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Author Topic: Noob's Very First Bow (Red Oak Board Bow)  (Read 33642 times)

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Offline Rich H.

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Noob's Very First Bow (Red Oak Board Bow)
« on: May 01, 2012, 02:46:03 am »
Hello All,

I've been reading posts on this forum for a while now, and have finally decided to take the plunge and start making (and probably breaking) a bow.  After reading posts on here and around the web I've settled on trying my hand a red oak board bow.

I've spent the last week wandering around the local home improvement stores and sorting through their lumber piles.  Finally, today I found a decent looking red oak board at a certain orange and white store.

The board is a 1" x 8" x 6' (actual .75" x 7.25" x 72").  In the hundred or so boards I looked through it was the only one that looked like it had straight grain and wasn't figured or full of knots.  It also felt somewhat heavier than the other 1 x 8's which I've read is a good thing.  7.25 inches is a fairly wide board so I'm hoping to be able to rip it down the length and make 2 or maybe three bows out of it.

Here are some pics of the board (please let me know what you all think).
« Last Edit: May 07, 2012, 02:19:47 am by Rich H. »
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blackhawk

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Re: Noob's Very First Bow (Red Oak Board Bow)
« Reply #1 on: May 01, 2012, 08:13:13 am »
Welcome to the loony bin

Looks like a good board selection to me...what are ya waiting for,start ripping into it.....good luck and have fun with it
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Offline Rich H.

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Re: Noob's Very First Bow (Red Oak Board Bow)
« Reply #2 on: May 01, 2012, 09:02:15 am »
Thanks blackhawk. 

The first order of business is going to be building a tillering stick/tree from some scrap boards sitting in the corner.  Hopefully I'll have the board cut by the end of the day and start laying out my design.

Was thinking for my first bow I'd go with a pyramid design, 70" ntn with a rigid handle.  I am looking for something about 45# @ 28".  Is this reasonable for a 2" width at the fades for that type of design?  Or is there an easier/better design for a first timer you'd recommend?
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"Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new."
"Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler."
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Offline half eye

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Re: Noob's Very First Bow (Red Oak Board Bow)
« Reply #3 on: May 01, 2012, 10:29:38 am »
That's a nice looking board there. The right side in the end shot is nearly full quartersawed and the middle is rift....ought to make damned fine bows. Ya got a good plan for your "design too. Hope ya post it up when ya got 'er bendin.
rich
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Offline ErictheViking

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Re: Noob's Very First Bow (Red Oak Board Bow)
« Reply #4 on: May 01, 2012, 01:03:50 pm »
Those pics shouldbe archived! lol. dang near perfect grain. You found gold in the stack. at the same store for $5 I got a little pulley mounted on a flat bracket perfect for a tillering tree. other than that your scrap wood will work great
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Offline bubby

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Re: Noob's Very First Bow (Red Oak Board Bow)
« Reply #5 on: May 01, 2012, 09:53:45 pm »
that layout will work fine and a great board, rip it into thirds and start layin' it out to cut, oh and post lot's of pics, even if it break's, you'll learn a lot from a brokin bow, Bub
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Offline Rich H.

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Re: Noob's Very First Bow (Red Oak Board Bow)
« Reply #6 on: May 01, 2012, 09:57:06 pm »
Yeah was relieved to find it...

Well today I built my tillering tree.  I threw it together from a pile of scrap wood I had laying around.  I built a very basic tillering stick with screws every inch.  I plan to attach it to a wall and add a pulley after I get through my first bow or two.  Building the tree took me about an hour.  Then I got down to work on the bow. 

I built a guide rail for my cheap cordless circular saw so I could rip the board to 2" in width.   This board is much denser than any red oak I've worked with before.  I drained both my batteries just ripping it halfway.  After waiting for my batteries to recharge, I finished ripping my board.  (I really need to get a table saw and/or band saw.

While laying out the bow design, I noticed the board had a slight bend (reflex) to it (I didn't see any before I ripped it.)  The design is a pyramid bow with a rigid handle.  The handle will be 5" long with 2" fades.  The limbs will taper from 2" at the fades to .5" inch at the tips.  I plan to glue on a 1 x 2 riser and some red oak tip overlays.

Not being able to contain myself, I started roughing out the limbs.  I got 1/2 of the roughing out on the limbs done before calling it quits. 
« Last Edit: May 07, 2012, 02:22:41 am by Rich H. »
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Offline Youngboyer2(billyf)

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Re: Noob's Very First Bow (Red Oak Board Bow)
« Reply #7 on: May 01, 2012, 10:20:19 pm »
Looks like a good start to me :)
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Offline mullet

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Re: Noob's Very First Bow (Red Oak Board Bow)
« Reply #8 on: May 01, 2012, 10:56:43 pm »
Looks like a good board and plan. I'm looking forward to seeing it finished. It's a "Champagne Day" when your first one's a shooter. :)
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Offline Rich H.

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Re: Noob's Very First Bow (Red Oak Board Bow)
« Reply #9 on: May 02, 2012, 02:05:06 am »
Thanks Scott D.   That was one of the sites I looked at when I was building up the courage to start this project.  Looking it over again, it makes me want to reflex the tips like he did...but I think I'll keep it simple for this first bow (i.e. make something that can shoot before I worry about getting fancy.) ;)
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"Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new."
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Offline lesken2011

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Re: Noob's Very First Bow (Red Oak Board Bow)
« Reply #10 on: May 02, 2012, 10:24:52 am »
Lookin good, so far, Rich. Keep us posted!!
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Offline randman

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Re: Noob's Very First Bow (Red Oak Board Bow)
« Reply #11 on: May 02, 2012, 01:05:05 pm »
Nice start Rich. I'm wondering if that board couldn't be white oak instead of red as you are saying it's way denser than any red you've worked with. I've seen it happen before in those home center wood racks.
Not trying to be technical or anything but what you've built there, I would consider a tillering "stick". If you want a "tree" to mount on the wall with a pully affair, you won't want those screws on there as you want to be able to pull and release freely with the pully set up without it hooking on the screws or any notches. You just need the inch markings so you know how far you've pulled it.
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Offline Youngboyer2(billyf)

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Re: Noob's Very First Bow (Red Oak Board Bow)
« Reply #12 on: May 02, 2012, 07:23:17 pm »
I am very interested in making a red oak board bow like that for my friend. He has a 23-24 draw... But wants it to be hunting weight. So if I follow that TG buildalong how could I bring up the weight?
Pikeing, or maybe changing the handle size?
It looks like a fun project and I can't wait to start it 8)

-Billy
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"You speak Treason!" "Fluently"-Robin of Locksley
When people ask "why didn't you do that the first time" you can be sure that they  have never made a bow before.

Offline Rich H.

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Re: Noob's Very First Bow (Red Oak Board Bow)
« Reply #13 on: May 02, 2012, 08:03:03 pm »
Randman, Not sure about the wood.  I am very bad at discerning species based on appearance of wood.  However, it does have more of a pinkish tint than even some of my other red oak boards.   I intend to ad some more bells and whistles to the tillering stick once I get a bow or two under my belt.  My thought process was that I didn't want to spend a ton of time making an overly elaborate tree only to find out that I didn't like bow making. 

That said, I don't think I've enjoyed working on a project this much in quite a while.  If making a bow is this satisfying, how much more so will it be to hold the finished project in my hand and shoot it.  I think when I head to my parents house this weekend I'm going to check out their home improvement stores and see if I can find some things to improve my tillering tree and perhaps if they have any good boards. ;D

Back to the project: I've finished roughing the sides of the limbs.  Next I'm going to go knock out the handle area.  In preparation for removing wood from the belly to get the bow to thickness I wanted to ask a question.  From what I've read a pyramid bow has a fairly uniform thickness down the limbs.  For a 70" ntn bow (2" wide at the fades to 1/2" at the tips, with 9" rigid handle) how thick should I be shooting for? I'm trying for about 45# at 28".
« Last Edit: May 03, 2012, 01:52:29 am by Rich H. »
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Offline Youngboyer2(billyf)

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Re: Noob's Very First Bow (Red Oak Board Bow)
« Reply #14 on: May 03, 2012, 01:07:10 am »
Quote from TG buildalong
"Next, you’ll need to build yourself a fade-out jig. As before, I used a French curve"

What is a French curve?
 Other than that, the whole project seems pretty manageable, and I bet my friend will like this as a present for his bar-mitzvah better than money that won't touch until he is 18 8)
He goes by hayawatha around here and I think he will really appreciate it.

Thanks for this post, and leading me to such a quick bow.

On to home depot to acquire some "staves"!
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"You speak Treason!" "Fluently"-Robin of Locksley
When people ask "why didn't you do that the first time" you can be sure that they  have never made a bow before.
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