I plan on purchasing bow building tools for myself for christmas. I plan on purchasing a band saw, drill press and belt sander (bench type not hand held) . These tools are not required as I have seen (a build along from an asian man, whose name escapes me, that was pure amazing) but i believe they will help me. Like I said I believe these will help so what are your opinions on the power tools?
These tools are a small part of bow building in my opinion. The ultimate tools are instruction. Now I cant afford a class so the next best thing are book and DVDs. DVDs seem more appropriate for me because I am a visual learner. Most responses I have see are go to what ever site and they have DVDs. I know the word "best" is a relative term but for a novice what would be the "best" starter DVD or book?
I have so many ideas running through my head right now about different bows to build I even have had dreams about bows (crazy I know but hey I love archery). Starting seems like a such daunting task that I am almost throwing away the building ideas and just purchasing a bow. I don't want to do that but If it is a better start than I will be fine with that until I learn more.
Your ideas and words are extremely important to me so please if you have comments throw them out at me. Thanks in advance.
Kyle
Get ahold of Binghams and get their material on bow building. The single best recource for beggining bowbuilders. Good Luck , Bob
www.binghamprojects.com (http://www.binghamprojects.com)
GO SLOW
SLOWER :banghead:
Marty I learned the go slower on my first bow. Saying I rushed it would be an understatement. I am planning on thinking 6 times measuring 7 times and only cutting once :D . Hopefully that train of thought will lead me in the right directions
hello krink.
you said "instruction is the best tool", i think experience is the best tool. get your instructions for wooden bows in the traditional bowyers bible I-IV, and for glass-bows at binghams. after the instruction you have to build bows for experience...
greets
Herm
build a straight long bow first--don't re-invent the wheel on the first try-binghams is a great source--get the dvd's and watch them repeatadly!!
call binghams and tell them what length bow at what weight you want-they will steer you right-they do this for a living!!above all keep it simple at first-build a few-build up your skills-THEN build your dream bow!!you won't regret it--
-------------------mike
Wooden or glass bows?
I think I bought an occillating spindle sander first and have really liked it, already had a band saw and bench top drill press.
What I learned first was straight bows are easier to build than curvey ones.....
My first glass bow has taken hogs...
To me all wood bows have been a challenge but I am gaining experience. Thanks to guys here and "gizmos"
Good Luck
Mike
Binghams is the way to go. The videos are probably good as well, started building before they had videos. I liked the written instructions real well you could easily flip pages back and forth reading and rereading as needed. Go slow and do plenty of dry runs and you will be fine. It is going to be fun, you will have a blast.
Kyle,
Hey, just a thought here. This forum itself is full of pricelss information. Search this forum for build alongs. If laminated bows are your intrest builds by folks like Apex Predator or bjansen and Kenny M( sorry guys, not trying to leave anyone out)are so detailed that you can't help but learn from them. Brad just did a build along on a hot box. What I have done is actually copy entire builds and put them in binders to refer to later.Yeah, Brad and Marty both know I have copied their work.I refer to this stuff all the time and if I see something here that I believe to be valuable I add it to a binder.(REALY hard on printer cartridges but I have assembled more info in this way than I could possibly find in years of searching.Nothing against Binghams. I have seen their longbow and recurve DVDs. I also understand that they are very helpful if contacted. Personally I have gained so much more from Marty, Brad,Kenny and many others here than I did from either DVD.Questions as you go along.Many super people here who will help you if you ask. Take a look. Find these build alongs and check them out. I believe you will find a lot of what your looking for right here.If your intrest is self bows you will find many very talented guys to help.
Good luck,
Ed :archer2:
White Oak has a point. If you read the builds and how too's the Pic and instructions are there. Plus you may have question and read a little futher down and someone has asked it. If not PM the builder and ask or post the question here.
This forum will be your greatest source of information. There is nothing about bow biulding, wood or glass that you can not learn from here. Read, Read and Read more.
As far as tools, I absolutely love my Rigid Oscilating belt sander. I would hate to be without it.
Last July, I was in the same position you are. I bought and read TBB, and I watched as many buildalongs as I could. I lurked on forums (especially this one!), I researched the aspects that had me baffled, and after a month or so of this I dove head first into bowbuilding. But only when I had (or thought I had!) a good idea of the challenges I had to face, and some ideas about how to handle them with my tools and (limited) skills. And, even then, I knew there would be failures, and that persistence would, eventually, get me there...so, no fast gratification was expected. It worked well, I think, but I am only on the very first steps of a very long, but rewarding, stairway. Tools make things easier/faster/require less effort, but more important is knowing what you want to do at each step. How you do it is a matter of what you have available, and how much time and effort you are willing to put in...but, if you do not know/can`t decide what you should do next, no tool will help you! That`s when the real bowyers here, and their willingness to help, are really invaluable! Just my opinion...and I am not even close to being a beginner, just sampling the water. BTW, I have only done two pairs of limbs, two risers and a longbow, all fiberglass laminated. I had previous experience with fiberglass and it seemed easier to me...I would be scared stiff if I had to make a selfbow! 99% sure it would break in some early stage! Perhaps if you try to keep some part of the process closer to other skills you have, like I did with the fiberglass part, you would feel more confortable on your first efforts...just a thought.
DF
seems like a kit or two would be a good way to start...
I would buy a 14" bandsaw min. and a spindle sander will be a great help. I also bought a vertical sander that has been a great tool for glass bows. JMO, Don
That Asian man's name is Hera... username anyway on another site... and yes he is amazing
Dave
Kyle, there has to be a Bowyer somewhere close to you out there. I'm sure someone would take you under their wing and show you the ropes. Even if you have to drive an hour or two, it would be worth it.