Splice bow project

[Muskyman]

Got my trade bow pretty much done and started thinking about what I wanted to do next. Found a really nice billet and was thinking about spliced together bow but couldn’t find but one billet that I felt good about. Everything I was finding had little skinny rings except the Osage I harvested last fall. Started looking at some stuff piled back in the corner and found a pretty good looking piece with good rings that still had some sapwood on it but looked twisted but I figured it might straighten out if I chased it down to a good ring, which I did. And it worked out great. At this point I going to try and cut my splices and see how it works out. If I can get a decent job done with that I’ll probably be good. Never done it so wish me luck.
My bandsaw is only a 10 inches so I don’t know if it will do it for me.
Going to do a little research on splicing before I give it a shot.

The darker one is the first one I found and the other one is the one I found basically in my junk pile

[superdav95]

Those look like good candidates to me.  Can’t wait to see it progress.  Here’s a pic of one of my last splice patterns I use.  Got it from here and drew it up.  Works great and good fit.  Your band saw will be fine.  Just make sure you set up you pieces well with a flat section and line them up good and straight with no twist and aligned good. When you have that good draw on your pattern or trace it or even glue it down and then cut keeping it flat. This will help in keeping to cuts parallel with other end of  splice cuts.  You can clean up cuts with files to fix minor issues too with getting good fit. 

[Muskyman]

Thanks Dave, I was gonna see if I could find this. I think I’ve seen it on here before. I’ll probably print that out and see what I can do with it

how's thick do you make your splice from back to belly?

[superdav95]

No prob Mike.  I lay mi e out on thin cardboard and cut out separate pieces for each end.  The z portion I cut with exacto blade to get it little more precise.  The rest I cut with sizzors.  As far as thickness it’s up to preference really depending on how thick you like your handles.  Some like a 2” thick handle but I personally like at least 2.5”.  I’ve got big paws.  You could always add a slab of handle wood to build up later too.  The key is getting the belly sections of you splice filed or sanded flat and parallel with each other before doing your cuts.  I like to clamp these sections down on a flat surface to ensure I’ve got things aligned and not twisted.  Hope this helps.  Good luck. 

[Muskyman]

It helps. I’ve always wondered how you guys get the back of the bows lined up with each other. I would think that’s the most important thing with splicing two limbs together. Along with a good fitting splice. I made a takedown bow with a metal sleeve joining the two limbs together and it turned out pretty good. I’m not going to rush with it. I’ve got some other things in the works.

[Eric Krewson]

I draw my splice on a legal pad, cut it out and glue it on the billet with Elmer's white school glue. Draw a center line on your billets to line the splice up with.

[Eric Krewson]

I flatten the belly of the handle so I can run the billet through the bandsaw easier with no wobble.

It always takes a little sanding here and there to get a perfect fit. If you get a wonky cut splice heat the spliced ends and put them together without glue and clamp them hard. The wood will bend and conform to each billet for a good fit, take the clamps off after everything cools.

This is a limb replacement in the pictures

When you glue the billets up put on one clamp and align the two center lines then add a couple more clamps.

[Muskyman]

Thanks Eric. I’ll take all the advice I can get. I did remember you posting about steaming the handle splice and clamping it to get a better fit.

[CRCopland]

Practice first, a couple of times, on two pieces of scrap 2X4's. You won't regret it. Getting a perfect fit is not easy.

[Pappy]

Ya it is tough to always get a prefect fit, the good news is they don't have to be prefect, if you are using good glue it will fill any small voids if the fit isn't prefect, the main thing for me is to be sure they go all the way in without forcing them, they will split out easy in the handle if you force them in, ask me how I know.  Also like has been said making sure the belly side is flat and square before starting the cuts. 
 Pappy

[Muskyman]

Okay how do you know Pappy  (-- I’ll be using smooth on  ea 40 glue watched a video Del has online about splicing, that helped for sure. Also liked the way Eric glued his pattern onto his billets. I’m slowly developing a plan in my head on how I’m going to try this with the input from here and Del’s video. I’ll post pictures once I get started. Thanks for the help.

[Eric Krewson]

I use dry heat for heating a sloppy splice cut, never have steamed one. I love my heat gun.

[Muskyman]

My mistake, I thought I remembered you saying you steamed it. Dry heat would probably be easier for heating up a splice anyway. Thanks

[mmattockx]

Also liked the way Eric glued his pattern onto his billets.

If you don't want to deal with the mess of white glue you can also use a glue stick or 3M77 spray adhesive to stick the pattern on. I use glue stick if I want it to come off easy, 3M77 if I don't want it coming off without sanding it off.

Not yet mentioned for the fitting is it's much easier to shape the male side of the joint to fit the female side, just like when doing mortis and tenon joinery on furniture.


Mark

[Muskyman]

Thanks Mark, I’ll keep that in mind. Got a ring chased on the other billet today and will probably try and flatten out the belly side with the backs being lined up next. Then get a center line on the backs.