Pyramid bow build along

[RyanY]

Finally home for the weekend so I thought I’d do a build along.  I’ve been wanting to make a pyramid bow but with a different taper than what we normally see which I’ll explain later.

Starting off with a winter cut hickory stave so the first thing to do is debark the thing.


I start by wedging my draw knife blade at the line between the first ring and cambium, here.

[RyanY]

Once you get it wedged in there it likes to go up in one piece instead of peeling off.

It’s very difficult to get the whole width of bark on the first try so I work my way underneath the remainder till my draw knife is below the first couple inches.

From here it’s a simple process of pulling towards me and tilting the draw knife up to pop off a little more length of the bark.

If you do it right it’ll come off in one big piece.

In this case I didn’t get all of the cambium. Some parts may still be attached but can easily be pulled off as they were popped off in the process.

Thick parts will appear dark and can easily be scraped down.

A little more scraping shows the first ring which will be the back of my bow.

At this point the back is almost hairy with small fibers sticking up here and there. I give it a quick scrape and a light sanding which also gives me a slight camo look.

[RyanY]

When I mark out my bow I start with a center line down the middle of the stave which I draw by clamping a string at both ends. This stave is fairly straight so I don’t worry about the very slight character.


I then mark the mid point, handle and fades. I make my handle symmetrical so I can shoot the bow with either limb on top. 5” handle with 1.5” fades. Then I draw a rough outline of the shape of the handle so I can reduce the width to fit on my tiller tree.


I then draw the width taper which in this case goes from 2.5” to 0” and the limbs are 28” to the 0” mark. To have enough width for string nocks I measure 3/8” at the tip and follow it straight down to the taper lines. I then give myself an extra inch past the 0” mark to work with.

[RyanY]

After drawing the width taper I cut it out on the band saw making sure to lead away from the belly so that there’s plenty of width to work with.


Next I draw out the thickness. In this case, being a pyramid bow, it will be a half inch thick from fade to tip. I mark several half inch marks along the length of the limb and draw the line using my fingers and marks as a guide.


I then cut out the thickness on a band saw and also some of the handle meat again remembering to lead away from the belly. 


After cutting both the width and thickness, here is the resulting cross section.

[RyanY]

Now it’s time to clean up some of these rough sides from the band saw. I start with the sides, bringing it to the lines drawn for width taper and make them more square with the back. Not much to see of that so no pics. I then redraw the thickness to be cut out on the band saw again. It seems tedious but there is still enough thickness where the band saw comes in handy.

After band saw work

Now the limbs are thin enough to start working with a draw knife. When the limbs start to get fairly flat it is easy to see what growth ring you will end up near for the thickness which is something I consider at this point. While taking down thickness it’s very important to make sure that no thin points are forming too early so I feel along the limbs with my fingers to make sure the thickness is even. The picture is poor but it is one growth ring almost to the fades.

[RyanY]

Unfortunately my draw knife work isn’t very clean so it leaves the width taper edges bumpy and uneven

To flatten this out I press the side of the limb on my belt sander and check the width periodically with my calipers.


After this the side taper is more clean and even.


Sorry if this is a lot at once and for some unclear pictures. If there are any questions about what or why I do what I do please feel free to ask or criticize. I know my explanations are sub par. Writing is definitely not my strong suit. Thanks for looking.

[RyanY]

I guess I should mention that I’m going for 40#@28” and the bow will be 64” ntn.

[bubby]

look's good so far,havint seen a eiffel tower pyramid build a long before, in the pics the bottom limb look's way shorter than the top, optical conclusion i quess , Bub

[osage outlaw]

Looks great.  I love all these build-a-longs that have been on here lately 

[RyanY]

Thanks guys.

Bubby, It's the perspective of the picture. Limbs are equal length. 

osage outlaw, It's hard to compete with Gordon and Pearl Drums so I just hope someone gets something from it.

Floor tillering shows the bow is just barely flexing but I can tell it’s going to be stiff in the fades which is to be expected. This is because thickness was measured at the edges and doesn’t account for the crown which matters more near the fades where it’s thicker meaning it’s thicker there than at the tips.

Fade thickness

Tip thickness

The bow is too heavy right now so I alternate between scraping and floor tillering to get it bending more. While doing so I feel the thickness across the width and length to make sure it is even.

[RyanY]

I figured now would be as good a time as any to round off the edges on the back. I do this with a cabinet scraper for just a slightly rounded edge. I’ve used a spoke shave for a more rounded edge.



I also got tired of holding onto the bulky handle it had so I cut it closer to its final dimensions and used a belt sander to get the sides more smooth.

[RyanY]

To carve my string nocks I draw a line diagonal line from the back to the belly at about a 45 degree angle. Then starting at the corners I file into the line to my desired depth.

[RyanY]

Tillering! I usually like to avoid long string tillering but I was feeling lazy and didn’t want to make a new string tonight and I figured I’d see how it was bending since it still felt fairly heavy.

Can already see some weak spots that want to hinge so those need to be avoided. Everything else looks pretty stiff.

While still on the tree I use a pencil to mark where I need to remove wood. Then I scrape a number of times, usually 10, with my draw knife.

Rather, rinse, and repeat.




This is it for now. Both limbs have a fairly even bend although it seems as though the right is a little stronger. I think for a pyramid bow it is still to stiff at the fades so that’ll need to happen.

Thanks for looking. Stay tuned.

[bubby]

ryoon, i figured it was the pic's, Bub

[lesken2011]

Looks really good, so far. Great build along. I really like the looks of that white wood with the camo back.