hickory/horn/sinew

[Buffalogobbler]

Awesome bow Beadman!
The pics are GREAT!
Kevin

[BowEd]

Thanks Buffalogobbler.

[ScottN]

I love the look of this bow! good job.. you have inspired me!

[BowEd]

Thanks ScottN....Takes a bit longer to make but I still feel it was worth it.

[hammertime]

Hey Beadman..I missed this one some how,that is one awesome bow!Looks like she sure can zip an arrow!and mighty pretty to boot!-Hammertime

[BowEd]

Thanks Hammertime.Yea I've had to make a whole new set of arrows for it with a stiffer spine.

[BowEd]

Well Cip updated the lowdown on the costruction of this bow for me and everybody.Here it is.

[Stick Bender]

That is a really sweet bow Ed  I like this one as much as your latest I like the way you made this pre tiller & all  wonder if you pre tapered the horn ? and reflexed the horn like the current one don't know if this thread will come forward being it's older  also wonder how this one held up?

[BowEd]

That paticular bow is still around shooting good as ever.Got to have 10,000 thousand or more arrows through it.Quite a few miles on it I know that.The thread says what it is.It was a learning curve type bow reflecting now.It was 58#'s.I tillered it to 53#'s I think way later.Lost 1/4" reflex doing that.I say learning curve now because I belly tillered it then.There was enough width to side tiller it more.
The bow made just lately I feel is quite a bit above this one in performance.Mostly from asking the composite materials to do more work.It's a long road or learning curve making these bows.The latest is the 6th or 7th one.Either that or I'm a slow learner.Anyway each one is satisfying and educational in it's own way.

[mikekeswick]

Actually Ed the point I was also making was that TB3 will hold a bow together when glued into reflex of around 5 or 7 inches as I have done it but it will not hold with 10 or more inches of reflex that an Asiatic has.  That is why I suspect smooth on will not hold under those conditions.

I've used EA40  (Smooth On make many different glues) on very reflexed designs with no problems. Ea40 can be cured at higher temps and will then have even greater resistance to heat corrections later. They supply details on the data sheet. I think it is probably one of the best epoxies for making composites.

[BowEd]

Yes Mike smooth on is a good product working as a thin layered glue[in higher reflexed working sections while the surfaces need to be roughed up for best adhesion] or even a gap filing[nonworking sections] type glue.It has a 2 hour pot life also.It's definitely impervious to water,but heat is another thing.My fellow FG bow makers avoid leaving their FG bows strung in a cab of a truck on a hot sunny day though.They can and do delaminate.They know about the heat curing of smooth on too but say it is risky to trust.
Hide glue on the other hand has it's pros' and con's too.I'll have to tiller my backwards C horn bow to find out.Everything is lined up pretty good on it to begin with anyway I think.Matching grooves horn to core.The horn was not tapered prior to glueing it on.That will be the issue with it I think.Staying away from too near the handle bending causing too much set.Needs to be streched out flaterntonsee what I've got and adjusted then tepliks need to be used.It does have a slight taper of 1/32" in thickeness out to midlimb though starting at 3/8" thick at fades.Width is 1 and 5/32".50" long ttt.8" handle.368 grams.Don't really have any exact idea what draw weight it will be.Hoping for at least 40 pounds.It's my first so it's gotta hold together all the way to know what poundage I'll get.Some pics.



This should really be on the horn bow thread.

[mikekeswick]

Yes Ed I agree but I've done a bit of experimentation with EA40 and the heat resistance properties and have found what they say on the data sheet to be correct. I've made about 60 or so fg bows now. I do agree that for your average bow it isn't worth doing and you are just more likely to run into problems trying to cure wood/natural materials at those temps.... your wood etc had better be below 5% mc, shrinkage,checking etc.... I was meaning more that out of the epoxies available it would be a good choice for a horn/core joint if you weren't bothered about tradition. When you have a good look there are also specific epoxies available for high temp applications. For myself however I wouldn't go past 'normal' collagen glues with their very helpful properties!
It is a shame that bow doesn't have any reflex in the tips.....

[BowEd]

Yes Ed I agree but I've done a bit of experimentation with EA40 and the heat resistance properties and have found what they say on the data sheet to be correct. I've made about 60 or so fg bows now. I do agree that for your average bow it isn't worth doing and you are just more likely to run into problems trying to cure wood/natural materials at those temps.... your wood etc had better be below 5% mc, shrinkage,checking etc.... I was meaning more that out of the epoxies available it would be a good choice for a horn/core joint if you weren't bothered about tradition. When you have a good look there are also specific epoxies available for high temp applications. For myself however I wouldn't go past 'normal' collagen glues with their very helpful properties!
It is a shame that bow doesn't have any reflex in the tips.....

Yes I sure do too about those tips.More reflex I mean.My mistake all the way.Well with it being a longer type horn bow and it survives tillering it might not stack too bad yet at 28".A shame though they should get pulled to 30" anyway.A good practice type horn bow I guess.Reason there is horn on the belly of those tips is because I tried to put more bend with dry heat on them but they cracked so I laminated horn onto it[smooth on glue used for that ].They are mulberry tips.I plan on putting as high and thick of horn overlays to get another 1/2" set back anyway[smooth on again used].