Board bow even thickness

[Dalton63841]

I've been doing A LOT of reading on bow building. Reading all the tutorials I can find, getting the bowyers bible, etc... and I'm just about ready to start making my first bow, which will be a hickory board bow with uniform thickness in the limbs, tapering the sides.

I know the general method of building a board bow is to use a 1x2(0.75x1.5) or 1x3(0.75x2.5), and then rip just the limbs down to approximately a half inch thick. Then apply the boards in the center(which is still 0.75" thick) for the handle, where it is still 0.75" thick. Then shape and tiller, etc...(I've read over the whole process about a billion times) At least, that seems to be a popular convention for how to.

My question is, would it make any difference if I were to rip the entire board down to a half inch thick, then find the center point, apply the handle pieces, etc.? On one hand, I think it should ultimately come out the same, but on the other hand, I feel there must be a reason why this isn't generally done. Like maybe it would make the handle more likely to separate or something...

[mikekeswick]

The top of the handle WILL pop off if you rip the whole board down to finished limb thickness then just glue a piece on for the handle. It must be at least an 1/8th thicker (better more) than the working limb before you glue the extra piece on.
Remember that with a pyramid the few inches out of the fades will need to be a little thicker than the rest of the limb so it doesn't bend too much out of the fades.

[Dalton63841]

Ouch... Yea I kinda figured that would be the case. Stupid physics.

I guess it's going to be homemade draw knife and hours of rasping ahead of me. My original plan was to get the board ripped to limb thickness ahead of time when I buy it. All I have personally are a few small hand tools.

Any special tips or tricks that might help working with hickory?

[lesken2011]

If you start with a belly the same thickness, you'll need a power lam to keep the handle from bending which will make a stiff handle pop off, generally. Of course, there is nothing wrong with one that bends through the handle. One of the sweetest bows I own was made by Halfeye. It is a short, bendy handle, bow. If you really want a stiff handle, you might check out Bubby's hard maple build a long on this site which describes a real easy way to rip the board on a table saw both ways leaving the handle area intact. A quick and easy way to make a bow.

[bubby]

You can rip it down to 1/2" thick, you need more than a one x two get a one x four, you need a two inch wide bow and a one x two isn't two inches wide, find the center, you need a 1/8" slat 12" long centered, then work you way down with shorter slats, 11", 10", 9", 8" all centered, then build it like in my build a long and it will work

[PatM]

Why would it take hours to remove half an inch of wood? Do you have a coarse rasp and a sharp hatchet?
 What were you originally going to rip the board with?

[Dalton63841]

I have one rasp(not the 4 way), a set of files, and can make a draw knife.

I had intended to get the board ripped when I bought it to save that bit of work. Then I would just need to find the center, shape, tiller.

[bubby]

When you can get a fairiers rasp, preferably a bellotta they remove wood so fast it will scare you

[Dalton63841]

When you can get a fairiers rasp, preferably a bellotta they remove wood so fast it will scare you

That would definitely help. Right now all I have is an 8" half round from the local Home Depot. It works, but working the limbs down takes quite a while and I'm slowed down even more by the constant need to stop and brush the wood out of the rasp teeth.

[bradsmith2010]

a big rasp can make the whole bow,, find a way to get one,, and you are good to go,,
a big rasp and hatchet can make a bow from a stave,, so they are pretty essential ,,but not that much of an investment considering the results they can achieve,,,

[duke3192]

Fellows, if you don't want people to know your age that is ok, but at least put your location in your profile, if you are close to someone that can help they would be more likely to reach out if you are local to them. Check my profile, but don't let my P.A. registertion date cause you to make snap decisions about my advice, I've been into primitive bows since the early 1990's.
Duke

[bubby]

Sound advice right there Duke, most guys here if they agree with your advice the agree, if not they say so, besides everybody likes the Duke

[Vgo750]

The 1/8" lamination build up to stiffen the handle method works great! I actually just did this on a straight 1/2" thick hickory board a couple months ago with perfect results (as far as the handle not popping off).  The first lamination that is like 12" - 14" long might end up totally feathered into the main limb at the ends and end up only 8 or 9" long but that's ok.

[bubby]

Yup its the old rule, you can take it off, ya can't put it back on

[Springbuck]

The top of the handle WILL pop off if you rip the whole board down to finished limb thickness then just glue a piece on for the handle. It must be at least an 1/8th thicker (better more) than the working limb before you glue the extra piece on.
Remember that with a pyramid the few inches out of the fades will need to be a little thicker than the rest of the limb so it doesn't bend too much out of the fades.

 Yup.  I have had it work with very light bows and weird exceptions, but this will happen 90% of the time or better, and the failures are often spectacular and dangerous.  I have found this even happens SOMETIMES with glueing on a sandwich of thinner slats like Bubbly suggests, but FAR less so.  If they are thin and you kind of stair step them it usually works very well.   You can even taper the 1/8" fadeout-lam  to a blunt point to futher distribute stress.

Tips about consitent thickness removal:  Get some crayons from some kid you know, something dark.  Cover every inch of the limb you want to take wood from, and then use a rasp, spokeshave (set very thin) or heavy scraper to remove wood until all the marks are gone.  Use a scraper to smooth it, and do it again.  Do it evenly on both sides; two passes one limb, two passes on the other.  You can also simply rasp it rough and then scrape it smooth, but I find this slower.  Good for tillering and weight reduction, though.