First successful rekerf
Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2015 11:01 am
I have previously tried to make a recurve using a kerf to facilitate the bend in the ends of the limbs. Suffice to say, it was not successful.
Not to be swayed, I had another go. I'm glad I did because as it turns out the second time was a charm in this case. The bow is Grey Ironbark, and the lams in the kerfs are red Ironbark. Overlays are Osage. Bow is 61.5 inches around the curves. It started out with 2.5 inches of recurve and two inches of glued in reflex, ending with the tips 2.25 inches forward of the handle right after unstringing. It's 30 mm wide at the center, has no flare, and works through the handle.
It's only 39 lb at 28", but I'm not fussed. I was chasing a good tiller and a bow that'd shoot as opposed to a Mammoth Slayer. That will come later.
Given the recurve and the glued in reflex, the tillering to get the tips moving those first few inches was a real struggle. Others who've had experience with reflexed bows will attest to the extremely high string tension early on in the tillering process. For those that don't have such experience: don't be fooled into thinking the draw weight is going to be monstrous, then try to take off cubic meters of shavings to compensate. You'll end up with an horrendously underweight bow. Once I got the short string on this one, the tillering went quickly and the early string tension returned to something resembling a mortal's capacity to handle.
Here's the form I used. It's three lengths of 19 mm pine glued and screwed together before cutting out.
I love the rich brown of the timber.
Pretty happy with the shape overall
When at brace, the upper limb seems to bend a little more than the lower. However, the shape at full draw is more important than the shape at brace.
Not to be swayed, I had another go. I'm glad I did because as it turns out the second time was a charm in this case. The bow is Grey Ironbark, and the lams in the kerfs are red Ironbark. Overlays are Osage. Bow is 61.5 inches around the curves. It started out with 2.5 inches of recurve and two inches of glued in reflex, ending with the tips 2.25 inches forward of the handle right after unstringing. It's 30 mm wide at the center, has no flare, and works through the handle.
It's only 39 lb at 28", but I'm not fussed. I was chasing a good tiller and a bow that'd shoot as opposed to a Mammoth Slayer. That will come later.
Given the recurve and the glued in reflex, the tillering to get the tips moving those first few inches was a real struggle. Others who've had experience with reflexed bows will attest to the extremely high string tension early on in the tillering process. For those that don't have such experience: don't be fooled into thinking the draw weight is going to be monstrous, then try to take off cubic meters of shavings to compensate. You'll end up with an horrendously underweight bow. Once I got the short string on this one, the tillering went quickly and the early string tension returned to something resembling a mortal's capacity to handle.
Here's the form I used. It's three lengths of 19 mm pine glued and screwed together before cutting out.
I love the rich brown of the timber.
Pretty happy with the shape overall
When at brace, the upper limb seems to bend a little more than the lower. However, the shape at full draw is more important than the shape at brace.