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Author Topic: Hackberry recurve build along, real time hopefully. ** DONE **  (Read 175756 times)

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Offline PEARL DRUMS

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Re: Hackberry recurve build along, real time hopefully.
« Reply #45 on: March 24, 2012, 03:37:07 pm »
Day 4 - 1 hour

The recurves and reflex came out great. This bow is very straight and flat. I clamped a piece of twine on center of each end and eye balled it. I realize its 5-6" off the bow, but it still helps some. As you can see I have no adjustments to make.....yet.


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Offline PEARL DRUMS

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Re: Hackberry recurve build along, real time hopefully.
« Reply #46 on: March 24, 2012, 03:42:06 pm »
I am different than most in that I prefer to finsih my tips before I begin to tiller or sinew a bow. Its just my thing and it works. Now that the statics are bent in I can narrow the tips closer to where I want them. I went back 8" from each tip and narrowed them to 3/4" wide for now. You can see why I love a very flexible ruler. It forms right to the curves for tracing perfect taper lines.

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Offline coaster500

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Re: Hackberry recurve build along, real time hopefully.
« Reply #47 on: March 24, 2012, 03:44:27 pm »
Looking great Chris!!!
 
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Offline PEARL DRUMS

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Re: Hackberry recurve build along, real time hopefully.
« Reply #48 on: March 24, 2012, 03:52:06 pm »
I chose cherry for my tip overlays. Both the bow wood and overlays where harvested here in Michigan. I like to prep my tip overlays as much as possible before I glue them down. I dont want to mess with the area where the back and overlays meet if I dont have to. I sand the taper right to a sharp edge. I use my scraper to gently flatten the back without going through a ring. There is no right or wrong length to make your overlays. I used 1" long for this bow because the statics are short. Be sure to always apply glue to BOTH surfaces with any application. I very lightly clamp the ovrlays as to not squeeze all my glue out.

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Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught will we realize we cannot eat money.

Offline PEARL DRUMS

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Re: Hackberry recurve build along, real time hopefully.
« Reply #49 on: March 24, 2012, 04:01:26 pm »
I have enough sinew to apply two light layers to the working section of the limb only. Which is fine by me. The recurves need no help and the extra weight isnt needed. I plan on sinewing the center 30" of the bow. I like to soak my dried sinew in a sink of water a second time. It loosens up more of the unwanted crud and makes for sinew that frays on the ends more, which makes for a smooth backing. After a 90 minute soak I use my fillet knife to scrape the pieces again. Then I lay them on wax paper to dry. They seem to stick right flat to it, I like that. I will let it dry down again for a few days and begin the process of applying it.
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Offline lesken2011

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Re: Hackberry recurve build along, real time hopefully.
« Reply #50 on: March 24, 2012, 06:45:34 pm »
I just can not wait to see this one finished! Looking real good Pearl.
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blackhawk

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Re: Hackberry recurve build along, real time hopefully.
« Reply #51 on: March 24, 2012, 08:14:34 pm »
starting to look like a bow. are you going to trap the back?
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Offline PEARL DRUMS

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Re: Hackberry recurve build along, real time hopefully.
« Reply #52 on: March 24, 2012, 08:36:07 pm »
Quote from: blackhawk on March 24, 2012, 08:14:34 pm
starting to look like a bow. are you going to trap the back?

Since I dont have enough sinew to really stack it up I dont think it will be any problem leaving the back as is.
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Offline PEARL DRUMS

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Re: Hackberry recurve build along, real time hopefully.
« Reply #53 on: March 25, 2012, 11:26:25 am »
Day 5 - 90 minutes

Its not all that hard to get your hands a nice set of TIP'S........ ;)  Patience and thoughtfullness work well here. They are more "drawn" out and symmetrical than most other parts of the bow build. The first thing I do is find my center and mark it. Then taper the width to my liking, there are no hard ands fast rules there. Keep in mind I'm only roughing them in for now. I then flip the bow over and drew a line that bisects my glue joint. The picture is miserable, but I think you can see the pencil line I'm talking about. That is my bottom angle. I use my Shinto for all my rough tip work. When I'm happy with the basic shape I use my good ol' sanding block and 50 grit to smooth out my tool marks and tune the shape up a little more. Ready for temporary string grooves.

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Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught will we realize we cannot eat money.

Offline PEARL DRUMS

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Re: Hackberry recurve build along, real time hopefully.
« Reply #54 on: March 25, 2012, 11:35:27 am »
String grooves are a very important part of any bow you build. They must be in line with one another to prevent limb twisting, or even strings flying off if they are bad enough. Static  recurves are especially sensitive to this. I don't use any hard and fast rules for finding my initial groove line. I just eyeball it and find a solid looking area for the string to ride and mark it on the appropriate angle. The harder the tips are flipped or recurved the more horizontal your grooves need to be. Once I get one side half cut in with my chainsaw file I flip the bow over and lay the file in that half round and use it to line up my other side. This helps keep them right on line. When I'm happy with my alignment and depth I will roll up some 50 grit and gently clean out the grooves and round off sharp edges. Again these tips are beefy and temporary, but they still need to be smooth as to not cut your tiller or build strings.
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Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught will we realize we cannot eat money.

Offline PEARL DRUMS

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Re: Hackberry recurve build along, real time hopefully.
« Reply #55 on: March 25, 2012, 11:40:09 am »
Its been 3 days since I tempered the belly. I was going to hold off until tomorrow to get her low braced and tillered. I believe today is a better day just because. I dont think the bow will know the difference and hackberry prefers to be extra dry anyway. I like to get my bows tillered to 10-12" before I sinew them. I hope that translates to less suprises later. The bow now has tips and is ready to go. Its still perfectly straight. A low brace will tell me MUCH more about alignment. We shall see! If it needs corrections I can still use my heat gun to tweak it.
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Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught will we realize we cannot eat money.

Offline PEARL DRUMS

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Re: Hackberry recurve build along, real time hopefully.
« Reply #56 on: March 25, 2012, 01:47:25 pm »
Day - 5 sesssion two -  90 minutes

I have the bow tillered to 15" at a 3" brace. The weight is right where it should be and I see no reason I cant get a 50-55# bow. I like to use my tree only for the first few long string checks. After I get the bow braced I prefer to use my vice and wood scraps to hold the bow drawn while I eyeball and scrape. I also like leaving the string on the whole time and just lifting it to work on the belly. As you can see the right limb is a few pounds stronger. I will catch up with him after the sinew cures. The string tracks as close to perfect as I can get it. I didnt need to make any corrections as of yet. I still need to add string grooves to the statics bellies. I put the bow on my tree and drew it to 15 and it never moved. My alignment is super, the grooves wont be working too hard  ;).

 
« Last Edit: March 25, 2012, 02:00:39 pm by PEARL DRUMS »
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Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught will we realize we cannot eat money.

Offline coaster500

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Re: Hackberry recurve build along, real time hopefully.
« Reply #57 on: March 25, 2012, 02:19:18 pm »
Very vice Drums, really enjoying this build!!
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Offline PEARL DRUMS

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Re: Hackberry recurve build along, real time hopefully.
« Reply #58 on: March 25, 2012, 02:30:26 pm »
Thanks Kip. My shoulders and elbows are telling me the same. Anytime I vary from osage to marshmellow wood they are happy!
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Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught will we realize we cannot eat money.

Offline coaster500

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Re: Hackberry recurve build along, real time hopefully.
« Reply #59 on: March 25, 2012, 02:55:28 pm »
 ;D   Just notice my post "Very vice" .....   must have been that nice set of tips that caused the Freudian slip  >:D

Man I know what you're talking about with the shoulders....  makes a guy start liking Yew and White woods quick :)

Great build!!!
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