No Wood!

How to make a Bow, a String or a Set of Arrows. Making equipment & tools for use in Traditional Archery and Bowhunting.

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greybeard
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Re: No Wood!

#31 Post by greybeard » Sat Feb 21, 2015 11:08 am

If your timber availability is in a drought situation you may have to look interstate for supplies.

To contain costs, mainly freight is there a few of you who could do a combined order.

http://www.trendtimbers.com.au/timber.html

http://www.monarotimber.com.au/timber_g ... niture.htm

I must admit that I don’t like buying timber sight unseen as I have been caught out on a previous occasion.

Explain the end use for the product and with a bit of luck they may pick prime pieces.

Daryl.
"And you must not stick for a groat or twelvepence more than another man would give, if it be a good bow.
For a good bow twice paid for, is better than an ill bow once broken.
[Ascham]

“If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?” [Einstein]

I am old enough to make my own decisions....Just not young enough to remember what I decided!....

sylakone
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Re: No Wood!

#32 Post by sylakone » Sat Feb 21, 2015 1:51 pm

surfarcher wrote:Good work Sy!

Looking like we should have an Adelaide Bowyer's meetup soon! I know a few places down south....

FWIW my boo-backed Spotted Gum is almost to the point of gluing up (going Perry Reflex style). Just need to find a few 30 min stretches to get it there :-P
That sounds good it would be great to catch up with other Bowyer's and get there input.

Cheers

Sy
Cheers

Sy

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surfarcher
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Re: No Wood!

#33 Post by surfarcher » Mon Feb 23, 2015 11:19 am

greybeard wrote:If your timber availability is in a drought situation you may have to look interstate for supplies.

To contain costs, mainly freight is there a few of you who could do a combined order.

http://www.trendtimbers.com.au/timber.html

http://www.monarotimber.com.au/timber_g ... niture.htm

I must admit that I don’t like buying timber sight unseen as I have been caught out on a previous occasion.

Explain the end use for the product and with a bit of luck they may pick prime pieces.

Daryl.
Thanks! Luckily it never got to that. Just took some persistence :-P
sylakone wrote:
surfarcher wrote:Good work Sy!

Looking like we should have an Adelaide Bowyer's meetup soon! I know a few places down south....

FWIW my boo-backed Spotted Gum is almost to the point of gluing up (going Perry Reflex style). Just need to find a few 30 min stretches to get it there :-P
That sounds good it would be great to catch up with other Bowyer's and get there input.

Cheers

Sy
We might want to hear fromt he other couple guys too, lol!

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mikaluger
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Re: No Wood!

#34 Post by mikaluger » Mon Feb 23, 2015 3:21 pm

Sanibus,
Have you tried getting some iron bark from a flooring supplier? Select grade ironbark flooring should be readily available. The sizes can be 86x19, 135x19 and the same sizes but 14mm thick. That is perfect to rip down and back with bamboo or hickory for a flatbow.
Try your timbers yards for Malas decking, this also makes a great backed flatbow, it can fracture in a D section tho........
Mick.

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yeoman
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Re: No Wood!

#35 Post by yeoman » Mon Feb 23, 2015 7:32 pm

Mikaluger has the right of it.

With a bamboo backing, you can buy it sight unseen. The grain no longer matters.
https://www.instagram.com/armworks_australia/

Bow making courses, knife making courses, armour making courses and more:
http://www.tharwavalleyforge.com/

Articles to start making bows:
http://www.tharwavalleyforge.com/index. ... /tutorials

Sabinus
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Re: No Wood!

#36 Post by Sabinus » Sun Apr 05, 2015 12:33 am

G'day Guys,
Yes it's been a while, but I've just got back around to playing with some bows and am having a great time with it. My new project is a bamboo backed spotted gum long bow, 68-70"ntn, 50-55lbs @ 28". I have my pole bamboo split and sanded flat, and a 40mmx1800mmx19mm board ready to go. After cutting out the profile of the bow, I intend to taper the bamboo back using the guidelines laid out by Dave and Daryl in past threads, and taper the flatbow limbs also, before gluing the spotted gum and bamboo into a few inches of reflex.
I have a question regarding a desirable width-of-limb for the design i've described. based on research, it seems like 35mm may be a good width for the handle/inner limb section. Yeoman, does this sound around the mark mate?

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greybeard
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Re: No Wood!

#37 Post by greybeard » Mon Apr 06, 2015 5:21 pm

Sabinus wrote:I have a question regarding a desirable width-of-limb for the design i've described. based on research, it seems like 35mm may be a good width for the handle/inner limb section. Yeoman, does this sound around the mark mate?
Darren,

The main factors that will determine limb width are;

At its thickest point [nodes excluded] how thick is the bamboo backing?

What shape is the cross section of the spotted gum going to take?

Dimensions of the bamboo backed hickory longbow, ‘D’ cross section in the following link are as follows;

N to N 70”, 60# @ 28”, width at handle 30mm, depth 27mm. width mid limb 23mm, depth 16mm. width at nock 16mm, depth 13mm.

Notice the ratio of bamboo to hickory in the ‘D’ cross section.

http://www.ozbow.net/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=15204 [Hickory Longbow]

I have not got details on the brigalow bow, sold it 12 months ago but it was about 34mm at widest and 68” n to n. and 40#@ 28”.

Notice the ratio of bamboo to Brigalow in the rectangular cross section.

http://www.ozbow.net/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=13037 [Brigalow Flat bow]

Daryl.
"And you must not stick for a groat or twelvepence more than another man would give, if it be a good bow.
For a good bow twice paid for, is better than an ill bow once broken.
[Ascham]

“If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?” [Einstein]

I am old enough to make my own decisions....Just not young enough to remember what I decided!....

Sabinus
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Re: No Wood!

#38 Post by Sabinus » Mon Apr 06, 2015 7:49 pm

Hey Daryl,

The limb cross section will be rectangular. I recently researched the forum with 'bamboo and spotted gum' as keywords, and spotted your brigalow bow. It's probably the image I'm keeping in my mind as what I'm trying to achieve with my bow.

This is the first time I've worked with bamboo, so am intending on following the guidelines given by you to someone at an earlier date on the forum (or was it Dave?)- Basically, going to cut the bow outline plus a couple mil of clearance on the flat face of the bamboo, and taper the bamboo thickness towards the tips so that the flat side edge of the bamboo retains a thickness of about 1mm all along it's length.

I idley bent a scrap of bamboo yesterday and was impressed by how much of the tension work was done by the absolute surface-most layer of fibres. Everything deeper than the surface was crushed in compression while the surface fibres just couldn't be broken, even when the piece was bent double. It was a great illustration to me that the bamboo layer does not want to be too thick.

I'm looking at sticking to a pretty standard limb shape- parallel or very gentle taper for 2/3 of the limb length, then tapering to 12-10mm wide tips. At the moment my stave (I started rasping today so it ain't a board any more!) is about 42mm wide.

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greybeard
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Re: No Wood!

#39 Post by greybeard » Mon Apr 06, 2015 8:38 pm

Darren,

I think you have the design of the bow pretty well sorted out, not too much can go wrong.

Are you planning on a rigid handle or one that bends to a certain degree?

After a few bows one seems to develop a feeling of what will and what will not work.

Daryl.
"And you must not stick for a groat or twelvepence more than another man would give, if it be a good bow.
For a good bow twice paid for, is better than an ill bow once broken.
[Ascham]

“If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?” [Einstein]

I am old enough to make my own decisions....Just not young enough to remember what I decided!....

Sabinus
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Re: No Wood!

#40 Post by Sabinus » Mon Apr 06, 2015 9:19 pm

Hey Daryl,

My first bow bent a tiny bit through the handle but everything I've made since has had a riser and separately working limbs.

Can you remind me how you treated your brigalow /bamboo bow in this respect? As well as your work, I'm kind of keeping in mind Yeoman's bows that he teaches his students to make as examples of what's likely to work.

I'm leaning towards a design where the handle section has no added riser, but is just thick enough not to bend. What I'm not too sure about still is whether I should keep the full width (42mm) of my stave or whether the backed, reflexed spotted gum can handle a narrower limb for 50-55lb @28 inches. I'm all for overbuilding to the point of ensuring a safe,durable bow with minimum set, but with good performance too- the perfect balance in other words!!

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Re: No Wood!

#41 Post by greybeard » Tue Apr 07, 2015 12:14 pm

Sabinus wrote:.......... I'm all for overbuilding to the point of ensuring a safe,durable bow with minimum set, but with good performance too- the perfect balance in other words!!
Darren,

Over building a bow is probably the biggest mistake that a bowyer can make, it may be durable but it will lack in the performance department. Over built under stressed limbs are lazy.
Sabinus wrote:....My first bow bent a tiny bit through the handle but everything I've made since has had a riser and separately working limbs.

Can you remind me how you treated your brigalow /bamboo bow in this respect?......
The brigalow bow is slightly thickened through the handle and it does bend slightly when drawn.
Brigalow Handle Compilation.jpg
Brigalow Handle Compilation.jpg (106.56 KiB) Viewed 2451 times
If I decide on a rigid handle bow I keep this section as short as possible to get as much working limb as possible. By not making this section too thick you can maintain gentle fades.
Bamboo And Hickory Stiffened Handle.JPG
Bamboo And Hickory Stiffened Handle.JPG (27.49 KiB) Viewed 2451 times
I see no reason why you could not come down to 35mm width. To compensate for losing the 7mm in width will mean adding about 1mm or so in thickness.

Remember that a small diameter bamboo pole will yield a high crown backing which can significantly increase the draw weight. I endeavour to keep my bamboo backing under 5mm.

As I have not done a lot of work with spotted gum it may pay to pm Dave for some suggested dimensions.

Daryl.
"And you must not stick for a groat or twelvepence more than another man would give, if it be a good bow.
For a good bow twice paid for, is better than an ill bow once broken.
[Ascham]

“If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?” [Einstein]

I am old enough to make my own decisions....Just not young enough to remember what I decided!....

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