I will be building a TD Recurve with a laminated riser of Bubinga and Zebrawood with Bubinga limbs and Zebrawood tips. I am shooting for 58" 50#@26". I will try to get the first pics up tonight.
Tear it up Savage! Have fun and enjoy every second.
That sounds like a sweet one!
Looking forward to reading and viewing :)
Nice wood combination!!she will look great.
Good luck with the build along.
Looking forward to this one.
Just make it a lefty for me :biglaugh:
Sorry Osage, all of my tools are right handed! hahaha
Ok, a couple of guys asked that I be a little more thorough on this buildalong so here goes. Got my parts a little early today but the wife suprised me by leaving my youngest baby with me so I didn't get as much done as I would've liked. Yesterday I did maintenance on all of my tools, changed blades and made some adjustments to make sure they are all cutting clean and true. I also did a thorough cleaning of the shop so that there would be no dust floating around to land on my limbs during the glue up. Before starting on the lams I prepped my form by waxing the whole thing to keep the glue from sticking to it and then covered it with saran wrap. I also checked the fire hose for leaks to make sure it maintains pressure during the curing process. I did a quick inventory or the parts to make sure everything was there.
(http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/ab219/camoman/P2150189.jpg)
Everything appears to be in order so I laid out my lams in order, glass, tapered, wedge, parellel and glass. Once I taped the glass and marked the centerline and cleaned off all the lams I was ready to glue them up.
(http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/ab219/camoman/P2150191.jpg)
I mixed up my Smooth On and applied it to each lam ensuring there was no debris and that I had complete coverage with no dry spots. After I had all the lams stacked I put it all together on the form.
(http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/ab219/camoman/P2150210.jpg)
I aired up the hose to 60psi and checked to make sure everything was lined up properly before puttin the whole thing in the oven. It will cure for 8 hours at 180 degrees.
(http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/ab219/camoman/P2150211.jpg)
Now that the first limb is in the oven I can start on the riser. First order of business is to get some squared edges to work with so it was off to the jointer and planer.
(http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/ab219/camoman/P2150214.jpg)
With a couple edges squared I took my rough template and layed it out on my riser pieces. I will be making a laminated riser so I used 2 sided tape to connect my risers. If all works out right I will have two opposite risers when its all done.
(http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/ab219/camoman/P2150218.jpg)
The baby is giving me a hard time about now so thats about all I will get done tonight. Tomorrow I will put together the next limb and cut out the rough riser shape on the bandsaw. Hopefully I will have time to true up the fadeout on the jointer.
This is going to be a good one I can tell. Can't wait for more.
I can't wait either, I'm about half tempted to head back out there and do some more. If it weren't for that regular job in the morning I could be out there making some progress tonight. Hahaha. I'll be back at it after work tomorrow. Stay tuned!
At some point I think I'm going to take the next step into laminated bows. I'm still kinda on the fence about it, but if I do I think I'll lean more toward the R/D longbows like a few of the regulars around here have been building lately. I really love the looks of those and every body talks about how sweet shooting they are.
You got a good start on it Savage, I'll be watching your progress on this one cause I have a take down started right now that I can't decide what to go on the limbs yet. I may do some laminated ones like you are?
So teach me well! :thumbsup:
I don't know if I'd be complaining so much about the baby being around. The kid takes pretty nice pictures!
Well he's a pretty good kid until he's ready to go to the house right after I get my epoxy mixed up. He took about 20 pics and had 16 of his hand, 3 of the floor and 1 of my back. hahaha But he gave it a good try!
Ok, back in the shop this evening. I pulled the limb out of the oven, glued up and put number 2 in. Then I cleaned off the excess glue from the limb on the drum sander.
(http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/ab219/camoman/P2160204.jpg)
While I'm waiting on the second limb I will get back to the riser. First I cut out the fadeouts on the bandsaw.
(http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/ab219/camoman/P2160191.jpg)
After rough cut out the edges are a little rough, I true them up and get a nice flat surface on the planer
(http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/ab219/camoman/P2160196.jpg)
Once Im done with the fade outs I trace my pattern out on the riser and cut out the pieces with the bandsaw. Here is how they look cut out. We will be building the one in the front. The other one I will build at a later date.
(http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/ab219/camoman/P2160198.jpg)
Now back to the drum sander to start sanding the edges. This is the slow and painful process of eliminating all the gaps so that there are no weak spots in the riser.
(http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/ab219/camoman/P2160200.jpg)
In this picture you can see there are still some considerable gaps to work on. I will end here for tonight. Tomorrow I will clean up the second limb and continue working on the riser.
(http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/ab219/camoman/P2160202.jpg)
Stay tuned for more...
Those are probably difficult to fit!
At times, I block one pc up above the other a bit after getting the edge of it nice ,smooth and sleek. Then scribe around it with something the thickness of the largest gap and a pencil or sharpie.
Clamping em together helps too.
Gonna be a looker! :thumbsup:
Yeah, I put some screw clamps on it and the gaps weren't as bad as they look in the pic. Seems these Irwin clamps don't put enough pressure on it for this type riser. I will have to pic up some more screw clamps tomorrow.
Very much likeing this Savage! Well done on the how-to.
That riser design with the center ribbon of wood is very unique. Looking forward to how this one comes out.
Thanks. Yes, this is one of 4 patterns I came up with a couple weeks ago. I'm kind of excited to finally build it. I'm dreading the hours of sanding tomorrow though. That seems to be the toughest part of the build getting the riser pieces to fit together without gaps.
Any questions, comments or concers up to this point? Any input would be great!
I would never be able to fit those pieces properly myself. Too many turns for me! Good luck with it.
Tighter clamping isn't usually the answer, and can cause induced stresses in the final glued up riser.
an old gunstock trick is to use lampblack. that will show your contact patterns...
looks great , but you misspelled camoman somehow into savage...i dunno...
-hov
Making all the pieces fit together right is definately the hardest and most tedious part of it for me. But I sure like the way it looks when its done. With this many curves I will have to take it really slow or I will run out of wood! Out of the 4 designs I came up with this one is the next to hardest one. The other two have much easier patterns to match up.
I've never tried the lampblack. May have to give that a whirl if I can't get the gaps closed up tonight. I have to try to get it all glued up and rough shaped by sunday, the guy is coming by so I can fit it to his hand.
Apex, I'm sure you're right about the clamping pressure, that makes alot of sense. I figured tonight I would just fix on piece in place and then work one side at a time until it fits together easily.
Well, I can't offer any constructive criticism on your project because I have never done what your doing, but I absolutely love your shop and I am green with envy!
The bow project is looking good so far.
great so far savage i gotta question are both of your lams paralle or is one tapered? im gonna keep an eye on this build along
Thanks.
Karrow one of the lams is tapered.
Well I did manage to get the other limb out of the form today and worked on fitting the riser pieces for a couple hours. I ended up getting half of it fitted and glued up before the wife dropped the bomb on me about watching the baby again. Luckily I will have tomorrow night and all weekend to make some serious progress. I will put more pics up tomorrow night. I'm glad to see some of you joining in I was begining to wonder. Hahaha. There must be alot of people building self and longbows on here. I haven't see alot of recurves lately.
Oh, I should add that since the riser is laminated I will be using black Core Tuff for extra strength and to appearance. On this riser I will also be adding Phenolic overlays to the front of the grip area and on the fadeouts for a little extra protection. The owner of the bow only wanted one course of black Phenolic on the front of the grip instead of two as used on alot of bows. Those things will of course take some addtional time for glue up and curing. I will get some more pics up when I finish for the night.
Back at it again. I finally got the gaps closed up on the riser and glued it up.
(http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/ab219/camoman/P2180189.jpg)
Now I can work on the limbs a little more. I took them over to the miter saw and cut the ends off square.
(http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/ab219/camoman/P2180190.jpg)
Next I laid out my limb pattern on the limb and lined it up on the centerline. I used painters tape on this build but Ive found it difficult to see the centerline. I will need to either use a fine black sharpie or regular masking tape next time.
(http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/ab219/camoman/P2180191.jpg)
I dont have an edge sander so I've been using the disc sander instead and it seems to work pretty good for me. I sand it down to the line.
(http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/ab219/camoman/P2180192.jpg)
On this bow I will be adding Phenolic overlays to the butt end of the limbs for extra protection where the bolt goes thru the limb. After cutting the Phenolic to the same length ast the fadeouts I took a piece of wood cut at steep angle and tapered the end of the piece to make it easier to blend when I get ready to finish the limb.
(http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/ab219/camoman/P2180193.jpg)
I removed the tape from the limb where the overlay will go and sanded the glass to ensure good adhesion of the epoxy. This is the first peek I've had at the limb color and it looks pretty good to me.
(http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/ab219/camoman/P2180194.jpg)
Finally I glued it up and put it in the oven. It should be cured in 4 hours but I will also leave it at room temp til tomorrow afternoon before working it anymore. That's all for tonight. Tomorrow I will start on my favorite part, shaping the riser! Hopefully I will have time to get the limb tips on too.
(http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/ab219/camoman/P2180195.jpg)
you just love leaving us hanging eh...
lookin great , keep us posted...
Hahaha, No I only get a couple hours a night to work on it during the week. It should start shaping up tomorrow.
Got the riser out of the clamps and cleaned it up on the drum sander. Heres how it looks after the glue up.
(http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/ab219/camoman/P2190189.jpg)
I cut out the basic riser shape on the bandsaw.
(http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/ab219/camoman/P2190190.jpg)
Then back to the drum sander and sanded down to the lines. Here's what the basic riser will look like.
(http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/ab219/camoman/P2190191.jpg)
Next I clamp it in the vise and start some serious shaping with the hand rasps.
(http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/ab219/camoman/P2190192.jpg)
After 3 1/2 hours of filing by hand I have the riser all shaped. Here are a few pics.
(http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/ab219/camoman/P2190194.jpg)
(http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/ab219/camoman/P2190195.jpg)
(http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/ab219/camoman/P2190196.jpg)
A quick bite to eat and I'm headed back to the shop to glue the phenolic overlays on the riser.
Now that is sweet looking, way to go.
Awesome job Savage, that riser turned out really cool. I can't wait to see the end result.
I can tell the time put into that riser shaping. Looks great!
Nice shaping work and great handle design/wood choices.....gonna be a looker for sure.
After lunch I filed down a flat spot to put my phenolic on the front of the grip.
(http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/ab219/camoman/P2190200.jpg)
Then I glued the phenolic to the grip and fadeouts and put it in the oven to cure.
(http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/ab219/camoman/P2190202.jpg)
While the
While the overlays are curing I put the Binghams driling jig on the limb and drilled them out. The jig has left me about 1/2 inch short on the last couple bows so I adjusted it this time to compensate. Here it is attached to the limb.
(http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/ab219/camoman/P2190207.jpg)
I cut the string grooves in the limb tips. I saw on here that you can use an allen wrench to line up the opposite groove, but a drill bit works just the same.
(http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/ab219/camoman/P2190208.jpg)
Then I cut a couple pieces of Phenolic and some pieces of zebrawood for the tips so that I could use Fast Flight
(http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/ab219/camoman/P2190210.jpg)
I tapered the ends of both like I did previously on the disc sander to make it easier to blend later. Then I roughed up the surfaces, cleaned them, glued and clamped them to the limb tips. Then I put both limbs in the oven with the riser. Tomorrow it should really start coming together.
(http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/ab219/camoman/P2190211.jpg)
Thats all looking great. Awesome job on the riser so far.
Savage
That riser came out sweet, I'm tellin you sweet!. I was hoping you would shape the grip along the same lines as the swoop, it really sets it off.
Following along on this one!!
Savage / Camoman: Nice job so far! Here is a suggestion on clamping your risers. Use angled blocks under the face of your clamps to ensure you get even pressure from both ends of the clamp. If you look at the picture you took of your clamped and glued riser, you will see what I mean about the unequal pressure.
thats cool
Looks awesome Tim. Keep it coming
Thanks for the clamping tip.
I worked on the limbs a little today. I tapered the butt end on the disc sander so that it will blend a little better when installed on the riser.
(http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/ab219/camoman/P2200197.jpg)
I thought it would look good to also taper the sides of the limbs so I did that on the drum sander
(http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/ab219/camoman/P2200203.jpg)
I started working on the limb tips. I still need to narrow them a bit.
(http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/ab219/camoman/P2200202.jpg)
The customer came by and wanted custom finger grooves on the grip so I filed them out with the half round file and sanded it all down. The riser is starting to look pretty good now.
(http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/ab219/camoman/P2200205.jpg)
Then I put the drilling jig on the riser the same way that I did on the limbs and drilled out the holes for the insert and alignment pin.
(http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/ab219/camoman/P2200207.jpg)
Then I epoxied the inserts and alignment pins in place. Tomorrow I should be able to finish up the limbs and bolt it all together. I will check the draw weight and tiller and do some finish sanding. Hopefully I will have time to get a couple coats of finish on it.
Not sure I really like the finger grooves but that's what he wanted. It feels very comfortable in the hand.
Looking really good bud!
Thanks Marty!
cant wait to see that baby all put together
Great job bro! man, talk about giving a man a fish and he will eat for the night, teach a man how to fish and starts a bow business! Good for you.
I need to find my way back into the shop. have been taking a break.
Thanks Bradford. Been wondering where you been. Not much of a fisherman but I sure like building these bows, hahaha. The exotic woods are beautiful. I really thank all you guys for helping me out with all the tips.
This morning I finished up the limb tips. Here is a pic before I did some trimming and sanding.
(http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/ab219/camoman/P2210197.jpg)
After I got the tips how I wanted them I strung the bow for the first time. I checked the draw weight which ended up being 60@28. Im shooting for 50@26 so I should be fine there after sanding. I marked all the spots on the riser and limbs that I needed to trim to make it all match up nicely. Then I checked limb alignment. It was off a bit so I cut one of the notches a little deeper and took a little off the side of the limb.
(http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/ab219/camoman/P2210198.jpg)
Now its time for some serious sanding. I sanded from 100-400 grit. Here I am doing some final sanding under a spot light so that I can spot any swirl marks before applying a finish.
(http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/ab219/camoman/P2210204.jpg)
Ok, here are some pics of the bow after a couple coats of urethane.
(http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/ab219/camoman/P2210211.jpg)
(http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/ab219/camoman/P2210216.jpg)
(http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/ab219/camoman/P2210222.jpg)
Only thing left is a couple days of spraying and sanding between coats and I will be ready to put a string on it and take it out for some target practice before delivering it to the customer. The next pic will be shooting it.
That's a beauty
Thanks Dave, I can't wait til another friend wants one. I learn a little more with each build. I love working with this exotic hardwood, it's awesome looking wood.
Here is a better pic. I'm gonna call this design the Savage Viper. Normally it would be smooth on the front of the grip area, but this one was custom fit at the customers request.
(http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/ab219/camoman/Viper2.jpg)
Thanks for all the compliments and tips. Hopefully I will be building the Stalker and Raptor models I've designed next.
The weight came in perfect. 50#@26". It pulls 60#@28". Should be a good shooter. I'll let you know in a few days.
Any suggestions on wood types for the next one? I can get Bocote, Bubinga, Cocobolo, Purpleheart, Walnut, Wenge and Zebrawood locally.
Well done.Excellent craftmanship can't wait to see your next takedown.Bocote and osage make a nice combination.
i need new shorts. thats aawesome
Savage
That turned out so stinkin nice. The finger black added to the back @ the finger grooves is a nice touch.
Great build-along as well, very informative!
I belive cocobolo and zebra would get my vote!
That's a handsome bow Savage!
Nice work.
CJ
beautiful bow...you did a great job
Thanks! I've been thinking about possibly Bocote or Cocobolo with Wenge for the next one. What do you think?
Nice job! My vote would be for bocote and bloodwood.
im pretty sure you could do framing 2x4 and plastic decking , and still come out with a gorgeous bow...
-hov
Now that's funny! I'm not sure how that would look but it would definately be a challenge.
Very slick....Don't get any better than that and I sure like the color combo.Thanks for the buildalong.
Very nice, but you'll have to re-size your pictures no wider then 640 pixels.
Please do this or they will have to go bud...thanx
PM Sent Guru
I haven't been able to get all the photos resized so I guess this thread will be deleted. I will try to get them the right size on the next one.
If you are using photobucket, you can tell photo bucket to automatically upload all photos at the 480x640. That way I don't have to resize them on the desktop.. in my photobucket settings I set all uploads to be made into 480x640.
I am sure, most of the pic programs do this.
Cool thanks for the tip.
Awesome bow! Thanks for your service.
Tim, you can resize photos alreay uploaded to photobucket by hitting the edit option.
I think it finally worked.
Yup. Nice work. Eye candy.
Never did post pic of u shootin it!
Great work, I really enjoy these projects. Cocobolo and bocote would get my vote for the next one.
Forgot the pics shooting it and the guy already came and picked it up. He was shooting really good with it by the time he left.
The next one is going to be Bocote and Wenge and another new design, picked up the wood yesterday and already started on the riser. Probably won't do the buildalong on this one but I will post some random pics along the way. This one will probably take a few weeks I've got some other things I need to finish up.