UPDATED***started the KennyM design R/D and it is the first off of the new form I built last September.. Red elm tapers, nice Black walnut veneers, walnut riser with black glass and a thin strip of curly maple. Did a dry run and it went well, I decided to trim 1 3/4" off of the bottom of the form as it was a little close to the light bulbs in the oven, I had left it high in case I needed to re router the form..top pic is of the dry run and before I cut 1.75" off of the bottom. **2/16 lots of squeezed out smooth on in bottom pic, ground it off and marked out limb profile and called it a nite (http://i596.photobucket.com/albums/tt46/Robertfishes/firstlongbowdryrun.jpg) (http://i596.photobucket.com/albums/tt46/Robertfishes/firstlongbowinform.jpg) (http://i596.photobucket.com/albums/tt46/Robertfishes/firstlongbowoutofform.jpg)
I remember that wait, whew boy, is that exciting..
Looks like a good one. :thumbsup:
Can't wait to see it-you are going to like that design. After laying out recurves- you should find this one to be a little easier.
Im getting ready to build my 1st form....Boy am I excited. Keep us posted I'll be looking forward to your progress.
Terry :coffee:
well how did it turn out?
I have the oven on a timer and thermostat, it cooked until 3:30am. I pulled the slightly warm form out of the oven at 0640 this morning and checked the firehose pressure,it was 58psi. ok, thats a good sign,I put 65psi in it last night. I left it to cool down and I will pull the blank out of the form and grind the dried smooth on glue off of the edges when I get home later today..then I will know how the glue up went, but I think it went pretty good. My target weight is 50lbs @ 28in
Robert that looks great and your table is way way way to clean. Cant wait to see the finished product.
Shawn
Shawn, thats my glue up and spray finish room, gotta keep it clean. The build bench is "L" shaped and the form is on the right side during glue up and the oven is on wheels and is under the bench, just roll it out put form in the oven then roll it under the build bench..To help keep things clean I tape contractors paper down on the bench tops first, then add butchers wrapping paper where I glue the lams , after the bow is in the oven I throw away the butchers paper.
Man, how can you go to sleep while it's cooking!!!!! I just have to sit there and watch it for hours on end. First it's a few pots of coffee and then a few beers, then... finally!
I don't have the nerve to run my oven indoors. I put it out in the middle of the back yard in case it bursts into flames or something. After all, I did build it.!
I've been wating on this one. You going to be done in time for tbof?
I should have it done by Saturday, I plan on having 2 more bows completed by the TBOF shoot. This one is for Helen, she picked the woods. I peeled the tape off of the belly last night, it looked great, no bubbles and the black walnut veneers looked great under the clear glass.
can't wait to see that walnut. i'm working on one for myself that has walnut veneers
Form looks excellent Robert!!
got limbs shaped tonite. gonna glue on tips tomorrow night. here is a pic of the belly showing the Black Walnut veneer. (http://i596.photobucket.com/albums/tt46/Robertfishes/walnutlongbow1.jpg)
sweet. there doesn't appear to be any imperfections in the glass either. cant wait t see more.
:thumbsup: :jumper:
Looks great.
I'm gonna have to get into glass bows.
Looking good Robert. I'm inpressed Helen shoots a 50# bow. Better stay on her good side.
She has bows from 45- 55lb @ 28 inchs, her draw length is 25 inches on a good day. this one is progressing slowly,can only work in shop an hour or so a day..dang sciatic nerve is killing me..I am thinking about trying acupunture??
I have a shoulder that has made me think about acupuncture seriously a couple of times myself, but never followed through with it. I just got stuff today from Kenny to build a longbow for my wife, Amanda. She likes the traditional look. so I am going with a slightly reflexed form. We'll see how it turns out.
PD, I'm sure your build will turn out fine. I had a couple of minutes this morning so I filed the string grouves enough to put a string on the R/D bow, the string was a little short but the bow pulled straight, but felt a little light?, it may finish out in the mid 40's?? but I have been fooled before!I am feeling strong today.. stack was .358 and that should have made a 48-50 pound bow of this design. Any weight it turns out is fine, I plan to make a few of these and it's good to have some of different weights.
Keep the pictures coming.
Tim
I hate to admit this but, but I had been weighing my bows on a decent fishing scale (50#). Then I broke down and bought a pelouze 110#. I tested the new scale with a bunch of dumbells and it is dead accurate up to 70#, all the weights I had. Turns out my bow I thought was 49#@28" is really 55#.
PD, I bought a bow scale but havn't put it up yet, I also think I may be under estimating this one..Helen went to a indoor shoot today so I have some time to work on bow. I checked tiller, there was a 1/16" difference, thats good and I will get it to 3/16" positive later today. The limbs looks good and straight no twists, going to work on the tips and work on tiller after lunch break.
It sure is a releif when you check the limbs and everything is straight. I pulled Amanda's bow out of the oven tonight. Just had time to clean the epoxy off. Looks good so far.
I guess I'll be seeing Amanda's bow in 2 weeks? While Helen was at a indoor shoot today I got the tips on her bow sanded into shape and the riser and shelf cut and rough sanded, just have final sanding and spraying left..Kenny mailed me 2 bows worth of Actionboo tapers Friday, so I will have to build me one next week. Shedua riser with either Santos Rosewood or Mottled Sapele veneers..
Yours sounds interesting either one should be pretty. Will you have it ready for TBOF? Amanda's is a new form with no history. So getting it to weight may take a while. I'm hoping it comes to weight at 64" But I'm starting at 68". She has a bad shoulder so I'm trying to bring this one in around 30#. I might leave it long and light and then shorten it as shoulder improves. Thats one of the reasons for the long bow, could never do that with a recurve
PD,sounds like a good plan. I will have myself a new bow at the TBOF, it may be a little tacky with freshly sprayed finish..I am having a busy week, Dr apts and the Youth Fair all week...Im on new meds today, Doc has me on anti imflamitories, I do feel better today! I hope to get some shop time in Weds nite.
Hope everthing works out for you especially the meds. Looked like you had a rough day at the Charity shoot.
at therapy now, anti imflams are working, not hurting at all now...we will see if I can sleep tonight. Yes,I was having a bad day at the TBOF
Ok, back in the shop tonite, sanded on the bow, checked tiller again,sanded a little more. turned on the dehumidifier.. shot a single coat of spar urethane on it, the walnut riser really turned dark brown, will check for tool marks and finish bow tomorrow night. having trouble down loading my pics. Plan on starting a bow for myself Monday night, will only have 4 afternoons to complete it before the TBOF spring shoot.
final sanding on bow tonite, thats just a dark spot on the side of the shelf. (http://i596.photobucket.com/albums/tt46/Robertfishes/firstlongbowalmostdone3.jpg) (http://i596.photobucket.com/albums/tt46/Robertfishes/firstlongbowalmostdone2.jpg)
almost done, just have to spray finish. (http://i596.photobucket.com/albums/tt46/Robertfishes/firstlongbowalmostdone.jpg)
very nice. :thumbsup:
I like that riser. Great lookin stick!
Nice!! :thumbsup:
OK, I sprayed one coat last night, checked bow today after work and it looked good, hit the rough raised grain spots on the red elm with a scotch brite pad. So I'm gonna try to finish bow tonight if I can get shop warmed up, It's gonna be in the high 20's tonite.. here's a pic with one coat of Spar Urethane. (http://i596.photobucket.com/albums/tt46/Robertfishes/firstlongbowfinishon.jpg)
Looks great Robert. You do the same thing I do, build the first one for the wife and then with all the kinks worked out build the next one for yourself. Hope you get yours done in time. Can't wait to see it.
Excellent looking bow!
bow is done, put a 452x string on, installed alpaca and sheep wool silencers,velcro rest and shot a handful of 3555s. The bow is a shooter, I am gonna build one for myself, Helen only had time to shoot about 20 times before dark. If she bonds with this one she will use it at the TBOF state championship shoot next weekend.will post pics later tonite or tomorrow.
Robert, lookin good!!
Wish Helen luck at the shoot from us! :thumbsup:
it was getting dark and thought the white back ground would work, will try again tomorrow.. (http://i596.photobucket.com/albums/tt46/Robertfishes/firstlongbowfulldraw.jpg)
Looks good from here Robert!! :thumbsup:
took bow to town today and it is 34 @ 25 or 42 @ 28, Helen draws almost 25in ,she used a 3555 weighing 407 grains or 11.6 gr/lb and shot it several times thru a chrono, average was 145 fps. arrows were a little stiff. She usually shoots a 48 @28 longbow and these were the arrows for it. She was shooting some nice groups at 20 yards. I will build a few more of these between 45 and 50 lbs @ 28in.
Looks great Robert. Especially at full draw.
Helen shot this bow at the TBOF FL State Championship this weekend, she placed 3rd. She only had a week to tune the bow,make arrows and pratice. I am going to make a few more in higher draw weights.
That came out real nice, Robert. Man, you getting good at this.
WAY TO GO HELEN!! :thumbsup: :thumbsup: