Bamboo-Backed Ipe R/D

[Mo_coon-catcher]

Beautiful bow! Great finish work and wood choices on the handle. The profile and tiller look great too.

Kyle

[upstatenybowyer]

Killer. Way to go with that one!

[selfbow joe]

Beautiful bow

[Stoner]

Great Craftsmanship. John

[rps3]

Count me in as an admirer of that bow, I really like the colors.

[Bayou Ben]

Excellent Bow!  Love the tiller and the colors. 
This is my 1st post here, but I've been stalking this site for a year now, and building bows for 2 years. 
If you don't mind me asking, how did you get the ipe to bend in the handle area? 

[pnwarcher]

Excellent Bow!  Love the tiller and the colors. 
This is my 1st post here, but I've been stalking this site for a year now, and building bows for 2 years. 
If you don't mind me asking, how did you get the ipe to bend in the handle area?

Welcome to PA, Ben!
Believe it or not, the two pieces of ipe in the handle area (along with the maple and bamboo) were flat pieces I clamped into a curve during glue up. No steam or heat required. I cut a matching curve into the cocobolo since it was too thick to bend.

[Bayou Ben]

Thanks pwnarcher.
I can't get thick ipe to bend for me at all (like close to 1/2").  So it's just a curved form that you clamped it to during glue up.  I would love to see a pic of your form if it's not too much trouble. 

[Msturm]

That is a stunning bow. Really well done.

[pnwarcher]

Thanks pwnarcher.
I can't get thick ipe to bend for me at all (like close to 1/2").  So it's just a curved form that you clamped it to during glue up.  I would love to see a pic of your form if it's not too much trouble.

Here is the form I used. It's very crude, just a 2x12 pine board cut on a bandsaw with a bunch of ~2" holes drilled in it for clamping. (The thing it's sitting on is not part of the form. That's a raised bed for the garden this spring.) I used 4 C-clamps on the handle section. Clamp the center and then slowly crank down the outer 2. The thickest single piece of ipe is 3/8" thick, which is about as thick as I think is possible to bend to that radius. There is an extra 1/8" ipe piece in the thick section, with a virtually invisible ipe-to-ipe glue line.

[Bayou Ben]

Awesome! You have answered all of my questions.  Your form is more advanced than what I use, and I like it. 
Great job on the bow, and thanks for the ideas....I just had to know how you got the ipe to move that much.

[sieddy]

That looks absolutely first class mate. Nice one! 

[leonwood]

Really pretty! And looks soooo smooth to shoot

[M2A]

Wow. I agree, if you have wood like that on your handle you have to show it off. Great looking bow! I bet it shoots great too. Mike