Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: silent sniper on May 23, 2018, 09:23:06 pm
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Hey Everyone,
I wanted to show off my first attempt at making a Tri-lam bow. The bow is 65" NTN and draws 55# @ 28".
I glued up a combination of a bamboo back, white oak power lam, double tapered maple core, and a slightly tapered osage belly lam. I used a thickness sander and a taper sled to sand the maple and osage laminations. I then spliced the maple and osage laminations together before gluing the bow up. The handle is made up of thin laminated strips of hickory with a few pieces of jatoba on top for a mix of color. The limb tip overlays are Ipe.
The top limb is 1/2" longer then the bottom.
The bow was glued up with a couple inches of reflex and deflex. The finished bow lost around 1/2 of the reflex and ended up holding 1" rested reflex and only takes 1/4" set while shooting.
Tillering was a bit difficult and I really took my time to ensure I did it correctly. Both limbs have an even tiller for my 3 under release. The bow draws smoothly and shoot well.
The bamboo back was stained with leather dye to create a natural camo. I then stained the rest of the bow with black walnut dye to darken up the osage and make the grain stand out more.
The bow is scribed with the phrase " Aim Small, Miss Small"; which was a phrase my grandpa liked to use.
The Cross on the bow reminds me of everything I have to be thankful for.
Two coats of amber shellac were used to seal up the bow before I applied 6 coats of water based spar.
The bow was finished off with a leather grip and arrow rest and a nice little piece of beavertail leather on the shelf.
After shooting the bow 75-100 times I decided to Chrony it. Drawing 55# at 28", I managed to attain 175 fps with 565 grain arrows and 170 fps with a 601 grain arrow; making this the fastest bow I have built so far.
The bow was a fun challenge to build and is a joy to shoot. If anyone has any suggestions on ways I can improve please do not hesitant to tell me! I definitely see more Tri-Lams in my future!
Photo credit to my wife for taking pictures for me.
Enjoy,SS
bamboo back, unbraced and braced
(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/893/40485130080_40fb6dd5a9_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/24FwSG9)20180520-036A1347-Edit (https://flic.kr/p/24FwSG9) by Taylor Eliot (https://www.flickr.com/photos/142014927@N04/)
Full Draw
(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/952/27422024627_c997b112b5_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/HMc3y4)20180520-036A1416 (https://flic.kr/p/HMc3y4) by
[url=https://flic.kr/p/27r8H12](https://farm1.staticflickr.com/962/42291249261_4315a0fffc_c.jpg) (https://www.flickr.com/photos/142014927@N04/)20180520-036A1427 (https://flic.kr/p/27r8H12) by (https://www.flickr.com/photos/142014927@N04/)
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Here are some more close ups
(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/902/42291254501_25338aa800_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/27r8Jyn)20180520-036A1384 (https://flic.kr/p/27r8Jyn) by
[url=https://flic.kr/p/26koDv3](https://farm1.staticflickr.com/886/41569908424_8ed2d43f91_c.jpg) (https://www.flickr.com/photos/142014927@N04/)20180520-036A1386 (https://flic.kr/p/26koDv3) by
[url=https://flic.kr/p/27r8JPH](https://farm1.staticflickr.com/963/42291255391_e6f3120f3f_c.jpg) (https://www.flickr.com/photos/142014927@N04/)20180520-036A1381 (https://flic.kr/p/27r8JPH) by [url=https://flic.kr/p/HMc8Gv](https://farm1.staticflickr.com/969/27422041937_5ded0be8a2_c.jpg) (https://www.flickr.com/photos/142014927@N04/)20180520-036A1364 (https://flic.kr/p/HMc8Gv) by (https://www.flickr.com/photos/142014927@N04/)
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(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/943/27422016957_dfb3f5ae1f_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/HMc1gP)20180520-036A1441 (https://flic.kr/p/HMc1gP) by [url=https://flic.kr/p/HMc2jv](https://farm1.staticflickr.com/960/27422020477_35d0616f94_c.jpg) (https://www.flickr.com/photos/142014927@N04/)20180520-036A1431 (https://flic.kr/p/HMc2jv) by [url=https://flic.kr/p/27r8G16](https://farm1.staticflickr.com/886/42291245901_b05dc27ae3_c.jpg) (https://www.flickr.com/photos/142014927@N04/)20180520-036A1444 (https://flic.kr/p/27r8G16) by [url=https://flic.kr/p/HMc1GZ](https://farm1.staticflickr.com/951/27422018417_fb9da8e5ef_c.jpg) (https://www.flickr.com/photos/142014927@N04/)20180520-036A1436 (https://flic.kr/p/HMc1GZ) by [url=https://flic.kr/p/26koD7h](https://farm1.staticflickr.com/881/41569907104_0c4afb5644_c.jpg) (https://www.flickr.com/photos/142014927@N04/)20180520-036A1405 (https://flic.kr/p/26koD7h) by (https://www.flickr.com/photos/142014927@N04/)
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Very nice job, excellent lay up and great performance.
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Wowee that's a nice one
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Great job... your tiller looks spot on.
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May I order one of theese? (-S
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Nice work, tiller looks great :)
Not a great fan of stained finishes... but if it's for hunting, fair enough :)
Del
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Nice bow! I like the smoothness and performance of RD's!
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Great job on that bow. Love the stain job on that bamboo back. Excellent tiller!
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Very well done Taylor. You did a great job on the tiller. I bet it shoots great. Some pretty wild grain on that Osage though
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Beautiful work!
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Nice bend and tiller looks great, the grain on the osage would probably kept me from using that board but its some tuff stuff, look forward to seeing more of your work!
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Excellent work SS.I like it.
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That one came out great. That's the shape I look for when I'm building a r/d longbow. I like the shape of the outer limbs at brace and full draw. That style bow makes for a smooth draw and has great performance as you are a witness to. Great job on your 1st attempt! It took me about 5 before I got it to look that good!
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That's a beauty, nice job!
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That looks like you really worked hard on it. Very nice bow and great pictures. I really like that full draw shot.
Way to go, that's a sweet one.
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That's a bow to be proud of. Nice tiller and I think the color of the finish is great.
Nice pictures too! Mike
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I really like the profile of your bow. Excellent job all around.
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Woot woot on that one. It looks fast. Well done.
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Thanks everyone for the nice comments! This bow was fun to build and it sure wont be my last.
SS