working tip overlays

[BOWMAN53]

How do you guys get your tip overlays to look so clean? (The transition from overlays to the back of the bow). When I do mine, I always end up digging in to the back of the bow and it just looks sloppy. Do you shape them before the glue up?

[Bryce]

The fade into the bow should be nice and clean so you don't end up digging into the bow like your doing. The rest can still be roughed out and left a little wide. I use a finger nail polisher ($20) on horn and antler of various grits till its good. Then buff with cotton and some polishing agent. Same goes for hardwood overlays but use sanding paper.

[mikekeswick]

Take your time. Files and patience.

[Del the cat]

Take your time. Files and patience.

Exactly!
Just to expand a little...
Try a set of needle files, you can't beat a half round needle file for blending in.
Take it slow and careful, when you start obsessing about 'is that translucent wafer thin horn or epoxy?' you know you are doing it right .
It gets much quicker with practice.
I didn't much like doing horn nocks on ELBs to start with, now I rather enjoy it.
Del

[Pat B]

Preshape the overlay profile before you glue it down. I like to shape the back side of the overlay so it feathers to nothing. That way you only have to clean up the glue line and smooth it out.

[Tom Leemans]

What Pat said. I grind an angle on the one end before gluing. If you use horn, it's fairly easy to blend from there. One of my favorite tools is a razor blade. (used as a scraper) Get some various grit buffer boards from the beauty supply too.

[BOWMAN53]

Thank you. Ill do everything you guy said, ill make the tip overlays my focus on the next bow. I'm gonna start making them now, even though I don't have a bow to put them on at the moment lol.

[paulsemp]

I'll second the razor blade, the best detail tool out there!

[sharpend60]

Also, make sure your surfaces to be glued are perfectly flat.
Use a sanding block or if you a power tool sort, try a finer grit to get that crisp clean line.

I for the first time, I did an overlay using my tiny belt grinder, great results!
I used 120 I believe.

[Cameroo]

There was another thread recently that discussed this, here's a link if you haven't found it already.

http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,34800.0.html

[dwardo]

I use various grade sand papers tore off in strips and used in a belt like fashion.