Re. Handle pop-off

[vinemaplebows]

Pearlie,

                   I agree, but always wondered if it was the return of the limbs right after the shot of a arrow, that caused the separation, not so much the drawing of the bow. I should add vibration, on straight limbed.

Good pics Ed.

I've had a few issues on straight bows with handles that popped off. Always during the draw, not the release.

I have never had one come off during draw, (that I know of) only after several shots, and at least I noticed it right after a shot.

[Pat B]

If the handle area bends at all the rigid riser will pop off.  If you are making a backed bow a power lam is the way to go. With the power lam between the back and belly the handle area won't bend.

[BowEd]

A person has got to realize on my pictures that the core is thinned also from the ends of the fades into the working limb during tillering.Stopping any bending movement into the handle.It all has to be a very gradual thinning.

[redhillwoods]

If the handle area bends at all the rigid riser will pop off.  If you are making a backed bow a power lam is the way to go. With the power lam between the back and belly the handle area won't bend.


The back and belly are already glued together. Seems like a long handle with long fades will disperse the stress enough that everything stays together.

[redhillwoods]

sorry Bowed I don't know how to use the quotes in the blue box

[PatM]

sorry Bowed I don't know how to use the quotes in the blue box

 Just hit the quote icon and it will automatically go in your post.

[Dances with squirrels]

I've done it on bows that are straight from dip to dip, and quite stressed in other aspects of design... narrow, deeply radiused, full recurve profiles in draw weights over 60 lbs... never popped a single one. Prepping and gluing the way I described is less complicated and less work. Some of you guys might want to try it before you discount it... eh, or not.

[Hamish]

I agree with DWS. Old timers used to make bows from thin lams and belly slats that flexed imperceptibly at or near the dips. They got away with it by good prep, not over clamping, and using a suitable glue like a urac or resorscinol(or a proven modern bowmakers epoxy will also do the job properly). When the transition of lams at the dips and handle is marginal, many otherwise  fine glues like titebond 3 are too flexible and you will get lifting and separation of the glue line.  If the belly slat is thick enough eg 7/8", and a 1/8" backing titebond 3 will work fine.

[DC]

How deep are the grooves left by a toothing plane? Just ballpark is fine.
And how wide?

[DC]

I did a Google search. I found this vid. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uCmtmj4wsE  Do you think this would work? And if so, why not just use a piece of 36 grit sandpaper?

[Pat B]

A hacksaw blade on edge will work as a toothing plane.

[DC]

Yeah, for some reason I thought a toothing plane cut little rectangular slots in the wood. I was wrong it appears

[Hamish]

 36 grit paper is coarse enough to create grooves good enough for "toothing", to increase surface area and to avoid starving the joint from excessive  clamping pressure.
 A toothing plane will give yo a little more surface area though.

[Dances with squirrels]

I've done the hacksaw blade thing, the corner/edge of various files, and 36 grit sandpaper on a sanding block, and they're better than nothing, but they don't leave behind the same quality surface as a properly sharpened toothing plane blade. Others tear, while the toothing plane cuts very cleanly. Does it matter? Maybe, maybe not. It probably depends on how critical the bond is. I feel the joint in my handle and dip area is critical, so I'm going to do it the best way I know how.

When prepping handle gluing surfaces in bows, I don't do the angle/cross hatch technique like he showed in that video, and since the mating surfaces are often deflex and reflex shaped, the blade is held by hand, not mounted in the plane. I hold it more like a cabinet scraper and run it parallel with the length of the work piece. The blade is sharpened on a very slight radius so that it's slightly convex when finished and leaves a slightly concave surface... and I mean slightly... a few thousandths. These techniques make for virtually invisible glue lines along the bow's edges.

If you watch, you can get a toothing plane blade, blade only, on ebay pretty reasonable. The last time, I got a package deal of 4 of them of various teeth per inch. I have 6 of them now 

[DC]

Yeah, I kind of thought that the cross hatch thing would leave little peaks that would most likely be cracked at the base. Parallel with the grain sounds better.