Author Topic: started a board bow  (Read 2125 times)

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Offline bbs383ci

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started a board bow
« on: March 10, 2012, 12:10:32 am »
well i found a couple of red oak boards today that seem to have good grain in them, started cutting it out this evening and hopefully will start tillering it tomorrow,  my question is, i am wanting to put about 3" inches of recurve on the limbs can you do this with a board bow?

the bow will be 63" ntn with 2 1/4" wide at fades to 2" at mid limb to half inch tips i would like to get around 45# @28".

Offline Weylin

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Re: started a board bow
« Reply #1 on: March 10, 2012, 12:14:18 am »
Wow, 2 1/4" seems really wide to me. Is there a particular design that you are using that necessitates such wide limbs? I can't speak to the reflexing, some one else will have to chime in on that.

Offline Bevan R.

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Re: started a board bow
« Reply #2 on: March 10, 2012, 12:24:25 am »
I would say go with what you plan. I made a black walnut (from a board) that was 3" at the fades tapering to 1/2" at the tips.
Bowmakers are a little bent, but knappers are just plain flaky.

Offline Weylin

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Re: started a board bow
« Reply #3 on: March 10, 2012, 12:26:53 am »
Listen to Bevan. I don't have a lot of experience with different bow styles. That just struck me as alot wider than the board bows I'd seen but clearly they are out there.  :)

Offline NruJaC

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Re: started a board bow
« Reply #4 on: March 10, 2012, 12:27:24 am »
If you want it that wide, can I recommend the pyramid style, where the bow tapers from it's widest point at the fades all the way down to the tips? They're really easy to tiller cause you can just get the thickness down to a constant 1/2" or so (I'd start a little higher and work it down to make sure you make weight), and you just need to shoot for an arc of the circle tiller. My first bow was one of those, out of red oak. Mine was ~2.5" wide at its widest point, down to half inch tips.
Arjun from Reston, VA

Offline bbs383ci

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Re: started a board bow
« Reply #5 on: March 10, 2012, 12:32:28 am »
the reason i am going a little wider is to help with set, since the bow is going to be 63" ntn a wider thinner limb wont have as much set.

also another question, i wasnt planning on glueing a riser on this one, i was planning on  letting the handle ahave a slight bending to it, the handle i have laid out on it is 1 1/8" wide, will this work or do i need to glue a riser on it.

Offline NruJaC

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Re: started a board bow
« Reply #6 on: March 10, 2012, 12:37:44 am »
Those are tricky, it'll want to snap in half at the narrower handle section. Usually working handled bows are narrower, both because they have more working wood, and because you need to hold them somewhere. Not saying it's impossible, but it's very difficult. That said, I haven't tried it myself.
Arjun from Reston, VA

Offline bbs383ci

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Re: started a board bow
« Reply #7 on: March 10, 2012, 01:11:18 am »
thanks for the replies and the help, i think since this is my second bow i think ill put a riser on it and go from there. thanks again guys.