1 Peace Recurve Bow Buildalong.

[UPTHETOP]

Okay Guys I am going to have a crack at doing a buildalong as havnt done one before and you gotta start somewhere.
Its only the second bow I have ever made so dont mind all the imput and critics no problems.
I have down sized the photos a little as to not make it to big for downloading as some of us are still on dial up even in this day and age.
I still have to work out how to put the photos and text in order so there may be a few stuff ups along the way.

Alright I sent of to get an Binghams blue print or an 60'' one peace recurve plans and they were very helpfull I must admit.

I built the form up after watching there DVD a few times and it all looked and measured pretty square when I finished it.
( I an't no chippie either so if I can do it anyone can).

Alright a picture of the form some of you have seen it before.

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As I havnt built many bows yes help was needed. Many thanks to Rod and Jeff for sanding my lams down and posted them to me enough for a few bows.
The Core lams where bamboo, black glass over top and the riser was to be Queensland maple. I was going for 50lb@ 26 When finished. My first bow I made was a single block of cocobolo so this time I wanted to try some accent strips as the Queensland maple is a little bland in the colour department.
This is the block I used it had fairly strait grain.

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The accent strips also from binghams colours of black Linen phenolic, and the centre line some wood osage.
I dont have hardly any wood work tools so borrowed a jig saw cutt the riser and the cutt the accent strips to suit.
I had to sand the riser smooth to get the right shape then pressed the lot together before gluing to see if it all went together with minimum gaps. It wasnt perfect but the glue would fill the smaller gaps with minimal fuss.

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NPP. (next post please).

Cheers Wayno

[UPTHETOP]

Alright I dont care what anybody says when the glue up is on the cr@p still gets on you somewhere or another.
Always have someone else handy when glueing up as they can tighten your clamps or hold things steady for you.
Another hint is to always have something else you want glued up present incase there is some glue left over waste not want not.
I had some tip over lays in colours brown phenolic black centre and zebra wood top.
The glue up.

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Some glue left over The tip over lays.

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[UPTHETOP]

Alrighty after the glue is all dry I had to wait for the black glass and glue to be posted to me. I took the riser into a mate in town and he cutt the riser out leaving plenty of overlap for sanding to shape. Do not throw away the off cutt as it comes in very handy later on as you will see. I had a paper blue print to my riser shape which was also included in the binghams kit.
The riser cutt out.

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Notice in one of the photos a small air hole in the accent strip filled this up before I continued on.

While waiting for the glue and glass plenty of sanding got done including the riser and tip over lays.

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The riser has to be sanded near to perfect as it will be the real shape of your bows out line. As they say you must get the ends paper thin to get good glue lines and tapper.

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Alright as I said before make shore you have something else to glue up if there is any glue left over you dont waste it.
These are the lams I will glue together for the under lays on the belly of my bow I think its called the belly?
They are zebra wood, cocobolo, osage and purple heart.

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[UPTHETOP]

The big day the glue up.
Make shore everything is layed out and all checked before you start the glue up.
It took some browny pionts in getting the misses to stand by and help when needed I tell you. She said as soon as she hears the F word she's out the door.
Boy I hate the gluing up.
This is when if you have a heat box place all the lams in to rid any h2o if there's any and they say it helps the glue run as well being heated and all about 20 min they recone? I dont have an heat box when I glue it up I run it over to my old mans place and put it in the top of his shed its like an oven in there and we live in the tropics so it works well.
Notice in the photo I have drilled a hole in my belly glass and bottom of riser as the form has a pin which I line up and this stops the bow moving to much as it slips and slyds as you are gluing it up.

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Alright the whole lot ready to go.

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Glad wrap down first to protect the form from glue coming out the sides.

If you havnt glued up before it goes in this order ( I hope).
1/ THE BOTTOM GLASS with the hole in it over the pin.
2/ The tappered lamination next- Recurves usually only have two core lams unlike longbows sometimes 5 or even 6.
Thick end of lam to the centre pin of course.
3/ Then the riser on top of this get your better half to hold it in place as the ends are paper thin and you dont want to brake them by accident.
3/ The parra/ lam next.
4/ Then the glass again over the top.
Just one note the parra lam is usually one peace well mine was two so I tried to glue it together but in the glue up process it parted which was a shame as it left a small gap between them which stood out when the bow was finished. Live and learn they say.
Glad wrap again then the pressure strip the peace of gal tin and then the air pressure hose.
Put the top of the form on and bolt up.

You will need an long clamp to bring the form together to aline the bolt holes.
( dont forget to check your air hose dosnt leak before you start etc same as checking a puncture in your bike tyre water and tub.
If no air hose is being used get the clamps ready.

Glued up first 5 miniutes at 20 lb air pressure to allow the glue to be slowly pushed to the sides of the bow.

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Then another 5 min at 40 lb air pressure.

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Then lucky last 60lb and hope for the best.
If you have a heat box put it in for the required glue time on can.
Me Im off to put it into the shed at the old mans addios.

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[Stickbow Hunter]

Lookin' good Wayno. That form sure is big and must weigh a bit.

Did the lams get cut in half for shipping?

Jeff

[Chase N. Nocks]

Thanks for doing this Wayne. I reckon there is as much to learn here with a newbie showing things as there is with the old hands...particularly that it can be done.

Cheers

Troy

[UPTHETOP]

Thanks Jeff and Troy. Yes you should know Jeff we always build things bigger and better up here in the north,
The lams cutt in half because Aussie Post wouldnt take them full size.
Stay tuned.

Cheers Wayno.

[GrahameA]

Hi Wayne

Excellent. Another bow being built.

I am waiting for the sanding part of the bow build.

This series of build photos will hopefully inspire more people to build their own bows. I can almost gaurantee that this will be the best bow Wayne will ever shoot - or at least until he builds the next one. There is something special about shooting bows you made yourself.

[Bill]

Hi Wayne,

I assume that the tappered bottom lamination also has a hole in it, so that the pin can pass through it to assist with the alignment of the handle.

Graham, great comment.

[UPTHETOP]

Thanks Grahame and Bill. Yes Grahame I am know expert but figure if I can have a go maybe someone else will have a crack as well. Bill the bottom tappered lams where cutt in two I sanded a hole groove with a rat tail file in the centre of the lams to butt them up to the pin to stop movement. There is a gap between the lams the same thickness as the guide pin in the form. This dosnt mater as later on this is all cutt out to allow for the hand grip on the riser.

Cheers Wayno.

[Stickbow Hunter]

The lams cutt in half because Aussie Post wouldnt take them full size.

Good old Aussie Post again.

Jeff

[UPTHETOP]

Okay fellas. Cracked her out of the form and here is what she looks like.

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Pay particular attention to the sharp edges of the glue it is very easy to cutt yourself on these.

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This is why you run a centre line down your tape before gluing up to make shore she is all in order.
It also helps heaps when you start sanding and the tillering process as you will see soon.

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This is a picture of the riser as you can see where my glue up job came apart on the top parra/ lam. Yes I am not perfect it was a shame as it stood out a little when finished.
I contamplated painting the gap with the same colour paint and clear over the top but it will be a reminder next time to make shore it is fixed.
I did notice it when I was glueing up but couldnt push the lam along and didnt want to separate it as the air bubbles would have made there way in.

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[UPTHETOP]

In the last photo I have marked the handle roughly so I could get the right measurement to put the top overlay on the belly. these were glued up previous and sanded to shape roughly all I had to do was glue them on. I love that zebra wood it certainly looks different.

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Remember when I said not to throw the cutt out riser section away this is when it comes into its own when clamping the gluing over lays on it keeps it all square. I also glued a over lay of osage on the back of the bow as well using it.
I just sanded the curve so the bow fitted in it near perfect it made it a lot easier gluing up I tell you.

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I had a template also in the binghams kit for the tapper on the top half of the limb. I simply tracced it onto the masking tape and started sanding it back.
It is a good guide to use the centre line on the tape you have marked as well. I put my tape measure on it at 1 inch gaps and made shore both edges where the same distance from the centre line roughly to the mm.
I hadnt put my tip overlays on yet but filled the string groove ( which later on wasnt enough engal live and let learn again.) so I could put the string on and see if she was strait.
IT WASNT.

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Be careful as you can see the side with the less limb is the side you sand from the tip back to roughly the middle of the limb.I went the wrong way first and could have slapped myself.
But kept taking a little more off at a time and restringing it and this was close enough for me.

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Now dont forget to chock it as well to make shore its all still strait to your line in the cetre of the tape.
This block is the required 18inches should make the lims show if there is any more twist in them or not.

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[pdccr]

Looking good so far

[greybeard]

Hi Wayne,

Looking good so far , what sort of poundage are you hoping for?

Hi Wayne

Excellent. Another bow being built.

I am waiting for the sanding part of the bow build.

This series of build photos will hopefully inspire more people to build their own bows. I can almost gaurantee that this will be the best bow Wayne will ever shoot - or at least until he builds the next one. There is something special about shooting bows you made yourself.

I agree Grahame.

Imagine holding a traditional shoot where every competitor had to shoot a bow that they had made.

Daryl.

[Gringa Bows]

Looking real good Wayno,dont worry too much about the gap in the parra's on this one mate,nobody will notice it but you ...................Rod

[Alex]

Good one Wayno.
Good looking riser.
60" is my favorite size.
Got me inspired to make another one, it's been some time since my last bow building.
Just starting to think about stack thickness and such. Damn, here we go again...
Can't wait to see this one finished Wayno.

Alex.

[UPTHETOP]

Thanks for the kind words fellas. Agree with you there Daryl we could call it the B-YOB SHOOT.( BRING YOUR OWN BOW).

Cheers Wayno.

[UPTHETOP]

We are back again. After all the sanding of the limbs and tips I was pretty happy with my glue lines on the limbs and riser as well.

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My tip overlays went on and I sanded them down to the string grooves I already had there on the limbs. This is where I realised I didnt have enough angle on the grooves. As I was told when the shot is realeased the string may run into the corner of the groove and cause limb virbration next time I will take a little more care doing this.
I didnt adjust it and was lucky enough this wasnt the case when the bow was finished. You can see in this photo the groove wasnt angled enough.

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After I did this there was no more need for the tape so it all come off sanded the glass edges and now the work would start on the riser.

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Now I have to admit this is my favourite part of building a bow because you have the chance to really make something out of a peace of wood. It was hard not to get stuck into it strait away so I left it over night and after looking at hundreds of photos of different bows on the net decided roughly what I was looking for.
I like the plainer simpler lines of a practical bow, sometimes you can over do it and put to much detail in and other times not enough makes a bland bow you could say.
This is where building your own bow really has its advantages as you can make the thing exactly as you like it. All the way down to the personal grip to fit your own hand.
Alright enough babble.
The window marked out you can see the peace of osage I used on the back of the bow here I was going to put black over the top of this again and do the five finger circles you see on many bows now but opted for just one and I also like the look of osage it is nice to work and the colour is something else.

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Roughly marked riser again.
This was the fun bit. I dont have any sanding machines at all so all the riser was cutt out with a wood saw and the rest of the riser was shaped with rasps and files.
It takes you a long time but I feel it makes you understand the wood your working with and how to shape with the grain so to speak. This is all I had to work with.

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Alright its starting to take the shape a little and actually starting to look like a bow now so will leave you with this photo.
Tomorrow the finish pictures I promise Jeff. You must be tearing your hair out with the space this is taking up on the system.
Cheers Wayno.

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[Chase N. Nocks]

Thanks Grahame and Bill. Yes Grahame I am know expert but figure if I can have a go maybe someone else will have a crack as well. Bill the bottom tappered lams where cutt in two I sanded a hole groove with a rat tail file in the centre of the lams to butt them up to the pin to stop movement. There is a gap between the lams the same thickness as the guide pin in the form. This dosnt mater as later on this is all cutt out to allow for the hand grip on the riser.

Cheers Wayno.

Wayne, that is a bloody good idea! I was wondering what was gunna happen. Like most really clever things...obvious once you've been told. I will make use of that myself.

[Stickbow Hunter]

Tomorrow the finish pictures I promise Jeff. You must be tearing your hair out with the space this is taking up on the system.

Not at all mate as this is what the site is for. Actually, people using photobucket and similar photo hosting sites is a problem IMO as once they clear their photos from such sites the photos are gone from their threads also - a thread such as this without photos is pretty useless I think you would agree.

The bow is looking good and I look forward to seeing it finished. By the way, I think you should shout yourself a new rasp as I can't imagine the one in the left of the photo would be anything like sharp.

Jeff

[UPTHETOP]

Jeff I thought about buying one of those new flash curved ones with a proper handle but had two of these down the block in the shed they were originally used for shoeing horses and yes there a bit worn alright.

Cheers Wayno

[Gringa Bows]

mate with the tools you had to work with you did a top job,very neat...............Rod

[UPTHETOP]

Well it has finally all come to an end. There isnt really much more I can say. I just kept on sanding until I was happy with it.
I like a large handle for I have big hands and grip the bow a fare bit when I shoot. The window is about 2-3mm off centre so will have fun making up a set of woods for her as well.
These photos will do it a little justice but I have another 3-4 coats of clear to go yet.

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I was going for around the 55lb@28 mark which would give me around the 50lb@26 which is my draw length. But when shooting the bow it only feels like the 45-48lb mark so I have lost a little along the way somewhere. I did narrow the limbs a little more then the last bow I made and took a little more off then I wanted to when tillering so I think this is where I have lost the poundage. When I find someone with scales I will let you all now the out come.

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I made up an 12 strand D-97 flemish twist string for her, and have shot 50 or so arrows through the bow to settle the string in before serving it.The bow shoots quite well I just used some 2016 eastons I had with 160 grn points there around the 500grn mark the first shot 2 inches off the circle at 15 yards the next 6 all in the circle. Stunned myself as no nocking point on the string yet either. Cant wait until I tune a set of shafts for it.
The bow Is a lot quieter then the last one as well, I thought it would be a little noiseyer and a little more hand shock as the bow is only half the weight of the last one I built. The queensland maple in the riser was a lot softer to work with then the coccobolo in my last bow.

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When I get the poundage I will give her a name as it will be the first of many in the years to come I think.
I would like to take this opportunity to apologise for my spelling in the buildalong and any other errors in names on the bow as I said I am know exspert but it was fun building the bow and doing the buildalong as well.
I hope I have encouraged a few to give it the challange and make a bow we all have to start somewhere there will be many failures along the way but how else can we learn. But when we get it right that bow may become a gift to some egar new comer to archery which may start a life long archery journey for them, or it may collect dust if the corner of your shed until found years later by some kid going through grandads shed, or even be passed along to the young of the family. The journey may never have started if you didnt build that bow.

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The End or maybe just the beginning.

Cheers Wayno

[Gringa Bows]

Bloody beautiful Wayno..............Rod

[blu-dog]

Wayne,
There's something special about watching the process of a bow being made - they each have their own identity and characteristics. This is a very impressive looking bow - very pleasing to the eye!!!
I am in awe of the talent and worksmanship that can be observed in action on this site!!!

Regards,
Paul

[Nomad]

beaut mate. im addin this page to the favs list

[GrahameA]

Good Morning Wayne

That is a truly wonderful looking bow. It really does look nice and it is good to hear it shoots well. I am certain that many people would love to own a bow that is as good looking as that, I would.

Hi Daryl

I agree Grahame.
Imagine holding a traditional shoot where every competitor had to shoot a bow that they had made.

It would be something different that is for sure - perhaps we should just have a self-built division one year. Home-made Bows shooting Home-made arrows.

[Stickbow Hunter]

Well, it came up rather nice mate - congrats! Seems like it shoot not bad either, just imagine how good it'll be when ya make up some wood arras for it. I like the photo of the tip, the things really blend together well.

Don't forget a photo or two of you with the bow at full draw.

Jeff

[Waltron]

Well done, it looks nice.