New Bow How To

[Habitres]

today i did some more work on my bow.
I discovered that last time i did the tillering, ii worked profoundly on the left 'arm' of the bow. Due to this when i started the tillering today, there was a big problem with the bow.

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The left arm of the bow, was to weak and the right arm was too strong. So...
What i did was first of all reduce weight off the right limb (i remembered what it was called) by, using the rasp, and rasping up and down the length of the limb. Every 30 or so rasps (maybe every 50) i would then check how it was bending and make sure i didn't take too much off.

Once it was about right. I put it in the tiller stick and marked (with a pencil) where the areas that are not bending are. these areas i rasped off until it was bending relatively smoothly.
Then i took the rasp and ran it up and down the right limb again, until it was bending about right. I still have to do some more work on it but that is all i can do for today.

I also tested to see the amount of bend it has. I got it up to 20 inches .
That means that once i fix this i might give it a go with the short string and start the finer tillering process.

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The picture above i switched around the bow so the left limb in this picture, is actually the right limb in the first picture. As you can see it is still a bit still.

All for now.
-Tim

[Stickbow Hunter]

It's getting there but it still needs a bit of work. All the best.

Jeff

[M.Hogan]

Just wondering is this your first go at building a bow??

[pdccr]

Really coming along, i especially like the uneven surface, gives it a unique appearance.

[Habitres]

thanks guys for your support.
And to M.Hogan well no technically i made a bow before this. But this is my first proper bow i am building. The other one i snapped haha.

-Tim

[Glenn]

Your bow is coing along Tim, just a bit more tillering to do to get it back to full draw...Glenn...

[pdccr]

Tim, when recurving the tips did you use a form or do it by hand?

[Habitres]

When i recurved the tips as you know i steamed them, and then i put them in a vice, and then in this mold sort of thing i made.

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All it is is a cut up garden stake, which was then rasped away to get the desired shape. The way you want area to bend, depends on how you fit it in the vice. In the above picture, it would bend left, to get it to bend right, turn it around. Also the two piece should fit together closely enough. So i am not sure whether this is by hand or by form.

all for now
-Tim

[pdccr]

Ok i think that would be bending by form, how many bows have you built before this one? You seem to know what your doing and i was very surprised with how those recurves came out.

[Habitres]

Ok cool. Thanks a bunch. Well actually this is my second bow, my first bow being a miniature bow (in my display picture) which measured at around 2 foot. However that unfortunately snapped, and the only arrow that shot out of it, (the same wood that the bow was made up of) warped and broke. So this is my second bow but my first real sizes bow, (41-42 inches).

I dont really know what i am doing too much, and this has been a great learning process for me, but i had done alot of research before hand about bowmaking etc. so i know the vital steps. Most of it has been guess and check for me.

Just for your information, recuving the tips was not easy, as before i knew about the steam bending, i just tried to bend them in that form. One of the tips cracked . I though the bow was finished but then i realized, luckily that the crack was on the belly of the bow, and across the bow, so the crack did not "appear" when i drawed the bow. But i am planning to make many more bows after this.

[Habitres]

Decided to fix up the bow a bit.
Because of the shape of the stave of wood, and of the tillering process, the bow made an arc or took string when it was unbraced. Aside from not looking the best , it shortened performance so i decided to make the limb straight or straighter at least. Last night i put the bow in this well brace kind of this that i made up:

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I left it in there overnight and checked on it this afternoon. The bow didnt change much, but a bit of an improvement was obvious (sorry no picture). Anyway, i decided heat and steam was my friend, and fired up the steaming put again. (will get a pic of it when i do the other limb). I steamed the limb for a good hour and then i put it back in the 'brace'. This will bend the limb straight. I will do the other limb tomorrow. You should, most likely leave the bow in the brace overnight, to let the limbs bend back. Here are a few pictures of the brace and bow.

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I will find out tomorrow if it has worked or not.

-Tim

[ichiban]

looks like you have found a nice bow wood there, it also looks like the string will slip of b4 the bow breaks, and thats a credit to the timber and your tillering. may i surgest that since the bow is fairly short, once the bow has taken the most set you would allow, stop tillering there as the bow is telling you something, but heck looks like she'll come good!!

nice 1 mate,
D

[Habitres]

After i put the limb in the vice, and i waited overnight, the steaming was successful.

The fixed limb

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The steaming and the 'form' put the limb straight again, which was what i wanted. Here is picture of the other limb for comparison:

the unfixed limb

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As promised i will show you my steamer, which is pretty much a large pot, water and aluminum foil. You have to heat up the water to a boil, then put the section of the bow that you want to bend across the pot, and cover it in a few layers of foil. If you want you can punch 1 or 2 holes in the foil to allow for steam to come through.

my steaming set up

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And a closer picture:

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After the steaming i put the other limb in the vice, and left it overnight. It successful as well, and i will be getting a picture of the full bow soon.

-Tim

[Habitres]

Have been doing some more work on the bow today, and i have gotten the limbs bending evenly.

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I put on the short string, and i have it now at a brace height of 3". However I am wondering, the string is not going through the center of the bow, but instead is going right over the the left side of the handle (as shown). Is this a big deal as that is where the arrow will be passing through, and if it is how can i fix this?

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I am also making the tip overlays out of the same wood as the handle.

-Tim

[Habitres]

NOOOOOO

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After i had put on the short string, i was tillering the bow, as one of the limbs was just a tad to strong, and it broke. Damm.

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It snapped at a knot, and another little growth. I guess it was not meant to be.

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The bow was a bit weaker than i wanted aswell so, as i have discovered that this isnt bad wood, I will be chopping down a new stave, and starting again, i will just have to wait a while until it greens. Just a question, should i debark and split the stave as soon as i chop it down, or wait until it dries?

-Tim

[pdccr]

Tim,

it looks to me as if it might be caused by limb twist, i have not had too fix this but i am sure its not that much of a big deal. Limb twist if you dont know is where you have worked to much on one side of a limb and one side is stronger causing the limb to twist therefore making the string sit unevenly. If you look down the bow from the nock to nock can you see any twisting in the bow?

It may also be caused by your nock placement. I am sure some other bowyers will have had this problem and will come up with some more advice.

[pdccr]

Ok a bit too late, sorry to hear mate. Once you snap one the desire to make a shooter is even more powerful.

[Gringa Bows]

sorry to here it broke mate,but you would have learnt a lot from what you have done so far,get back into it and learn some more...................Rod

[pdccr]

Tim,

Regarding splitting and drying staves, there is alot of controversy about which method is best. From what i have heard, splitting the log and roughing it out into a stave is best. Soaking the ends in pva glue. On the topic of how do you know when its dry? The method i use is weigh the stave every 2 days or so then when it stops loosing weight (moisture) then it should be dry, other than that i think dennis said that when you tap the wood it should give off a nice ringing sound.

Hope it helps mate.

[Habitres]

thanks 4 the support. And yes there was a bit of a limb twist in the bow, that probably caused the string to sit like that. Anyway i went out round the block, and saw a nice gum (the same type as this bow) with a nice straight knot free section at least 160cm long also its about 3 inches thick+ so i will have no problem roughing out a stave. So i might chop that down tomorrow or something. Thanks for that info about the splitting etc. Do you also pva the split section? I might look up some how to's about splitting the wood.

This bow has been a great experience, and i have learnt A LOT about bow making through it. My next bow might also be a bit prettier thank this one to.

-Tim

[pdccr]

No, i wouldnt coat the slpit section with pva, other wise the moisture would not escape, if you leave this uncoated will also get a nice reflex which is a good thing.

[Habitres]

Ok thanks

[Stickbow Hunter]

I think from the start we could see that you may have trouble with that knot. As has been said, you will have learned a lot so all the best with the next one. I would be trying to get some staves from more mature trees and while waiting for the wood to dry you could perhaps give a board bow a go.

Jeff

[ichiban]

damn shame, if you have the TBB series read up on working knots as they are a weak aria and need special attention, also as jeff said if you can get a mature tree as:
a. provides more staves
b. the backs will be flater (safer)
c. gives you more wriggle room when following the grain (i.e. snakes, knots etc)
d. in some species as the timber matures the Density of the timber rises

anyway all the best with the next 1 as im sure you have a shooter in ur future.

cheers,
D

[Habitres]

Yea i am trying to get a hold of the first book, but the bookshop still hasn't seemed to have gotten in my order yet. dad and i are going out to our other block, which is full of gums that are all nicely matured and protected from the wind so we will get a few nice logs from there.

-Tim

[pdccr]

I would also do what jeff said, i would try a board bow out, they are so much easier and they still have great performance even unbacked. I made a spotty gum board bow a few months ago an i love it.

[Habitres]

hey,
yes i was thinking of building a board bow, but i don't know much about them. Could you recommend any build alongs or any guides for board bow? Would is easier to make a laminate or a self bow? thanks

-Tim

[pdccr]

The giude i used is basically a bit of everything, one site that really helps is this one;
http://www.geocities.com/salampsio/oak.htm

Just helps a bit with design and tillering, but mostly i got my info from here and TBB. I made a board bow recently so you could search that, it turned out better than i though and i didnt even back it.

EDIT: For me, a self bow is alot easier but not as good, i just dont have the materials to build a laminate and i dont have the glue. It probably is easy once you get the hang of it, try it out for yourself if you are in doubt.

[ichiban]

if you want 100% trad an unbacked bow is the way to go, a backed bow is equily valid but not a timber backing it would have to be sinew (which is hard to come by if you not a hunter)

[Habitres]

did some identification for the record of what the wood for this bow was.
Turns out the bow was actually White Sallee snow gum. good firewood

-Tim