Newby questions

[Ahnlaashock]

After reading Goerge's board bow info, I picked a piece of red oak from the garage to make my first board bow.  I used a narrow 3/4 inch thick board with decent but not perfect grain.  It is 79.5 inches still.  At this point as the tiller is getting close, the draw is nice and long, but there is very little poundage. 
I am considering cutting each limb about 4.5 inches.  That would leave me a 70 inch long bow, and it should pick up a little on the poundage, if I am figuring correctly. 
Am I moving in the right direction? 

[0209]

Yea, that sounds like the right thing to do.  79 inches is way to long for a bow in my opinion.  Whats the poundage at right now?  I'd give it a go, I mean whats the worst that can happen, you break it!?!  Not entirely a failure, with every failure comes a success.  Keep us posted and show some pics please.  Love to see the bow.
-Ian Mittelberg

[DanaM]

How wide is the board and what draw length and weight are you aiming for?
Also have you backed the bow with linen or silk? if not I would recommend it as it will greatly increse your chances for success.

[George Tsoukalas]

That is long. What is your draw? Jawge

[sailordad]

ya that might be a little long
i also agree with Danam on the backing of a board bow.
i have made a couple of hick board bows,72" ttt,backed them with cotton camo cloth with tbIII glue,look and shoot fabulous
a longer bow is more forgiving and accurate than a shorter bow especialy for newbies in trad archery

yes piking them(cutting each limb shorter) will increase weight but you will need to retiller it for the shorter length also

god luck and post pics,lots and lots of pics, strung ,unstrung,side profile,front profile,,full draw,pics of the handle and tips etc
we like pics,plus it helps everyone gve the best possible advise,and trust me the guys on here are good real good.
they are some of the best wood bowyers in the world right here.not to mention they all are more than wiling to help you make a good shooting bow.

                                                                                peace,
                                                                                       tim

[Ahnlaashock]

The bow is 1 and 1/8th wide.  It is 79.5 inches long.  The tips are still at 3/4s because it isn't finished. 

This it it strung with the temp string. 


This is the handle fades area.  It flexes at this point pretty well. 


This is the bow drawn with a 30 inch arrow propped holding it at draw. 


The belly on one limb.


So far I am guessing that I am approaching 15 pounds at 30 inches of draw.   It is not backed, but I figured to cut it down and see if I can get the poundage up a little before that next step.  If that is wrong, sing out! 
Thanks for the help everyone!

[DanaM]

You failed to answer the question of draw length What is your draw length??? And its not the same as for a compound.

Very few folks draw 30" on a traditional bow unless its a warbow.

[Ahnlaashock]

Dana, I need at least 30 inches to be comfortable aiming a bow.  If I drop my shoulder out a lot, I can shoot 28 inch bows if I need to, but it isn't fun.   I am a 6 foot tall 250 pounder. 
I shortened this one 2 inches on each end today.  I then stained the belly black so I could see what I was doing better.  I sanded it off to give me a nice even smooth surface.  The limb tips are still way too wide.  I could shoot it at 28 inches as long as target work did not enter the picture.   The entire limb is working a little more now, but the poundage did not go up as much as it started to have a wall at about 30 inches.  Cast is pretty good and I have shot it enough to be able to hit pretty consistently with it now. 
The most worrisome thing so far is that one limb is taking a lot more set than the other when the string is removed. 
What are the best glue choices for adding a working back?   I am considering going looking for a hickory board to cut a backing strip out of! 
I figure to learn everything I can from this one! 
Mistakes so far. 
Used the board I had in the gargage.  The grain is not what one would pick if they had a choice. 
Cut the belly side down on the table saw using a fence to thin the entire length of the limb all the way to the fades.  Should have tapered this cut and used the tillering to thin where needed.   Might have avoided the light draw weight.
Thanks for the feedback.  I started shooting a 65 pound re curve at 29 inches when I was 13.  Shooting shorter just doesn't feel right anymore!

[George Tsoukalas]

Your arrows are 30 inches but what's your draw length? Also don't cut that bow down unless you retiller. The bow is tillered to do mist of its bending mid limb to tips which fine for a super long bow but not if you cut it down.  Jawge

[Ahnlaashock]

Been a long time since I had arrows for a stick bow.  Last I had were 31 inches to use with my long bow.  Same as for my other bows.   The 30 incher in the picture is a left over from my sons. 
I went to Lowe's and looked at some more oak boards, and almost purchased one.  The grain was straight pretty much for about 8 feet with the middle of the curve in the grain being usable for the whole length.   It was about 8 layers in the thickness.  It would have been hard to get straighter grain out of a stave using a saw.  It was going to be about 15$, and the TBB was 22$ a couple of doors over at Barnes and Nobel. 
I left the new board there on the very back of the biggest stack and bought the book this time out. 
There was also a pretty decent board there that had really thick layers/rings.  It was only four layers thick.  Which is the better board for building a board bow?  The thick red oak rings or the closer together narrow rings? 
I was really looking for a nice straight grained hickory board to cut a backing strip out of, but no hickory to be found close by. 
By the way.  There is a classified ad here that links to a site that sells a lot of different red oak long bows.  They offer a stave for 20 bucks partially shaped and floor tillered that is supposed to be appropriate for a 45 pound long bow.   With shipping, it comes in at about the same price as two appropriate red oak boards from a local supplier.  Is that a good choice for someone like me that is just getting started? 
Anyway, time to start reading!

[DanaM]

Read and research as much as you can, the TBB series are good as are some other books. Look thru older threads on here and you will see many different opinions
on many topics. But in the end the best way to learn is by doing If you can get a partially done stave for $20 thats a good deal, also see if you can come up with some trade goods and try trading for a decent stave Tillering a bow out to 30" is more difficult than a shorter draw so keep the bow long 68"-70" and make sure the limbs are bending from the fades to almost the tips.

[Ahnlaashock]

They offer the preformed stave's for 20$ plus shipping when a decent board is around 16$ with tax.   72 inches and supposed to be proper for about a 45 pound long bow. 
They also offer a 45 pound 30 inch red oak  longbow that needs finishing for 70$ ready to shoot.   I may purchase one of them just to give me a practice bow while I work out the bugs in building my own.   My other bows are not the type to take bow fishing, bunny snap shooting, or even for casual stump shooting.   The only really good thing about them is that at 30 yards, I can hold a better group with them than I can a rifle off hand!   I once did a 300 43 inside out X target with one of them when I was serious about archery a couple of decades back!  All 60 arrows were touching the X, but only the inside out ones were counted.
I would have attempted backing this one already if I had a source for the glues you guys discuss.  I have construction adhesives that do not harden that would likely work.   I have a quart of Gluv-it out in the garage also, but I don't know how well that would do with the shock and flexing that a bow sees. 
What is the number one best glue to use when adding a working back to a bow? 
Thanks for the help! 

[smokeu]

Hey there your bow is coming along nicely, however you should consider getting a tiller tree or a wall mount like on Jawge's site.  That arrow in there is really dangerous if it slipped or popped out it could put out an eye or worse.  Sorry saftey man at heart, would just hate for you to get hurt.  You are certaily progressing along though.

Congrats

Mike

[Ahnlaashock]

Will do Mike!  I just needed something for the picture until I do build a proper fixture! 
As a newby, I am pretty shocked by the flexibility that the red oak shows.   
It is still too light, but it throws a light arrow well enough that small game would not like it at all. 
Still looking for a discussion on the best glues for backing traditional bows.  I found Liquid Hide Glue online at Ace hardware.   I have not called today to see if they have it in stock.   
A couple of pounds heavier, if the draw character kept as little stack as it has now, and it would be the perfect stump killer.  Part of my want list is being able to yank it back and hit that big carp that just came to the surface.   I don't want heavy. 
Anyone ever back red oak with red oak? 

[smokeu]

Not sure about the red oak backing but i have used linen and titebond 3, it worked well. You can also buy the super size dog chews of rawhide and use that. And most finer hardware stores sell titebond hide glue. I would go with linen myself and save the extra trouble.. Cause if your like any of the others on here that bow will be the first of many to come.

Mike