'Newbies build along'

[hazard]

Fantastic work Bob! I havent logged on for a while and missed all the action I quite like your comments on the "Glue UP"as I reckon they described my efforts when I gave it a go. That stuff is soooooo slippery

Great post! Thanks Bob

Hazard

[bigbob]

He He he. Bit of a trap for new players isnt it! Least I know what to expect for my next one. [Got the damn bug now] Ps where on earth is Maraylya?

[looseplucker]

Great work Bigbob. Very informative buildalong. Must give the glass laminated bow a go at some point.

[bigbob]

Thanks L/P just trying to give back a little of what I have experienced regarding the generosity of bowyers to give freely of their knowledge and information.Guess I am proof that even a bumbling idiot can listen to wise councel and turn out something presentable.

[littlejohn]

That was a great build along Bob....Thanks for taking the time to post it. I am hoping to have a go myself .

How much of a gap do you leave in your form (between bottom and top), to allow for expansion of the hose once everything is in place???1 - 2 inches????

Pete

[bigbob]

Will have to check for sure but from memory[ its not good!] The hose is 1 1/2'' dia and the gap is 1 1/4'' ensuring the hose will deform to completely cover the pressure strip and force down on the layup with even pressure throughout.

[greybeard]

One point to note is that as you sand, the masking tape often curls up without going with the sanded material effectively hiding the lines. If some light grit ie 240 paper is held at a 45 angle to the limb and lightly run down the limb to remove the tape without taking the lines this will allow you to get a nice even sand right to the line.

Bob,

I use a metal straight edge [held with a couple of spring clamps] on the plan of the bow and use a stanley knife or similar to cut through the tape and remove the selvedge and by doing so you get a clear view of the line. Occasionally you may need to sand the excess tape from the belly.

Daryl.

[bigbob]

Another very useful tip to remember , thanks Daryl.

[Flatliner]

Very nicely done Bob. Now that you are addicted what's the next project?

Rob.

[bigbob]

Very nicely done Bob. Now that you are addicted what's the next project?
As i said to lbRod in a pm, my next one might have a 5 shot mag, and semi auto!
Rob.

Probably though just more of the same only better.Not quite silly enough to not realise the steep learning curve ahead.Maybe a fancier riser, perhaps. Gotta wait 'till i have my lam grinder going. Got a bid on a motor on fleaybay, which finishes this weekend, then if I win it I have to get it here [ its in brisvegas] and fiddle with things to get it just right. Already got enough material here for one more bow,.

[rodlonq]

Yep Jeff, got some filament tape I think its called from a office supply place.Ultra strong as its fibreglas reinforced.
I am going to do an alteration to my form too as i have been thinking [ had to take aspros after] and it is cumbersome to have to lift the form to wrap the tape around each time and dont like just running the tape over the lams and just down each side . what I am going to do is drill a series of holes in the lower form at appropriate spots and glue short dowels in extending a little each side. Because the tape is very strong I will be able to go over the lam down a side wrap around a dowel and back over the lam down the the other end of the dowel. This will excert a great deal of force on the lams and should result in better glue lines especially at the riser.

Great job on your first bow Bob. The finished product looks very nice and I hope you can get it down to your target weight. Your tip overlays turned out very nice too, I do tip overlays the same way you did.

I have a suggestion for a method of holding the form up so it is easy to wrap the filament tape (I got some 3M tape at Bunnings - very strong) around the the whole form. I made the "form foot" from 19 mm MDF with a base so it could be clamped to the bench or other work surface (not the kitchen table tho ). The form just drops into it so it can be used for either the straight-layed form or the D/R form. When I build a 2" wide form for a recurve I will just router grooves with a 20 mm core box cutter and use the same form foot. Hope this may be useful to you, now that you've been bitten by the bug .

Cheers....... Rod

Bow#1 in the form.jpg (132.58 KiB) Viewed 3092 times

Form Foot.jpg (113.67 KiB) Viewed 3092 times

[bigbob]

Yep Rod been looking through other buildalongs and took particular note of your 'stand' at the bottom. Great idea.Also agree with another comment , your set up is far to clean and tidy. As I mentioned in a later post I did get the weight down to more or less my target at 57# @ 28 which I'm happy about.

[hazard]

This is turning out to be a very good post! Everyone is chucking in that little something.

Bob
Maraylya is about 15 minutes from Windsor (NSW)

Hazard

[Nephew]

Wicked Stuff, Bob! Well done matey! Once I get back from out West, anticipate a visitor, cool?

[bigbob]

Thanks hazard, No worries Moreton. Sent you a pm.

[rodlonq]

As I mentioned in a later post I did get the weight down to more or less my target at 57# @ 28 which I'm happy about.

Yer........... shoulda read the whole thread before jumping in. Enjoyed reading after tho Glad you got it down to weight and it's shootin well.

Cheers........ Rod

[bigbob]

S'okay. Biggest problem now is getting a half decent finish with a spray can. Might leave it looking a little tatty for the Corrival, but I'll work on it later anyway.

[Benny Nganabbarru]

Great stuff, Bob!

[bigbob]

Thanks Ben, been quite a journey, and a rewarding one.

[bigbob]

After attending the Corrival and talking to some very knowledgeable bowyers i can see that my riser design, although somewhat similar in proportions to a Bingham profile , with its longer section at the belly side it means the riser fades are not as shallow in depth as some, meaning the area close to the fades does not work as the upper sections do. While I shot it all weekend and was very happy with its performance it is obviously not working to its ultimate so bow 2 is in the planning stage. Once i have lam grinder mark 2 done and tested its full on to it.

[Flatliner]

There'l be no holding you back now hey Bob

[Outbackdad]

The bow looked and went well bob.
The next one will just be just that much better for what you have learnt.

[bigbob]

Thanks Rob and Outbackdad, no I guess not. I have really got the bug and want to end up with a top performing bow that also is very pleasing on the eye.

[Steven J]

I hope it is not too late to offer my congratulations also. You have done an absolute cracker of a job. Well done mate.

Steve

[bigbob]

Thanks steve that is also much appreciated, but a lot of any credit goes to the guys on here who contribute so much knowledge to 'newbies' like myself.