Bow Bulding in an Apartment

[emd023]

Hello. I have been working on a bow over the last week or two but have found it very difficult without access to a workshop. I have clamped my bow to a wobbly desk (too wobbly), the railing on my balcony (too high up and wood shavings fall into my neighbors balcony), and my bed frame (sturdy, but too low). Now that I have developed back problems I wanted to see if anyone has ideas on how I can comfortably work on my bow in an apartment without breaking the bank. Thanks!

[osage outlaw]

Could you get a small vise and clamp it to a picnic table at a park or somewhere else.

[Sidmand]

You could build a shaving pony and clamp it to your kitchen table.  Here are a couple links for some plans/ideas

http://www.frontiernet.net/~dmatt/shavepony/

https://woodworking.sustainlife.org/how-to-make-a-benchtop-shaving-horse/

[emd023]

You could build a shaving pony and clamp it to your kitchen table.  Here are a couple links for some plans/ideas

http://www.frontiernet.net/~dmatt/shavepony/

https://woodworking.sustainlife.org/how-to-make-a-benchtop-shaving-horse/

Unfortunately, I don't have many options inside the apartment. Roommates rules. Stuck with my room and the balcony.

[Eric Krewson]

You can put one end at the base of a wall and the other on a pad on your sternum, lean into the stave and do whatever you want, rasp, scrap or use a drawknife. I removed a bunch of bark and sapwood off osage staves this way just to see if I could, I used the base of a tree between the roots. I had a shave horse and workbench mounted vise but was experimenting around trying to use a minimum of tools. This was during my osage cutting hay day many years ago when I was hale and hearty.

[Deerhunter21]

here's a site. just don't listen to the fiberglass stuff 
http://poorfolkbows.com/index.html

it's literally for people in apartments.

[High-Desert]

When I was in college I didn’t have access to my shop and would build bows in my apartment. Roughing out with and axe, and using a farriers rasp to take it for floor tillers. No clamp is really needed other than supporting with your legs. It does take longer and takes some serious getting used to, but it’s doable

[emd023]

When I was in college I didn’t have access to my shop and would build bows in my apartment. Roughing out with and axe, and using a farriers rasp to take it for floor tillers. No clamp is really needed other than supporting with your legs. It does take longer and takes some serious getting used to, but it’s doable

This is true, however, my tools hold me back. I just ordered a new Shinto saw rasp last night for this very reason. Hopefully I can take off twice as much wood with this.

[gifford]

you may want to consider building a "Baker Bow Bench" for your apartment or other space restricted area. I've built several of them over the years and donated them to the Marshal Bow Hunters, the host of the Ozark Self-Bow Jamboree aka MOJAM, which is now in it's 20th year.

If you have a big orange box store (or similar outlet) that sells lumber, periodically visit it for the 'discard pile', 70 percent off. I've found good enough pieces of lumber to use in the bow benches. They cut it for you, all you have to do is screw-it or bolt it together. The vise can be easily removable by using wing nuts and bolts and a solid bench is usually a plus to a patio/porch area; or keep it in your room. Use tarp and most all of the shavings land there, making clean up easy. I modified mine by adding additional short sections of cut lumber to raise the height of the vise, reducing back strain.

[DLH]

When I was in college my friend made a vice mount that would go in my Reece hitch it also had a pulley for a tillering tree too. It worked well if you have something with a receiver didn’t use it much in the colder months though.

[ohma2]

If your young and energetic what Eric Krewson said works well ,ive worked staves to one ring using a tree trunk .ive watched mike yancey work a stave at some gatherings and he will work a stave sitting on a stool quite easily.

[jareddchazen]

I live in an apartment as well. I'm lucky that we have a spare room and no roommate, just my fiance and I. But a small woodworking bench I made (half made, currently the top still sits on plastic saw horses) serves me well. It's not terribly big. It moves around a bit, but not so much I can't deal with it when roughing out a bow. Instead of a vise, I use a screw clamp to hold the bow down, quick and easy. If you want an idea for a simple bench that might work for bowmaking, look up Rex Kruger on YouTube and his "Roman Workbench." It's low and easy to use and you could build one pretty simply just for bowmaking, don't even need to plane the top, and it could be a sitting or storage bench as a secondary application.

J

[bassman]

I converted a heavy shooting bench that I made that folds up, and added a vintage vice to the top.Rock solid to work off of,and folds up taking little space up.Maybe you can find a small fold up table,and add plywood to the top to add weight ,and make it more stable.Fold it up, and store against the wall.

[NorthHeart]

Since i left Texas 3 years ago i have moved my "shop" from CO, to WY, to MT.  Each time i live in a tiny room comparable to a hotel room or an apartment.  I don't know if your financial situation allows it, but if it does then my advice would be to get a storage unit and make it your shop.  One small inexpensive unit will suffice(maybe 10x10 or 10x20).  Here where i live that $40, $60 for the larger ones.  Maybe spend the rest on a heavy duty bench off CL and add a vice.  Or buy one of those Stavemasters with the chair...thats a gamechanger.

I had 3 storage units, and a neighbor complained of dust getting in, i tried to fill the gaps with semi-success.  When he vacated i bought his and now i have 4.  I then bought a generator so now am no longer limited to just hand tools.  I'm not sure the generator thing would be tolerated everywhere, but a lot of stuff is accepted in rural MT that might not be elsewhere.

Or you could always just go with one