Building the Vine Maple Bow - Finished

[Green]

X 2 on what Oakenshield said!

[gifford]

This has been a great build along; thoroughly enjoyable. Thanks.

[Hamish]

Hi Gordon, Loving your quality craftsmanship.
                                                                       Hamish.

[Arrowind]

Another incredible build-a-long!  THANKS FOR DOING THIS GORDON!!!

[Gordon]

Today I am going to fashion an arrow rest for the bow. I begin with a piece of hardwood cut to 2" x 1/2" x 1/2 ". I bevel the edges on a belt sander and then finish rounding the edges using a sheet of 100 grit sandpaper that I have glued to a flat surface.

[Gordon]

After rounding the edges I cut the piece to 1 inch in length. I save the other half for when I need to make another rest.  I bevel the end slightly using the belt sander.  I do this so that an arrow has a tendency to stay on the rest rather than roll off.





Then using the belt sander I bevel the front and sides of the rest to create a taper.

[Gordon]

I mount the rest on a scrap of wood with a bit of super glue and finish shaping with a small carving file. I finish with 150 grit sandpaper.

[Gordon]

I am going to mount the rest to the bow. I need to make sure that the back of the rest conforms to the curvature of the bow where it will be fastened. I do this by laying a piece of 100 grit sandpaper against the bow and then running the back of the rest up and down along the area where it will be fastened.  When I'm done the back of the rest will be perfectly mated to the surface of the bow. I use epoxy or thick super glue to fasten the rest to the bow. A spring clamp holds the rest tight while the glue is curing.

[Gordon]

A handle that swells out a bit in the front feels better in my hand so I am going to build out the handle. I cut two pieces of thick rawhide 3 3/4" x 3/4".  I glue the pieces together with superglue and then clamp them together until the glue has hardened.





I use a belt sander to bevel the edges so they will feather into the handle.



I center the rawhide strip on the handle and glue it using thick superglue.  I wrap a cord tightly around the strip to make sure that the edges adhere properly.

[Gordon]

Using a small file I round the beveled edges and feather the edges nicely into the handle. I finish by applying a couple of coats of shellac to the rawhide to waterproof it.







Next up - sanding and finishing

[dane lund]

Gordon,

Nice build along!  But I hate it when a guy shows of better single malt than mine!!

[Gordon]

But I hate it when a guy shows of better single malt than mine!!

Unfortunately that stuff is long gone 

[Oakenshield]

Love this walk through! So why not wrap rawhide with fishing line like in the winter project? Are there benefits one way or the other?

[Gordon]

So why not wrap rawhide with fishing line like in the winter project? Are there benefits one way or the other?

Now-a-days I mainly reserve that technique for spliced handles to give them a little extra support.

[Oakenshield]

So why not wrap rawhide with fishing line like in the winter project? Are there benefits one way or the other?

Now-a-days I mainly reserve that technique for spliced handles to give them a little extra support.

Okay good to know, Thank you. Ill be trying this out with cork rather than rawhide (that's what i have on hand) on the bow i'm working on now, so that saved me some trouble.