinet Scraper; you don't scrape with them, Think rather that they are a plane that cuts really fine, sharpen them properly and you'll get a super fine shaving as you push or draw them across your work, hold them at a slight angle to their direction of travel say 10 degrees off perpendicular.
Good sharpening stones are worth every penny you pay. and more