It's quiet a time that I'm thinking about building a recurve bow, but I never got started. When I saw that fantastic 50" recurve from Brad not so long ago I knew, ok it's time to do it. This weekend I started with building the form.
(http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab173/07Hawaii/IMG_0007.jpg)
It's made out of a construction plywood board cut in half and then screwed together. On top I glued a glas strip to make sure that I have a flat and even surface.
I hope I can start with the riser next week and maybe glue up lams.
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Andy
Thats going to look great. keep us posted.
Shawn
Can't wait to see it completed. Keep us posted
YES! I'm looking forward to this one.
I think this is going to be good. I like those short recurves.
i like the looks of it so far, can't wait to see a bow off it.
Your form is very nice looking, keep us in the photo loop!
Come on Swissbow! Let us have it! Time's up!
Sorry guys to let you hanging so long, but I have a lot of work right now. I did a little work though on the riser in the meantime. Hope I can do the glue up this weekend. Will keep you udated with some pics.
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Andy
I like it!! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Finally I found some time to continue with the recurve bow. First I put a strip of rubber on top of the form to make sure that the pressure on the back of the bow is distributed even.
(http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab173/07Hawaii/P3040235.jpg)
Then I cut the glass the lams and the camo strip to the desired length...
(http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab173/07Hawaii/P3040239.jpg)
Tomorrow I will sand the fades and glue up the bow...
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Andy
Looking good...now lets hear a bit about that nice camo strip Andy
I'm a guitar player and a big fan of the music of good old Uncle Ted. So it was just a question of time until the passion for music and bowhunting came together. When I saw that fabric with this zebra pattern I immediately knew this would look nice on a bow in the style of the Nuge. I will laminate it between the glass and the back lam. I never have tried this before but I think/hope it should turn out nice.
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Andy
Can't wait to see this one take off - I love the shape of that form!
Cool!!
I did sand the fades on the riser this morning...
(http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab173/07Hawaii/P3050242.jpg)
... and checked with a dry run if it's ok.
(http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab173/07Hawaii/P3050250.jpg)
I'm very pleased with the result.
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Andy
Hey, Swissbow, it's dry fabric? Basically it will be a thin layer of homemade micarta right? How did this effect your stack calculations? It will not make it too stiff will it? Perfect fades by the way.
Yeah your right Jason, its kind of a very thin micarta strip. But I have to admit that I don't know how much the bow will be heavier because of that. But since I plan to build a few bows out of that form ( for my daughter, me and some more... ) I'm not really concerned about that. If the draw weight is 35-40 it's for my daughter, if its heavier then it's for someone else... or me. So I guess it will fit any way.
This afternoon I did the glue up of the bow. After laminating the back glass, the camo strip and the back lam I glued the riser and fixed everything with a clamp. Then I laminated both limbs one after the other.
(http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab173/07Hawaii/P3050255.jpg)
At the end of the limbs I added tip wedges to assure that the recurve stays static.
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Andy
Took it off the form this afternoon and cleaned up the excess glue.
(http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab173/07Hawaii/P3060259.jpg)
I had some doubts if the glue up with the rubber band method would work or not. But the glue lines look nice and clean.
I took off the tape and had a look on the camo...
(http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab173/07Hawaii/P3060262.jpg)
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Andy
Cool:) More pics, please..
Where do you bye your fiberglas? Bodnik?
Looking great Andy!
The camo looks even better under glass,not as startling white!! JMO
Great job Andy!! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Looks really good Andy as Kenny said the white looks better darker.
Shawn
Thanks for the kind words guys. I'm glad you like it. There are quite a lot of 'never done that before and hopefully it works out right...' in that bow, so I'm very pleased with the result so far.
@Moen: Yes, the glass is from Bodnik. We can order it at our local archery store for a very reasonable price.
The red elm is shining a little through the camo fabric. That makes the white less shiny. I like it much better that way to.
BTW the red elm lams are very nice to. On the belly I didn't want to put a camo because I was thinking it might distract to much while shooting. So I left it just that way...
(http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab173/07Hawaii/P3060265.jpg)
Hope I can string her up in the next days and work on the tips and the riser.
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Andy
Andy, I really like the look of that bow! Did you saturate the camo material with glue? What glue did you use? Did you cook it or let it set up at room temp?
What was your rubber band naterial? Am very curious on this question since I have not had great luck with rubber bands.
Hi monterey, first i applied the epoxy to the glass then I laid the camo strip on top of it. Then I applied more epoxy until the camo strip was completely soaked with the glue. After that I put some epoxy on the lam and put the lam on top of the camo strip. When I put the rubber bands on the bow a lot of epoxy squiced out, so I'm positiv that there was enough epoxy.
I used standard epoxy type L to glue it up and I let it cure at room temp but I put an additional oven in the room to make sure the temp was higher than normal.
I use bike tubes to clamp the bow in the form. I can get them for free at our local bike store and cut them in half lenghtwise. This method has worked well for me so far, but the radius of the fades need to be nice and even to get perfect glue lines.
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Andy
It's awfully freezing right now but I still managed to do some work on the bow. I filed the string grooves ( thanks a lot Brad for your info on how to do them, worked out nicely... ) and strung her up for the first time.
(http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab173/07Hawaii/P3100267.jpg)
It draws 45@28 and I think after all the sanding done it will be around 40. That would just be perfect.
This weekend I will for sure shoot some arrows to see how she performs and then I will glue the tips and the overlays.
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Andy
Man that is really looking great Andy!
QuoteOriginally posted by Swissbow:
I used standard epoxy type L to glue it up and I let it cure at room temp but I put an additional oven in the room to make sure the temp was higher than normal.
I use bike tubes to clamp the bow in the form. I can get them for free at our local bike store and cut them in half lenghtwise. This method has worked well for me so far, but the radius of the fades need to be nice and even to get perfect glue lines.
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Andy
Thanks for taking the time to reply.
I'm not familiar with "L" type glue :confused: Can you explain further.
On the bike tubes, is it that you cut to very long bands from each by cutting around the circuference??
Great looking bow, Nuge fan here as well. Can't wait to see the finished product. Great job on the walk through as you built it as well.
Standard epoxy type L is a two component epoxy that is mainly used in construction of boats and glider planes. It's produced by the german company R&G. The good thing about it is it cures very well at room temperature and I have a distributer very close. But I guess you can use any similar epoxy that is used like mentioned above. Here you can find a data sheet of one of their products so you get an idea about it...
http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:HT0Qfh36dakJ:shop.r-g.de/out/media/td_en_103100.pdf+data+sheet+epoxy+type+l&hl=de&gl=ch&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESgKhpR6-17uZhefKbpXWvKcVvHmVK_yo AOVu3TaHM4qM9PmhutuoqTVrhX380wCEsrb1NY8iZwKhrJ7sHJpigtDLomJlLgklLxrPk71DUKFAPCDyC5wBbYtnyk7TnT5MdFwucAJ&sig=AHIEtbQLF4XBFEpWz-StWBBJx5YkJ3YsRg (http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:HT0Qfh36dakJ:shop.r-g.de/out/media/td_en_103100.pdf+data+sheet+epoxy+type+l&hl=de&gl=ch&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESgKhpR6-17uZhefKbpXWvKcVvHmVK_yoAOVu3TaHM4qM9PmhutuoqTVrhX380wCEsrb1NY8iZwKhrJ7sHJpigtDLomJlLgklLxrPk71DUKFAPCDyC5wBbYtnyk7TnT5MdFwucAJ&sig=AHIEtbQLF4XBFEpWz-StWBBJx5YkJ3YsRg)
Yes, cut them and tie little loops at the ends, so you can attach them at the pegs of the form.
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Andy
Ok guys, I did some more work on the bow today. I did shape the tips...
(http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab173/07Hawaii/P3130324.jpg)
They still need some more sanding, but I think I'm on the right track. Then I started to work on the riser...
(http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab173/07Hawaii/P3130325.jpg)
Same here, still a lot of sanding to be done...
Lookin great Andy!! :clapper:
Great looking bow! Hope to try making one of those in a few months. Will definitely, look up this thread when I start.
Made the tips a bit narrower. Since the recurves are static due to the tip wedges, the draw weight stay the same. Then I continued working on the grip. File and sanding the finger grooves...
(http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab173/07Hawaii/P3160269.jpg)
(http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab173/07Hawaii/P3160274.jpg)
Perfect fit...
(http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab173/07Hawaii/P3160277.jpg)
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Andy
Thats gonna be SWEET with finish Andy!! :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Looking great Andy..have you taken any shots with it yet?
Hi Brad,
I shoot a couple arrow the other day, but since the tips were quite wide the performance was not that great. I was a bit afraid the recurves might twist, so I left them wide to make sure to be on the safe side. Now that nothing of that happened I started to narrow them down. Tomorrow I will shoot her to check the performance and the feel of the bow.
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Andy
Worked on the riser again today. Added a thumbrest...
(http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab173/07Hawaii/52%20recurve%20build%20along/P3170282.jpg)
(http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab173/07Hawaii/52%20recurve%20build%20along/P3170283.jpg)
(http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab173/07Hawaii/52%20recurve%20build%20along/P3170286.jpg)
(http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab173/07Hawaii/52%20recurve%20build%20along/P3170285.jpg)
Whiped the riser with a wet towel to show the colors...
(http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab173/07Hawaii/52%20recurve%20build%20along/P3170291.jpg)
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Andy
Got myself a decent string for the bow and shoot a few arrows. She's nice to shoot and the arrows are sent down with a good speed. The arrows go where I want them and the groups are good.
(http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab173/07Hawaii/52%20recurve%20build%20along/P3180292.jpg)
Apparently they are very close...
(http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab173/07Hawaii/52%20recurve%20build%20along/RobinHood-Schuss.jpg)
After sanding and polishing I started with applying the first two coats of finish. A few more coats to go, hope I can finish her this weekend. All in all I'm very happy with the results, since this is my first ever recurve. :-)
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Andy
Man what a beauty Andy. Nice job!
Nice looking bow...job well done :)
I took some more pictures after applying the first two coats of finish. Now the colors really come out nicely...
(http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab173/07Hawaii/52%20recurve%20build%20along/P3190294.jpg)
(http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab173/07Hawaii/52%20recurve%20build%20along/P3190295.jpg)
(http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab173/07Hawaii/52%20recurve%20build%20along/P3190296.jpg)
(http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab173/07Hawaii/52%20recurve%20build%20along/P3190299.jpg)
About five more coats to go until the bow is finished...
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Andy
Your making this look very easy! Great job, and thanks for taking us along!
awesome lookin shooter there.
I finished the bow and shoot some more arrows. With the shorter string and a brace height of 8 inches the draw weight ended up at 48@28. I'm very happy with the was it turned out.
(http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab173/07Hawaii/52%20recurve%20build%20along/P3250323.jpg)
Since the design of the bow is inspired by the Motor City Mad Man it has to have a appropriate name...
(http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab173/07Hawaii/52%20recurve%20build%20along/P3250321.jpg)
(http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab173/07Hawaii/52%20recurve%20build%20along/P3250335.jpg)
She's a pleasure to shoot...
(http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab173/07Hawaii/52%20recurve%20build%20along/P3250345.jpg)
(http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab173/07Hawaii/52%20recurve%20build%20along/P3250348.jpg)
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Andy
Geat Job Andy. It looks awesome and I am glad it worked out so well being the first off your new form.
Great job!! Uncle Ten would be proud!!
I'm working on some arrows that match the bow...
(http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab173/07Hawaii/P4090459.jpg)
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Andy
Awesome bow & arrows -Uncle Ted would be proud of you ! Thanks for sharing !!
beautiful job, nice looking bow.
i love the riser! but the tiller seems a bit uneven, no?
Hi yewsage, that was also my first impression when I saw the picture. I immediately had to go and check it again. But its about 1/16 positive and that's perfect for me. Maybe it's the camera that distort the view a bit.
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Andy
i think you have to be careful with a camera. The angle is very important. When tillering, i almost always use a camera, and blow up the image on my computer screen, so i can see very clearly the bend of the bow. Maybe the camera was a bit off. I really do like that riser though. I've never worked with that stuff: i've only made selfbows and all-wood laminates.
It's a real pleasure to work with actionwood. Its not to hard and you can work it very well with a rasp and sanding paper. And with the coloured layers you can see very good where you have to take off some more material. I really love it !
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Andy
Good job... :thumbsup: ..a true original.
I wouldn't let Uncle Ted see that. He might have to have it... :archer2:
Absolutely inspiring! Nicely done swissbow.
looks great! nice matching arrows.
Some people asked me if I would do a summary of the build along that could be downloaded and printed, because most people don't have a computer in the shop to check back on the internet. So this is what I came up with. You can download it here...
http://www.mediafire.com/file/z1nijjnjxqj/Build Along Recurve 52_ENG.pdf
Here is a PDF of the bow in original size...
http://www.mediafire.com/file/5wmmv3yyxhy/Recurve 02.pdf.zip
Or a dxf-file if you have a CAD-Programm...
http://www.mediafire.com/file/mzoqe1oy2jz/Recurve 02.dxf
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Andy
Andy, what did you use to write bow specs on the bow, what is the process?
thanks for the build along
looks like it might be a fun sumer project :archer:
Hi Sharp Shooter,
I use a permanent marker type eding 3000 or similar for that. Before applying the first coat of finish I write the specs on the already sanded bow. I make sure that the writing has dried completely before I apply the finish or the writing will smear. Then
I continue with applying the finish until the bow is done.
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Andy
Thanks Andy, I'm a step to late on my current bow but I'll try on my next one. Thanks Tony