Help with a recurve takedown

[WarBird]

Hey guys, I've been working on a takedown bow, I've got the riser all finished up and it turned out wonderful but it's the limbs I'm having the most trouble with. I used some pretty good, straight grained red wood pieces I found at the box store, they were 1.5" wide and 1/4" thick. I steamed some reflex into them but the draw weight is really nonexistent... I shortened the limbs (the bow was 78" ntn so I knew I had some room to knock a bit off) but I know this isn't going to give me a whole lot. Was 1/4" red oak just a waste of time or would doubling up make a decent # draw? My tools are limited to a handsaw, drill and rasp and my budget is itty bitty, what kind of suggestions do you guys have to make these limbs pack a wallop?

[autologus]

Were they 1/4" red oak slats? If so they are way too thin to make a decent draw weight bow, they are good for 20# kids bows though.  You would need to use the 1" boards to make a hunting weight bow.  Limb thickness will vary depending on design and weight desired.  Look for the build along that Bubby has posted, he used Maple but red oak should work as well.  It is very good and should produce a hunting weight bow.  He uses a table saw but you can achieve the same results with the rasp but with more effort required.

Grady

[WarBird]

Yeah they were the 1/4" slats, thought when I was buying them they might be too thin. So one inch boards with a good taper then is the best way to go?

[autologus]

Here is a good build along, it is loaded with good advice and a step by step.

http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,35312.msg465818.html#msg465818

Grady

[blackhawk]

Are you trying to make a 3 piece takedown recurve  with boards  . How many "real" bows have you made?

[WarBird]

Haha... only 1 blackhawk. The riser was made from a block but I'm trying to make the limbs from boards. Is that an awful idea? 

[blackhawk]

To a lot of folks yes its an awful idea...and your getting waaaaaaaaaaay ahead of yourself trying to make such a complex bow right off the bat....its not your fault ...its a disease called fiberglass mentality....and if you were to attempt this there is much better types of wood to use for limbs...I'm not going to get into the details of it all...but yeah...bad idea IMHO. Learn the basics first,then start evolving ....you don't need a riser to build a sweet bow...now that I've been doing this for awhile I think the risers on three piece glass bows are bulky ugly pieces of sin...one day I might make a three piece all wood bow..but it doesn't really interest me much

[autologus]

Listen to blackhawk, he knows what he is talking about (I believe he could talk a mule through a successful self bow build).  Start out with a simple self bow following any of the many build alongs you can find on this site by searching and then move up to something more complex.  There are probably many accomplished bowyers on this site with years of experience that have not made a take down yet.

Grady

[WarBird]

Yeah... I think maybe I've started at the wrong end of things. My first bow was a mollegabet bow, turned out decent but then again it was from a red oak board. Haven't had the luck of working with a stave yet. I have Osage that grows around here but it's all on either private land or national forest and I don't have money to buy staves ready to go unfortunately  . And I agree that risers can get pretty hideous with bulkiness and after working with this bow I gotta say I'm more attracted to selfbows. But anyway, this is what I've done so far but I may just put it aside until I've got more bows under my belt and actually got half a clue what I'm doing 

[autologus]

That riser looks nice, If you want to make limbs for it you could, just use thicker limbs to increase the draw weight.

Grady

[blackhawk]

OMG...I just lost my lunch....lol     kidding     did you make the riser or is it off an old bow?

If you have osage around you and no money...all you have to do is ask for permission to cut it...and guess what I have never been denied...most folks will let you cut it if you go up to there door and ask, and be polite,half civilized,n well mannered because its a nuisance to most folks nowadays...id use osage for the limbs or bamboo backed osage imo

[Onebowonder]

That riser looks nice, If you want to make limbs for it you could, just use thicker limbs to increase the draw weight.

Grady

...Or just lam up your Oak slats!  Three of those boys glued up would have a good deal of power.  ...and you could glue in some reflex as well if you built a simple caul to clamp them to.

...but as has already been said, the tillering is the thing.  Start there.  This might just a "put it on the shelf for now" project.  (I've got dozens of those lying about!)

OneBow

[WarBird]

No, I made it. I've never owned any bows except the one I made. I'll have to change into a clean shirt, put some pants on and slick my hair down and go knock on a door or two  . I don't have a jig Onebowonder, I just steamed them with some foil and a pot and shaped them around another pot, then clamped them together side by side to make sure they had the same amount of rebound as possible. I might just convert the limbs into an atlatl  then when I get some experience, turn out some wicked osage limbs for this riser...

[PatM]

I disagree that it's much harder to make. You're just making the same type of thing except in sections.  Glue two lams up for each limb with a reflex and you'll boost the weight enough.
 Marc St Louis has posted a few three piece bows with toilet bowl bolts holding the limbs to the riser.

[Buckeye Guy]

WarBird
Tell me how you came up with the design for the riser ,and how you decided on the angles for the limbs  ?
There seams to be a big difference between the design for it vs the design for the limbs !
With that riser you can easily build the rest from boards!
Guy