Thumb wrestling and Orangutan would be easier...

[Onebowonder]

I just got a bow blank put into my new caul.  I went with the cross-wise cut inner tube 'rubber-bands' on Oak dowel pegs.  By the time I got all of those bands stretched over the pegs my hands were very ready to call it a day!

OneBow

[tronman]

And what are you glueing up?

[lebhuntfish]

Very nice Eric!  Can't wait to check it out!  Next time use 4 hands! Patrick

[Del the cat]

Looks cool.... is it done yet.. is it done yet?
Del
(is it done yet?  )

[blackhawk]

And what are you glueing up?

Looks like a something backed Eastern Red Cedar to me...possibly hickory? Hard to see thru the cellophane wrap...

[tronman]

And what are you glueing up?

Looks like a something backed Eastern Red Cedar to me...possibly hickory? Hard to see thru the cellophane wrap...

Whatever it is it appears a bunch of hard work went into this bow already and hope it turns out.

[Onebowonder]

BlackHawk is correct.  The belly wood is ERC.  There is a middle lam of Poplar, with 2 super thin power lams of the same.  ...and the backing is Black Locust.

I can't wait to see if anything good comes of it.  The caul itself took longer to put together than some bows I've built!!!


OneBow

[autologus]

It should be ultra light.  I sure am interested in this because I was wanting to make a hickory backed ERC.

Grady

[blackhawk]

Never heard of anyone making a black locust backed erc with poplar in the middle before..you might be the first...lol    let us know how it works out for ya...I picked up some locust lumber from a local mill last year,but I wouldn't use it for backing strips...tough to find locust lumber ,and let alone good enough for backing strips...what orientation is it? Chased ring? Flat sawn,rift,quarter sawn? Jus curious...hopefully the locust isn't too strong for the erc...its strong tension wood..I'd maybe think about trapping it some? Need to know more stats and info tho...please do tell

[Blaflair2]

We got tons of BL around. Maybe I'll keep my eye out for a good board for ya Chris. I'd love to see what ya could do with it

[bow101]

Your form looks really good.  Instead of using individual bands, would it be easier to use one length of rubber.?

[Del the cat]

Your form looks really good.  Instead of using individual bands, would it be easier to use one length of rubber.?

One length is a pain as it gets tangled and twisted etc, mind that's what I use, but i can see the attraction of loads of little uns.
Del

[Onebowonder]

Sorry it took me a bit to get back to this.  Here's the specs on this bow blank to this point.  It is something of an 'Experimental' effort.  If it had a government code name, it'd have to be "BLOPOPERC" for Black Locust - Poplar - Eastern Red Cedar. 

The blank is 69 inches tip to tip (for now)
The backing LAM is Quartersawn Black Locust at a 1/4 inch think.  (...too thick, I know)
The core LAM is Flatsawn Poplar at 1/8 inch thick and is tapered down to nil at the tips
The belly LAM is Quartersawn ERC at 5/8 (actually closer to 11/16ths for those of you with calipers for eyeballs) inch thick.
There are 2 power LAMs in the handle section, each made of 1/8 inch Poplar.  One is 9 inches and the other is 16.  Both are tapered out to nil on the ends.
I have carved out a pyramid bow-ish design that is 1 and 1/8 inches at the fades, stays parallel for 6 inches and then graduates down to 1/2 inch tips.  The tips will likely get overlaid and narrowed considerably later on.  I'm concerned about having to reduce the blank to 1 1/8 at the fades and would have liked to have kept more width but there were some imperfections in the wood that had to be excised. 

I plan to trap the back of the BL to keep it from being too much for the ERC.  I think I'll leave most of the full 1/4 inch thickness down the middle of the back, but crown it out steeply toward the edges of the bow.  Right now it's all very square though - like the boards it came from.    Off the form it came out with 2 1/2 inches reflex on one tip and 3 3/4 inches reflex on the other.  Not sure why on that - since the caul is evenly curved, ...but I've learned that wood does what it wants to do sometimes and not much else.


Here's the pix...

OneBow

[Onebowonder]

Here's a few more... 

OneBow

[toomanyknots]

Looks cool! I bet it will be a really pretty bow. I have never heard of a black locust backing either. Can't wait to see the finished bow!