I'm working on a bow, my second, but my first bow with ipe and bamboo. Is it safe for me to use my drawknife and rasp to get the ipe shaped down to where i want it? by safe i mean is the grain in ipe likely to kick up and gouge badly or is it forgiving? I don't have a band saw to cut out my bow is why i ask, Alot of sanding so far but i have the bamboo flat. how thin do i want the middle of the bamboo before glueing up? my design im following is 66in NTN and 1/4thick by 3/8 wide at tips with a 1 1/4 wide by 7/8 thick midsection before i glue on riser. what is a reason draw weight to expect out of this thin a design?
ill tell ya bro draw knif and ipe nope use ur rasp and a sharp scraper ull probly resharpen it a bunch 7/8 thick ipe geeze 120 lb maybe haha i use 1 /2 ipe with boo get 55 -70 easey if was me id go get that ipe sawed to 1/2 thick thats plenty brock
It usually will gouge bad in my experience. I would power sand and then scrape. Wear a respirator! Ipe will burn your eyes and skin, and can cause some pretty serious respiritory problems.
well i tried it a little las night. i can vouch for a few things. i am one of the people that has an adverse reaction to ipe it itches and and my lips were numb from dust. and it won't draw well, i tried my knife as a scraper and it shaves decently but chatters some. i guess im gonna have to buy a tabletop belt sander. i was going off of a pattern i got with my bow kit, but i might thin it down some. how thick does my bamboo need to be? it's about 1/8 to 3/16 now, maybe thinner? is it okay to glue it up then sand bamboo down to contour of my ipe? sorry for a bunch of questions but afraid of screwing it up. i really want to get to hunt with with a trad bow this year.
check out my SHINTO saw rasp topic !
rasp and cabinet scraper. The wood is very crossgrained and makes drawknife dig in. The cross grain is partl why its such a tough and strong bow wood! If you power sand use a mask, the dust makes nasty reactions. Just had a bad one myself.
chrisg.
I couldn't use a drawknife. Cut in, get splinters. All I can do is power sand, use a jointer, and then use a scraper.
As for the bamboo. I like to flatten the bamboo till the edges are very thin, maybe 1/32. Then after the bow is shaped trace the bow shape on the bamboo. I then cut with a bandsaw to shape. I then flatten, thin the bamboo to about 1/16 on the edges.
After you first flatten the whole piece putting it in a heat box at about 110 degrees will dry it out (heat treat) the bamboo then a final flattening is required.
By doing it this way the edges are thin and the bamboo won't overpower your belly.
Ron