2018 Bow Trade-Completed

[JWMALONE]

I'm with Morgan, this is the only way I will ever own a custom bow that I didn't make myself. And it wont cost me $1500 LOL.

[DC]

Anyone tells ya gotta have a band saw and edge sanders or profile sanders to fit a cruved riser perfectly has never seen a piece of furniture made before the invention of electricity.

I would like a few hints if you've got some

[JWMALONE]

DC next time I do one ill post some picks in the build along section. Or in one of my build/help along threads.  I basically cut the riser an inch or half inch to long on the ends and a tad bit wide. Mark out the curve using the R/D bow out of the form and cleaned up. Clamp it down and rasp it pretty close. Then take two boards screwed together at a 90 with a long piece of sandpaper stapled to one. Then lay the riser on there and work it across the sandpaper, when its through cut to length. Its basically a Fred Flintstone edge sander. Time consuming but very effective .

[Swampman]

I made some shavings today.



I worked on this stave of HHB and effectively ruined it when my draw knife dug too deep and peeled a big chunk of the back up.



I then started working on this black walnut stave.



Got it close to my lines with the draw knife. Now my arms are tired and I am taking a break.

[JWMALONE]

Swampman, do you have to chase a ring on that hhb? Ive heard you can remove the bark and use the sap wood like hickory.

[Swampman]

JW, I was using the wood right under the bark as the back. I use my draw knife to take a stave to my lines and I got a little too aggressive and my draw knife dug in way to deep.  That stave now needs to be a 1/2 inch wide bow. 

It is no big deal because I have a lot of dry staves.  It pays to slow down though.

[JWMALONE]

Thanks Swampman, so its kinda like hickory in that regard. That's probably what ill use for the swap. I'm cant wait.

[stickbowbeard]

Started de-barking this Vine Maple stave last night.  I'm hoping to finish getting it roughed out this weekend.

20180405_183424 by Eric Beard, on Flickr

20180405_190107 by Eric Beard, on Flickr

I'm thinking I will go with the traditional American flatbow design, but I may still look into an eastern woodlands bendy-handle design.  Reckon I'll have this sorted out by the end of the weekend.

[hoosierf]

Floor tillered, steamed, and now drying out.

[JWMALONE]

Ok Guys, I got this hop hornbeam from sensei  (Pat B.). So it has mystical properties being that it came from a subterranean wood vault below his mountain side castle deep in the heart of Transylvania. In other words Pats basement, its all in the wording. I guess being from Transylvania county he's heard all these jokes a million times. It also came with some birdshot, no entry wounds in the back of bow, no telling how long that stuff has been in there. After working it down all damage is gone. Pulled out three pieces. Now to get it straightened out and turned into a bow. It has some natural reflex, might try and put a tad bit of deflex in the handle area.

[JWMALONE]

Well I oiled and heated it, got it squeezed straightish. Ill leave it till tomorrow, will probably have to put a wedge in there and repeat the process to get nice and straight, a lil at a time seemed to be safe to my thinking.

[Swampman]

It looks like many of you are off to a great start.  I got a chance to do some more work on the black locust bow i heat treated last week.  Here is a peek at the progress.



I will do some more shooting of that one before I start the finishing touches.

In the meantime I am going to go do some more work on something else that has a little longer draw.

[JWMALONE]

Some one may be getting some hickory backed maple. May take me awhile to figure this hornbeam out.

[Swampman]

I started work on my black walnut stave and found a crack in the side just out of the fade. I had to narrow that area by 1\4 inch to get below that crack. That stave will still make a bow but not the one I had planned so I set it aside for now.

I pulled out a black locust stave and chased a ring on it.  I have it roughed out now. It is currently 69 inches long so I have a lot of wood to work with. I am done for today.






I did also shoot about 50 arrows through the other black locust. It is a fun little shooter

[M2A]

Hey folks. Got things a little  better on my elm stave. I got the side profile looking better but have a dog leg in it I need to work on. 

A guy at work tinkers with leather working so asked him to make me a pair of tillering boots and a strap for a new tillering set up I hope to make with a pulley. After I took the pictures below I thinned up the tips to 1" and tried the boots to see how they worked and also to see if I was even close to even on tiller. Boots worked great. Tiller needs a good bit of work yet, 30 pounds at about 4" but not evened out yet, just ran out of time tonight. Hope to even things up and reduce the limbs some then try and straighten.  Hope to spend a good deal of my evenings this week hard at it, good or bad come what may 

IMG_1622 

[url=https://flic.kr/p/261meB6]IMG_1623