Author Topic: BANG!!!  (Read 1725 times)

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Offline lesken2011

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BANG!!!
« on: February 18, 2013, 09:09:32 pm »
I got a few coats of shellac on the bbo I have been working on so it was ready for a handle. Yesterday I glued 4 or 5 strips of leather together to build up a handle and soaked them with super glue. I let them dry overnight and went out to shape them today. Once I got the handle sort of rounded I decided to shoot the bow a few times to see how it felt. When I got it to about 2/3  full draw....BANG! I thought it broke since it was very loud. As it turns out, two of the leather layers popped apart. I thought I noticed that the super glue had made them awfully stiff. I guess the bend in the handle was too much for them. Whew!!

I decided to try something different. I had recently purchased some cork. I got some rolls of thin cork from the craft store and also a couple of packs of cork coasters. They were about 1/16 in thick and 4 in square. I cut some up, glued them together with thick superglue and shaped them on the belt sander before I glued them on. They were really easy compared to rawhide and leather that I have used in the past.

My question is this. What do I need to help the longevity of the cork. Can I seal it with something that will help it last?
« Last Edit: February 18, 2013, 09:34:46 pm by lesken2011 »
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

Ephesians 2:8-9

Kenny from Mississippi, USA

Offline Carson (CMB)

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Re: BANG!!!
« Reply #1 on: February 18, 2013, 09:26:38 pm »
I use cork to build up my handles and to make stand-alone handle wraps.  I shape it with a sharp knife to avoid tear outs, then coat with thinned Titebond III. After it is dry I sand it down, and coat it again with titebond 3.  I thin the TB3 so that it penetrates a bit more than it would otherwise.  After it si dry, I finish it with the same finish the bow gets, usually shellac and lindseed oil.   Hope that helps and glad that was all the bang was :)
"The bow is the old first lyre,
the mono chord, the initial rune of fine art
The humanities grew out from archery as a flower from a seed
No sooner did the soft, sweet note of the bow-string charm the ear of genius than music was born, and from music came poetry and painting and..." Maurice Thompso

Offline PEARL DRUMS

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Re: BANG!!!
« Reply #2 on: February 18, 2013, 09:29:38 pm »
Carson that is as good as stolen my friend. Very cool handle.
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 lesken2011

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Re: BANG!!!
« Reply #3 on: February 18, 2013, 09:40:40 pm »
Thanks Carson. I should have thought of that!!
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

Ephesians 2:8-9

Kenny from Mississippi, USA

Offline Gordon

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Re: BANG!!!
« Reply #4 on: February 18, 2013, 10:46:58 pm »
That definitely sounds like too much bend in the handle. When I make a bendy handle bow I make it so I can barely feel the handle bend.
Gordon

Offline lesken2011

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Re: BANG!!!
« Reply #5 on: February 18, 2013, 11:21:20 pm »
I barely feel it bend at full draw, Gordon. The handle are has some reflex when unstrung and that is the way i glued it up. The leather was thin pieces glued together and fully saturated with thin superglue. When I took the leather off it was as hard as a brick. I guess it wouldn't bend at all.
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

Ephesians 2:8-9

Kenny from Mississippi, USA

Offline Gordon

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Re: BANG!!!
« Reply #6 on: February 19, 2013, 02:45:01 am »
Oh okay. If the leather ended up that inflexible, then that would certainly be a problem.
Gordon