The Prentice Piece - Lots and Lots of Photos

[GrahameA]

Afternoon All

(Following in the process of Guildes of Olde this is my first prentice piece.)

Remember my Italian Longbow which some would call a Recurve and keeping mind Glenn's comment from a year or so ago that it would be good for people to build a new bow for each Trad Shoot - so here is my new Bow. I have also made an effort to have a fair few photos so that members can get a fair idea of what is involved in such a project. As a comment this bow took me twice as long as building a plain Longbow.

This time around I decided I wanted to try a few different things.
1. I wanted to see if I could make veneers from two different timbers
2. Last time I stiffened the tip section by overlaying strips of glass and I had problems with it. This time I decided to insert timber wedges into the recurved section of the bow.
3. I wanted something a little higher in poundage - but not overly killing on me.
4. This time the bow would have a shelf cut in.

The whole procees started with a trip to Watt's Woods (http://www.wattswood.com.au) to see what timbers they had. After a bit of searching we ended up with 2metre long piece of New Guinea Rosewood which will be used for veneers and handle sections.

Next step was to do a few calc's based on the previous one to come up with some dimensions for the laminations plus veneers plus fibreglass strip so I would know how "big" things would need to be.

So on with the show:

Here I am grinding the Wenge higlight strip that will go into the laminated handle.

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Slicing the Rosewood Plank to provide timber for the handle sections and for the two piece veneers.

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Slicing the Wenge highlight strip.

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These are the components that will make up the handle.
Rosewood
Hard Rock Maple
Wenge
Hard Rock Maple
Rosewood.

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Slicing the Blackwood which will be used in veneers

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Cutting the Rosewood insert piece that will be inserted into the Blackwood section.

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Sanding the Rosewood Wedge so that it is straight and has a good edge for glueing, etc.

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Grinding the Rosewood for the handle

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Glueing up the timber stack that forms the handle. Small lesson here pieces thicker than 1/4" don't bend that well. Note also that I am wearing an apron - glue does not come out of clothes.

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[GrahameA]

Laminating up the pieces of the handle on the form.

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The handle block all clamped up on the form.

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Next day using a drum dander to form the shape of the handle.

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Then it is out with the rasps and files to work ob refining the shape of the handle.

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First view of the veneer block. This a strip of Blackwood that was sawn down the centre and than a wedge of Rosewood was epoxied in place (like when you foot arrows). Now the block has to be taken back to square and parallel.

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After it has been sawn it needs to be ground.

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Then sanded.

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Then ground to thicknees.

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Then split to provide the veneers and then the veneers ground to 0.020" thick. Notice how floppy the veneer is as it comes out of the grinder.

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[GrahameA]

So this is what the veneers look like after all that.

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Notice the veneers staring to curl. This is due to stress relieval in the timber and is a real problem. Whilst you start off with everything nice and straight as the stresses are relieved the timber will move.

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Sanding the timber for the tip overlays.

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Cutting the belly Veneers to length. The timber is so thin that a pair of scissors are the best tool to cut things to length.

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This will give some idea how flexible the veneers are.

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Cutting the back Veneers to length.

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Washing everything down with metho' so we clean gluing surfaces.

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Buttering the back strip of glass. To this the back veneers will be glued and the whole thing clamped to a plank and allowed to go off. This will give a lamination of glass and veneer which is a lot easier to work with rather than veneers by themself.

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Clamping the glass and the veneers.

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And here it is all glued up.

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[Bill]

Yeah we're on the way , good on you GrahameA.............Bill

[GrahameA]

The Tip overlays clamped up.

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A day later and I am positioning the glued back lamination on the form and driving in some small pins to keep everything in place.

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Test fitting things and marking the odd line before mixing up some glue and clamping it all together.

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So it really is just a task of mixing some glue and buttering the pieces and then clampping them in place.

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And the next day you get to clean everthing up ready to fit the belly lamination, veneers and glass. Remember how I glued the back veneer and the back glass - should have done the same for the belly of the bow.

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Preparing the belly laminations.

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[GrahameA]

Glue, glue and yet more glue.

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Clamp, clamp, clamp.

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And the next day you can pop it off the mould. Ready for a bit of shaping.

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In with a bit of power sanding. Be careful as you can easily mess things up.

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So not wanting mess things up it is hand sanding time.

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And then it is a bit of power sanding using a linisher - I have to build a longer linisher.

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And back to hand sanding. You get quite good at hand sanding after a while not to mention developing your Aerobic fitness abd sweating off a few lbs.

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And eventually you get it on the tiller.

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Hmm doesn't look to bad - and you can see the difference in tiller. As well you can see the Rosewood wedges I have inserted into the recurves to stiffen them slightly.

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[longbow steve]

, Good read Grahame, Keep it coming

[GrahameA]

A bit more sanding and onto the tiller again. You get very good at sanding building things like this. To keep tings even you count the number of strokes you do on one side and repeat it on the other. And if anyone talks to you just start counting out loud.

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Gluing on the tip overlays. Tomorrow I will cut some nocks and then test shoot it.

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Okay test shot number one. Note that there has been no shaping of the handle and yes it hurts. The bow is pulling 65lb at this stage. There is very little shock and it does shoot nice.

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Playing around with my hand position to see where the arrow rest should go. What I am looking for is minimal "rock" in the bow as it is drawn. If the tiller is wrong the bow will rock and the limbs will be out of time and the bow will jump around when the arrow is shot.

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Hand position is about correct.

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So out with a file or two and several hours later you have a shaped handle.

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And it looks very nice.

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[GrahameA]

Coming towards the end.

The bow was pulling 65lb initially and I wanted it around the mid 50's. So the first move was to narrow the limbs a bit and then I trapped them and then narrowed them again. All the time going back to the scales as I removed material to get a feel as to how it was all going. Eventually I had the poundage about right and so it was onto the finishing process.

Lots of final sanding to ensure that there are no sharp edges, glass splinters, etc. It took 4 hours to final sand the bow - and I sweated a few more pounds.

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So this is what the final product looked like before spraying it.

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And then it was time for spraying.

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Now I need to to decide if I want a leather grip and fit it if I decide yes, Plus I need to polish the bow to get the level of gloss I desire.

Next job will be to confirm sll the dimensions of the bow, plus do the measurements for a Force/Draw Curve and shoot it through a Chronograph to determine its performance level. Finally I will take it down the range and see how it shoots overall. It will be brilliant. Plus I need to finesse a couple of things on it that I know could be better.

Thats is it for the moment. A bit more information in a couple of days.

[GrahameA]

Hi Bill

Yeah we're on the way , good on you GrahameA.............Bill

It just takes time.

[Stickbow Hunter]

You have been busy Grahame, well done.

Jeff

[piggy]

Great work well done

[Gringa Bows]

looking good Grahame................Rod

[otis.drum]

grahame,
love the pic-a-long...

could we see some more pics of the finished product please.

[kimall]

Mate that looks fantastic thanks for taking the time to put the pics up too.A quick question when you glue the veneers to the glass did you do that flat or on the form I have never thought of that it would make it much easier at glue up time with fewer moving parts.
Cheers KIM

[stringnstik]

Excellent Grahame, mighty use of the camera too really gives us a good idea as to whats going on and involved.
Fab looking bow too of course, always pleasant to know the effort and time is worth it
cheers

[GrahameA]

Morning All

Thanks for the comments and bigger thanks to Greybeard for his photo taking and constant encouragement and help.

I will write a bit more about the bow (and some more photos) after I have done the measurements on it and shot it few times on the range.

Mate that looks fantastic thanks for taking the time to put the pics up too.A quick question when you glue the veneers to the glass did you do that flat or on the form I have never thought of that it would make it much easier at glue up time with fewer moving parts.
Cheers KIM

The glass and the veneers were glued together on the flat. A slab of flooring laminations to be correct. The veneers are only 0.020" thick and they move all over the place. So the glass and them were glued separately which them gives a piece of laminated material that is reasonably rigid - still however easily flows into the shape of the form.

Working in stages with glue ups does have some advantages and it can be a way around issues.

[Gringa Bows]

Grahame,do you use a mask when sanding .if so what kind..................Rod

[wal]

Very impressive , thanks for sharing, neat shed/workshop too

[Chase N. Nocks]

Thank you Grahame and thanks to Greybeard, this is a great effort..very interesting

I have a particular fondness for picture 048. the mad scientist with Igor taking pictures.

[Steven J]

Grahame,do you use a mask when sanding .if so what kind..................Rod

Grahame, what a great achievement! We would all like to see you stick around for a while longer. We hope that you removed your mask for the photos only so we could see your handsome face. Both fiberglass and wood dust are both nasty.

Steve

[GrahameA]

Evening All.

Rod - The power sanding gear and the saws are connected to one of two seperate high volume dust extraction systems. Plus the workshop has a very effective cross ventilation system - fan assisted if the wind velocity is low. Experience suggests that the best way of handling dust is to remove it at the source. If I considered it an issue I would not bother with dust masks/filters - they are not my cup of tea and instead move to a force fed air system.

Wal -that is Daryl's Workshop. My workshop is much smaller and a tad cramped and in the process of being tidied and cleaned. To many arrows recently all done in a rush.

Otis - will take some more pics later and will post them.

Jeff - that was all my recent spare time consumed and I am now trying to catch up on things. It was a challenge.

Troy - your turn will come.

[Stickbow Hunter]

Jeff - that was all my recent spare time consumed

Well, I think you made the most of it and I could think of a lot worse things to use up my spare time.

Jeff

[Gringa Bows]

they're a good invention those dust extracters ,i use one too but i still use a mask just incase,besides the mask i use now ,my son paid $700 for it so i make sure i wear it .....Rod

[g_r]

I am so jeaulous! To build youre own bow, and not just a primitive selfbow but such a thing of craft and beauty.....mighty fine!
Thanks for takin us along so detailed!

[nimrod]

what can one say simply a joy to watch as a walkthrough thanks hugh

[ppofandt]

My most profound thanks for posting this.

Loved every word and picture.

Cheers.

[NCArcher]

As usual, very nice Grahame.
Great job.

[UPTHETOP]

Great buildalong Grahame. I shore do like the slender curves on the ends and yet the bow looks balanced and yes you have that tillering down to an art alright.
Must of looked great when you brought her to life with a few coats of clear.
Thanks again for the effort.

Cheers Wayno

[ole_silver]

congrates Grahame.............

very well presented and shared, n one great looking bow there mate..

many thanks for allowing us to see you in action.

best regards,
Steve...