Ozbow

Dennis, It would seem you have missed your calling! This is an Engineers nightmare, but takes me back to my pre-Engineering days with Physicists who loved the challenge of resolving intersecting chords & arcs. Engineers proudly do this kind of thing, but secretly we would rather be making someth...

I've sent tubes backward and forward to Canada with www.packsend.com.au for unbelievably good prices. Always been reliable, never had a problem. Slower coming to Australia than out, but still very good.

There's a fair few people who would be keen to do a timber swap/buy if you had some Elm staves you'd be keen to offload

Very interested in the Quandong backing. No glass or cloth to stop splinters rising?

I don't entirely agree with the method of assessment in that wood database article. For my own consideration, I use Mod. Rupture for suitability as a backing, Mod. Elas as an indicator of stiffness (the higher this being the higher the Mod. Rupture & Mod. Crushing of your bow need to be) and Mod...

This is great, Daryl. There's a few who are looking to place an order down south, so this will help immensely.

Much appreciated.

Neil

It'd be great to have a wood backing that I can just lightly sand and glue on. Done. I have some logs of Elm I'm planning on sawing up into backing strips. Just another quick comment on this - Elm is an advised backing by many American bowyers, so that should work well. I've also used Red Oak (chea...

How wide is it, and how much set has it taken? Does this timber plane at all well, even with the very twisty grain? The bow is 70" total, 68" ntn, 14" centre stiff section/handle. Re: the stiff section, it's difficult to really quantify it as 14" as I'd say about 2" of the ...

Well, what if you were so set up a fence on the bandsaw to rip backings, but also set up a beveled board, maybe 1.5 inches high, just in front of the blade? In such manner, if the cross section of the board (or, beam , in your case) is a regular rectangle, then it might be possible to rip lams from...

I have a flatsawn board that size, 1.75" thick by 18"(ish) wide by 2m long. I have an extra metre of the same dimensions, only shorter. Monaro Timber in Queanbeyan had about a dozen to choose from, only trouble was a little warping along the 18" edge due to the seasoning method (proba...

When do your bending experiments begin? If steam/dry heat don't work out, you could always try a kerf. Laminate a shim of cypress in the kerf & onlookers might never know how it was done. I've not done any kerfing yet, so it's definitely there as an option (and I am curious...) but it will be a...

If you're looking for a new bandsaw, you might want to consider one of these - https://www.timbecon.com.au/sawing/bandsaws-accessories/14in-european-style-bandsaw It's comparatively cheap/affordable for a 14" bandsaw and my brother in the UK rates them highly (and he's somewhat of a guru when i...

Would this be the same species as that seen in the fence palings at Bunnings and whatnot? I'd always dismissed it out of hand for being 'too piney'. But with a success like that, and with early indications showing it being somewhat similar to Yew, it'd be folly not to give it a try . Can't say I kn...

Looking good Neil, yew might be on a winner with this one. :lol: From the Wood Database ; "Comments: Although this tree is sometimes called by the confusing name White Cypress Pine, it’s not technically a true pine (Pinus genus), though it is included within the broader Cupressaceae family, wh...

yeoman wrote:We all break bows occasionally. It's immensely disappointing when it happens, but we must persevere and try again.

Some more than others! I dread to think how many I break for those that work...

Good effort though. Looking forward to seeing the second attempt.

68" ntn, 40#@28" after being shot in. Not breaking the mould in any design or technique but a nice little shooter. The Cypress smells beautiful as it's worked and looks great. Still needs tidying up and waxing but might be a month or two before I get back in the shed. IMG_0543.jpg Imperfec...

Yeoman/Dave used Gorilla Glue for a long time, sometimes with success, sometimes not. http://www.ozbow.net/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=15135 He also commented positively on using Titebond III, which (in North America, at least) is generally accepted as suitable for gluing on handles and wooden l...

Wow, that's an impressive tillering job. You've a hell of an eye for it, Cam

Very true Nezwin, here is one such example take off the Paleoplanet website "The bow measures 44" (421/2"ntn) in length (handle 5", bending section 11", tips 8.5"), the tips are tapering from 11/4" to 3/8" in width.The bows physical weight is 9oz" (bow i...

I've seen posts on American boards where they get down to 58" unbacked Osage bows with recurved tips. I've got a Sam Harper bamboo-backed Osage Static Recurve that's only 60" ntn and there's no sign of fretting at all. Looking forward to the build though! Got some billets seasoning in the ...

Very cool, very neat.

I've been asked to make a new string for this old bow, supposedly from the early 1960's. It may be of interest to some on the forum. The limbs are made from flattened tubular steel, 7/8" wide at their widest point. There doesn't seem to be an obvious arrow pass or rest, but there is a form of s...

Impressive!

Thank you everyone for the advice & guidance. After shortening, reprofiling & proper tillering the bow came out at a meagre 25lb @ 28". No good for anyone except children or my wife, who I cut a left-handed shelf for. However, from off the bat I had actually been building a second bow w...

Thanks for the clear & precise clarification, Perry & Dennis. It's good to see a 'correct' curve (I use the term 'correct' loosely, there is no 'correct' in many ways, so perhaps 'traditional' or 'most efficient' is a better term, not that I wish to start a debate or argument, please) plotte...

Nezwin, like Big Bob, I think your hypothesis has merit, despite my previous arguments above. It is perhaps the most plausible of any in regard to central stiffeners and deserves some kind of follow-up. However, the final proof of efficacy is that on average, bows made with a central stiffening lay...

I perhaps haven't explained myself adequately. img-623162747-0001.jpg Above is a sketch diagram of a typical curve I would plot on a limb for a fade. The black line is the line I would plot using straight lines and sharp angles. The blue line is the line that I actually cut and the red line is to wh...

Reading all this about Ipe & set, I've been pondering a few things for a while that might be relevant... Maximum Shear Stress occurs at the Neutral Plane. If the use of Ipe has caused less set to be taken, it would be as a result of Ipe's performance in Shear. Stick with it here because it goes ...

Thank you everyone for the constructive & positive feedback. I find that it's best to tiller after walking away from a bow for a few days and looking at the pictures of the draw. I never seem to be able to get my eye 'into the zone' initially and looking at the pictures now, it's obvious that th...

Nice work there Neil, its coming along!! For myself personally, looking at the tiller you have there I would soften up the tips a little to reduce the bend in close to the handle, particularly on the right limb. I think even for these bows you want a smooth even curve along the entire limb length (...