Whole barrel of wrong... (w/pics, of course)

[Frode]

Hi all,
After reading here about belly lams, and yumi bow construction, and such, I got the itch to experiment.
I had some 1/8" hickory backing and some overnight epoxy, which I wrapped and wedged, sort of yumi style.  Tap the wedges in under the cord wraps, bend to suit, and tap the wedges in tighter.  So far, so good.



After the epoxy cured overnight, I epoxied in a couple of short lams to stiffen up the grip area.  I seemed like a nice, mild reflex/deflex shape, something new for me.



Next, trimmed down to shape, add couple of tip overlays, so I could go narrow on the tips (and because I kinda like doing overlays these days).
And here's where it gets nasty.  Nasty tiller (many modifications), nasty twist.  String tracks just off center, not enough to claim "center shot".






Weighing in at a whopping 20#@24", 1 1/2" wide at the fades tapering down to, oh, let's say, 5/16" at the tips.  64" ntn.  And yet, it shoots nice!    Smooth, fast, predictable, I can't explain it.  Must be good hickory.

As always, I enjoy your observations,
Frode

[HatchA]

Hmmm.....


That's all I got 

[Frode]

Hmmm.....


That's all I got 

  That was kind of my first thought too, Hatch, but I went with more of a 
Frode

[Pat B]

Frode, the string and wedge method is an excellent way to get a good glue up and preshape the stave without using a form. I think experience will prove this to you even if this try didn't have ideal results.

[Frode]

Frode, the string and wedge method is an excellent way to get a good glue up and preshape the stave without using a form. I think experience will prove this to you even if this try didn't have ideal results.

Pat,
That's good to hear, I did enjoy the process.  Looking back, there were a lot of hacks in the project; the glue surfaces were good but the other sides of the strips still had band saw marks, which made tapping the wedges in harder than necessary, the wedges were cheap (!) soft pine, and crushed during use, and I'm sure I rushed the bending process for fear the glue would set to quickly (no worries in this case, but I've been stung before).
Another plus, the wedges gave the most consistent glue line I gotten, to date!  Also, I think if I had some scrap clamped across the tips I'd be better able to see any twist and fix it before it was too late.
I think I'll definitely give this another go! 
Frode