Fence Post bow project...Resurrected!!

[mikekeswick]

Good luck with this one! We only have pine fenceposts here.....
It can be tricky to tell exactly whats going on in deflexed areas. To me it looks like the inner left limb is a little stiff. When you look at the inner right limb it has moved when drawn but the inner left has stayed stiff. My best guess is thats why the deflexed spot looks a little hingey.

[k-hat]

Thanks Mike, that was another area I was looking at that i wasn't sure about.  The area just left of the knot is actually bending some after a second look, but i do need to loosen up that area just outta the fade.  But that's gonna hafta wait...

Working on it a little at lunch today, and the riser started coming undone at the glue line.  The problem i've been battling is this:  When i spliced the handle with backset, it left the belly needing to be flattened for the riser.  So i flattened it as little as possible, but it still wound up about a 1/16" thinner in the center than at the beginning of the fades.  It is still thicker than the limb just outside the fades, but it is wanting to flex at the splice.  I hoped the riser would reinforce it enough, but it's not happening.  Lessons learned the hard way on first splice    In retrospect, I think it would have been better to use some wedges to attach the riser without thinning the handle (or just have plenty of handle meat, couldn't do that on this one without loosing a lot of limb mass). 

So, my plan is this now (you know i'm hardheaded n stubborn by now):

1.  go on and reduce the thickness on the fades and inner limbs as needed
2.  reglue the riser
3.  Flatten the sides of the handle area and glue overlays on the sides overlapping the handle and riser
4.  drill 3/16" holes and glue dowel pins through side of handle and riser to give a solid attachment and bring it all together
5.  wrap in cordage set in glue
6.  punch something if it comes undone

kinda like this:


Dunno if it's the best thing, but it's the best i've thought of so far, besides making it a kid's bow

[PEARL DRUMS]

Dowell pins through actually weaken it Kevin I have experineced that first hand........twice. Who is hardheaded? I suggest cutting it apart and trying again. I have even wrapped heavily glue soaked cord around bad joints and they still pop free. Joint repairs almost always come back and bite you if you dont do them right.

[Gordon]

If the core is thinner than the fades then you are going to have problems with a glue-on handle no matter what you try to do.

[k-hat]

Thanks for the input Chris and Gordon.  I left extra meat in the fades so I wouldn't start them out too thin, so i think i can remove enough to get all that fleshed out right and the core will be the right thickness to take the stress outta the joint.  I may yet try to separate the splice and redo it as Chris suggests with a different glue this time.  I think i used the right epoxy, but maybe not.

I've seen both opinions on the dowel inserts.  I think Baker swears by em and Comstock swears at em .  It probably has a lot to do with making sure you put the dowel through the neutral plane.  Theoretically that won't weaken it.  Not that I know how to zero in on that zone and do it right!  Probly should leave that one alone as suggested.  I still plan on putting overlays on the sides once i get the fades workd out just because it'll make me feel better, and make a nicer grip.

All in all, if she comes in too light, I guess i'll reluctantly have to keep her 

[mikekeswick]

If the handle area is too thin not to bend by itself you will struggle to just glue a thick piece straight on. In fact it just won't work - it will always pop off.
The simplest way to fix that may work is instead of gluing one thick piece on for a riser make up lams of 1/8 thickness. This way each piece isn't just a super stiff 'lump' and can bend. Like I said this may work.
The other option that will work is to cut your splice along the gluelines and seperate the limbs. Once seperated cut a kerf into teach handle section of the limb at the same plane in both. Sand the insides of the cut and make a powerlam that can be inserted into these cuts. Glue them in. Then recut/finish your splices. Reglue splice. Reglue riser section (still best made out of thin 1/8 thick pieces instead of a lump!). The powerlam needs to be thick enough to allow no bend into the fade area.
Hope this helps.

[k-hat]

Thanks Mike, I shoulda known better from the getgo.  In retrospect if ida spliced it straight instead of with backset in the handle, there would be plenty of meat and no problem.  this one's teaching me some lessons for sure.  I'm gonna thin the limbs down to relieve all the stress on the handle and go on and build it up.  May do the lam think like you're talkin, dunno.  Was tryna push it too much to my desired draw weight instead of letting it settle where it will. 

[Buckeye Guy]

Do the lams but make them thin !
It will work just like the natural grain of wood !
Guy

[gstoneberg]

I agree with Guy.  If it were mine I'd glue a couple thin laminations on the belly side and one on the back. Then I'd build up the rest of the handle with leather. Come to think about it, just drop that one off at my shop and pick up the one you have there. I'll take that gnarly old post and "dispose" of it for you.

George

[Buckeye Guy]

What someone agrees with me that is not allowed !
Unheard of !
Oh well its all fun !!!!

[k-hat]

Well folks, been almost  a year but i've resurrected this one from the corner.  As you see above i had some splice/grip issues.  I Separated the limbs, cleaned it up and respliced it, then cut some 1/16 lams and layered them as a handle overlay to build up and reinforce the grip.  Touched up tiller a bit and here she is at the moment.  So far so good



My plan is to leave those outers with the stiff/flipped look so it's almost a lever bow.  I figure that'll give her better cast since she's probly gonna come in under the weight i'd like.  At this point i'll settle for 30# if she survives, but i'd like about 50 or so.  If she makes the weight i REALLY want, she'll be my TG swap bow.

Scale shows 30@18" with the stretchy nylon cord, so i think i'm on track for my desired weight

Critique is welcomed/expected

[k-hat]

BTW, thanks George, Guy, Mike, and Chris for the guidance on getting this corrected, hope i make it worth yer while

[Will H]

Lookin good! Glad to see this one alive again I like how you used the new Osage for the handle. Seems like I've seen that before somewhere    I am workin on another fencepost bow or two my self again. One spliced and one spliced to a piece of yew 

[k-hat]

Thanks Will.  It has a nice little 5-curve-ish profile, but it tricks my eyes a bit tryna see stiff spots and such.  I think she's ready for a real string and a low brace, i'll dbl check in the morn and give it a go.  Gonna put some golden sage on the tips too, the overlays i have on now i realized are likely not gonna hold up.

Didju say an osage post spliced to a piece of yew??   Can't wait to see that!!! 

[gstoneberg]

Looking good bud.  Can't wait to see that finished.

George