Obligatory warning: WALL OF TEXT INCOMING!
So I was finally able to get my hands on some Ipe this week and I am very excited about trying some new woods. (also got 1 board foot each of Yellowheart and Bloodwood for accents, grips etc, so awesome!!)
So far I have made working bows from Red Oak, Maple, and Ash.
I really want to back my Ipe with bamboo, but I blew my budget for this month just getting my piece of Ipe, lol. But I want to keep working on projects so I have about 85 questions about some ideas I have had. It may be easier if an experianced bowyer just wants to chat with me on the phone so I can just bounce questions as they come, but I'll try and put some down here. (PM me for my number if anyone wants to just answer some of these over the phone)
Some preliminary infor about my plans with the ipe. It is .75" x 5.5" x 10'. I wanted to to make a few good full sized bows from it and possible some small/short bows. I cut it 68" and 52". I decided to play with the smaller ones first and cut the 52" into 4ths. So now I have 4 almost perfectly straight grained ipe boards .75" x 1.25" x 52".
1. Is ash a good backing for Ipe?
2. I am short on clamps (I have 4 good stout clamps, a huge vice, and 4 Irwin Quick claps) so not enough to do a full clamp up while gluing on backing strips and I don't want to rob the tubes out of my kids bikes. So I am trying to come up with some ideas for using what I have around the house. I have an entire kitchen worth of 3/4" solid oak hardwood flooring that got water damaged to play around with. Here was my thought for glue up: 2x4, waxed paper, ipe, tb3, backing (TBD), waxed paper, oak flooring strip on edge (so it won't flex as much) then clamp it heavily in 4-5 places with bar/c-clamps. Will that distribute the clamping pressure enough to get a good clamp all the way across?
3. I think splicing backing in the middle is not a good idea, but can I splice backing lengthwise? I have a 3/4" thick piece of ash with a really good grain pattern on the edge. Could I rip 2 x 1/8" the length of my ipe and glue them on side by side?
4. Was my assumption in 3 right (regarding splicing backing in the middle)? I have a 27" piece of ash 3/16" thick by 2" wide. Could I cut that at a diagonal and make 2 tapered backing strips 1-1/2" wide tapering to 1/2". They would then be glued on the back, splicing at the handle. Would that work with a non-bending handle? Bendy handle with a wrap? Not at all, ever?
5. What is the difference between "Flipped tips" and "Static Recurve" I'd like to put some sort of reflex on the ends of my bow, but I know that Ipe is tough to do that with. Would I reflex/flip before or after gluing backing. Should I steam and bend the wood before gluing? Dry heat it? Or leave the backing off the non working portion of the reflexed tips entirely?
6. Could I glue the backing on but leave the last 6-7 inches with no glue on it, then steam and bend the tips together. After they set up, then lift the unglued backing force glue in and clamp around the bending mold again?
I have more, but I better quit here before I make anyone's eyes start bleeding from the length of my post. Thanks guys, you are a great resource, and I hope to someday have the talent some of you scrape out from under your fingernails.