Ozbow

Construction of this bow is similar to any of my bamboo backed bows with the exception of steaming some recurve into the tips of the maple stave.

Building recurve into the tips allows me to reduce the n to n length. This bow is 61” was meant to be 62” but something happened.

This is a low cost easy to make bow.

Initial layout for the pole bamboo and milled board maybe in the vicinity of $100.00 and should yield four bows so $25.00 for a bow is very reasonable.

The pole bamboo for the backing is prepared and shaped to the bow plan in the usual manner.

Prepare the stave for steaming [about 7mm for the rock maple] and mark out the plan of the bow on the back of the stave. Do not cut the plan of the bow before steaming.

Once I had a head of steam I allowed forty minutes to steam the rock maple.

I do apologize for the poor quality of the photographs. Use an adjustable form when gluing the bamboo to the stave. I would advise building in reflex at this stage to help minimise string follow. The bow draws 40# @ 26” dlpp, should have been heavier but during the final tillering I got carried away with the belt sander with a 60 grit belt and removed a little too much timber.

Managed to run over the little finger at the same time but fortunately I did not spill blood on the rock maple. Tiller may change during the shooting in period.

Daryl.

Excellent work Daryl, very tidy. The node spacing on the bamboo is very symmetrical as is the steam bending.

Rob.

Like it a lot Daryl!

That looks a great little recurve Daryl.

Jeff

Hi Daryl.

Given that the string does not touch at the nocks is that then a 'longbow'?.

GrahameA wrote:Given that the string does not touch at the nocks is that then a 'longbow'?.

Tut, tut, tut, the widest part of the limb is wider than the handle so it is not a longbow.

Daryl.

Very elegant. A nice piece of work. How wide are the limbs?
Hamish

Very nice as usual Daryl.

Daryl, that's a very nice looking bow. I gather the geometry of the recurve gives a lower string angle for the draw, hence you can make the bow shorter? Can you also tell me what species of bamboo you used?

I have a nice stick of Canadian Rock Maple that a gentleman from Maryborough gave to me. I'm looking at a similar menu to this but longer and no recurve.

Thanks, Indie.

Gentlemen, thank you for your replies.

Hamish wrote:Very elegant. A nice piece of work. How wide are the limbs?

Hamish, 36mm at the widest and 16mm at the string nocks. I used a gradual taper to within about eight inches of the tips.

Limb width at times can be governed by the diameter of the bamboo.

indie wrote:Can you also tell me what species of bamboo you used?

Indie, Moso bamboo seems to be favoured by quite a lot of bowers. I use it because supply is readily available. Madake is also suitable but I believe it can be difficult to source.

Daryl.

Morning Al.

So what is it like to shoot? Well here is an opinion - and note it is my opinion.

The bow looks similar to the the Renaisance/Medieval Recurves that Daryl has made in the past. A close inspection shows the high level of workmanship that Daryl always does.

The bow had no nocking point fitted but that not an issue - and I did not have any issues with fletches when I shot it. The bow has a simple rubber cricket bat grip fitted to it and the arrow pass is at the top of the grip - so it was easy to position the arrow.

When I drew it the first thing I noticed was the 'weight' came on nicely - it did not have large amounts of 'early' weight - and it is better for it. I "thought" that it was starting to stack when I got it back to 27' or thereabouts - or more likely I was showing the effects of very little archery over the long hot summer.

The bow was not put through a chronograph however it was handling my hack 50lb shafts okay so I would suggest that it is shooting relatively quick. It was certainly burying the arrows into the buttress.

What was good about it - it is a nice simple bow that shows the results of attention to detail in its manufacture, it exhibited no 'shock' or other nasty habits and for me it shot where I aimed.

On a personal basis I would probably have preferred it a bit longer however, I always prefer longish bows.

The message in the bow - backing with pole bamboo adds lots of 'oomph' and it is extremely cheap. Then again that has been known for more than a few years.

Observant people will notice from the photos that the recurve section does not open out as much as modern bows -or the current fashion.
Addenda.

For those who are wondering about Renaisance/Medival Recurves a link to a post from a few years ago. http://www.ozbow.net/phpBB3/viewtopic.p ... 14&p=81918

Brad - you could make simple longbow using the same techniques, a piece of Bamboo Floorboard and a piece of Bamboo.

Very nice Daryl. What a great little bow at a great little price too. Thank you for posting it.

What glue do you use for the boo backing?

Cheers... Rod

GrahameA wrote:I "thought" that it was starting to stack when I got it back to 27' or thereabouts

Grahame, thank you for the positive review.

You will notice by the photograph that the string angle to tip is around 45 degrees.

The last five inches of the limb is actually thicker than mid limb and what I believe you are interpreting as stack is the handle to mid limb area of the bow loading up. I believe this helps to increase stored energy.

GrahameA wrote:For those who are wondering about Renaisance/Medival Recurves a link to a post from a few years ago. http://www.ozbow.net/phpBB3/viewtopic.p ... 14&p=81918[/size]

This is the link to the original bow I made in 2007. http://www.ozbow.net/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=5341

At a later stage I shortened the handle and turned it into a nice take down bow.

rodlonq wrote:Very nice Daryl. What a great little bow at a great little price too. Thank you for posting it.

What glue do you use for the boo backing?

Cheers... Rod

Thank you Rod,

I believe that the low price makes this an excellent child/youth bow.

Smooth on cured at ambient temperatures appears to work well. Bamboo and hard rock maple readily accept glue.

Daryl.

Looking good as usual Daryl

Morning All.

This is just a note for those who are interested in the evolution of "things". There are a few comments and links WRT this style of bow in the previous posts on this topic. Daryl first made the ancestor of this bow in 2007. Since then he has made several bows which are a similar style and I have made a couple. The end result is that each of us has had a few lessons in what does not work (and a couple in what does) plus (well at least in my case) a number of huge lessons in making bows, (and how poor my hand skills actually are).

It did not happen overnight and there has been more than a couple of cups of coffee where conversation/discussion revolved around what did/did not work, what changes could be made and what where likely results, options that could be tried.

Love your work

This one is so elegant


Rgds

Rob

G'day Daryl,

Firstly what a beautiful piece of craftsmanship, I was really impressed with the simplicity but elegance of this one!!

One quick question, where do you source your pole bamboo?? I have looked all over the place and came up with a doughnut...
Id like to start incorporating bamboo as a backing into my bows to give a more natural look, rather than the linen I'm using now.

Cheers

Colin

bamboo Australia I think its called on Kennelworth Imbil road has Moso bamboo in pole form.

Colin,

I get the bamboo poles from Bamboo Australia at Belli Park.

Daryl.

http://www.bambooaustralia.com.au/bambo ... and-slats/

A belated question for you Daryl,

After steaming and bending the limb tips, how long do you need to let the stave sit for to return to a reasonable moisture content before you do any further work to it? Thank you.

Cheers.... Rod

rodlonq wrote:After steaming and bending the limb tips, how long do you need to let the stave sit for to return to a reasonable moisture content before you do any further work to it?

Rod, I do not worry too much about moisture content in my neck of the woods. If necessary I will use a heat gun to dry the stave.

When laminating bamboo to the back of the bow the drier the better. Usually I will give the bow time to rehydrate/stabilize before I seal it.

Daryl.

Thanks Daryl.

Gday Daryl,

I have just got myself some red oak and spotted gum and will be acquiring some bamboo over the next few days to make some bamboo backed bows hopefully.

Im looking for some guidance on how you prepare the bamboo for use as a backing. I remember reading a post of yours where you say to cut the bow to plan ( handle, fadeouts and width taper to the tips, so the basic shape of the bow when viewed back or belly on) .Then mill the bamboo so it has a flat base on the inside and mark out this shape onto the bamboo and cut it out, then thin down the bamboo to have a 1mm edge all around the perimeter ( in doing so thins the bamboo towards the tip while staying thicker in the middle) . Sorry for the lengthy, murky description...

Is this basically the correct method of preparing bamboo for a backing?

Also, you have steam bent the tips of this bow, do you think it would be possibly to steam bend red oak or spotted gum? or would building in some reflex help to reduce follow and set without the recurved tips?

Lastly, what glue do you use to glue the bamboo backing on? I have heard of people using titebond 3 for this, is that correct?

Cheers,

Colin

Hi Colin,

Split or saw your bamboo pole into suitable widths and start flattening the inner surface with whatever suitable tools you have available i.e. belt sander, electric planer, spoke shave etc.
Mark the limb plan [slightly oversize] on the bamboo and cut to shape. Draw marks across the bamboo at six inch intervals and these will be used as checkpoints to control the thickness and taper.
Continue flattening the inner surface until the edges of the bamboo is about 1/ 16” thick.

Most timbers can handle steam bending, It is wise to do some sample testing to work out how long the timber needs in the steamer for successful bending.
Generally the higher the density of the timber the longer the steaming time.

Even with recurved tips I pull the bow into reflex when gluing on the backing bamboo.

I use Smooth-on and Techniglue CA works well cured at room temperature. I have never used Tite Bond 3 so I can not comment on its suitability for the purpose.

Daryl.

Thanks for the info Daryl! very much appreciated.

I have some thin pieces of oak that I had been using for joinery and will test a steam bend on one of these prior to doing on a bow limb.

I do have some Techniglue CA here so will be able to use that however I would like to try titebond 3 as I have read about using it in posts on here and also seen it used on youtube. As its a bit cheaper than the techniglue I don't mind using a fair bit of it.

I will build in some reflex as your suggest when I am gluing the back on. What design do you use when building in reflex? I have see some people use a 3 point system, ie they hold down the centre of the handle and prop up the tips, giving more reflex in close to the handle.

The bow in this thread looks as though it was held down further out from the handle on both limbs and propped up at the tips, creating the reflex bend more evenly along the whole limb as your reflex form suggests.

Colin

hunterguy1991 wrote:I will build in some reflex as your suggest when I am gluing the back on. What design do you use when building in reflex? I have see some people use a 3 point system, ie they hold down the centre of the handle and prop up the tips, giving more reflex in close to the handle.

For simple reflex put blocks under the tips and pull down the centre.

I would suggest at least three inches of reflex in a 68" n to n bow as a lot of the reflex will pull out during the tillering and shooting in stages.

If you feel game go for four inches or more of reflex.

Daryl.

Daryl,

What dimensions did you rough the bow out to before bending? I recall reading 7mm somewhere, was that the limb thickness? Also, is this bow completely symmetric in plan? ie limbs and handle are the same length and there is no handle offset to the geometric centre?

The 3 photos you put up of the complete bow are a messing with my head... the top plan picture looks as tho it is symmetric, the second unbraced elevation looks as tho the black grip is further down the lower limb and the last braced picture looks almost symmetric again...

Colin.

Thanks for the advice on reflex!! I will try for 4 inches or so depending on what it feels like...

Colin,

The photo should clear your mind. The stave was partially tillered before steaming, the last seven inches of the limbs being about 7mm thick.

Working out limb thicknesses for different timbers is the result of trial and error over the years, after a while you develop a gut feeling for the timber.

During final tillering I did not work on the recurve tips and they are thicker than the thinner part of the limb. Thicker tips should help to retain more of the recurve.

Daryl.

Thanks for clearing that up for me Daryl!!

I really like this bow and will be attempting to replicate it at some point in the not too distant future but using different timber.

Very much appreciate your words of advice.

Colin