I'm not calling this a build along because this is my first time working with bamboo. If I had experience and success with this type of build then I may feel confident enough to say build along with me, but I don't. Not yet anyway.
So this is more of a follow along and if you like what you see and want to try this the way I'm doing it, feel free to do so at your own risk.
Comments and advice welcome, play nice. :D
This is what I started with and this Osage blank was an original splice in the handle, then I added the Oak overlays on the back and belly. It wasn't until I got a good deal on some bamboo that I decided to go ahead and back this spliced bow blank. So that's what I started with.
(http://i714.photobucket.com/albums/ww146/mohunter68/Avatar/Bamboo%20and%20Osage%20Project/BambooandOsageProject009.jpg)
(http://i714.photobucket.com/albums/ww146/mohunter68/Avatar/Bamboo%20and%20Osage%20Project/BambooandOsageProject008.jpg)
I flattened the back off as much as I possibly could to make a nice even glue surface for the bamboo backing. I removed almost all of the white oak lam on the back side of the handle area while doing so. The boo that I'm using is right there next to it and hasn't been flattened yet.
(http://i714.photobucket.com/albums/ww146/mohunter68/Avatar/Bamboo%20and%20Osage%20Project/BambooandOsageProject002.jpg)
(http://i714.photobucket.com/albums/ww146/mohunter68/Avatar/Bamboo%20and%20Osage%20Project/BambooandOsageProject003.jpg)
To be continued..................
Dang dude you let them get to ya...... You cleaned up how can you do a follow along and find the tools you need for it LOL
Seriously that is some big bamboo, what I ordered was decent but not nearly that big. After thinning you should have a pretty uniform backing.
Yes it is some nice bamboo just from what I can tell. I don't really have any previous knowledge to use as a comparison, but it looks pretty clean and uniform. If I could just get better at thinning it down I believe I can make the job go alot easier. For one thing I need a new sanding belt with a coarser grit and that would be a good start.
I'll post some more pics shortly and bring yall up to speed on where I'm at right now.
Semo,
Thanks for tak'in us along...I'm looking forward to seeing the process.
Lyle
Most excellent! :campfire:
I hope you left the bow stave a little wider than your intended finished bow. I flatten the back of the boo, then draw out my actual bow pattern on the flat belly of the boo and then cut it out, and taper it from 1/8 thick at the center to 1/16th thick at the tips. Then glue it up, then cut it out to the edge of the boo bow pattern, ya dig Chris? Ya also want to taper your stave to 1/8th thinner at the tips than at the flares.
However since you already have that wood on the back of the handle, I'd say your going to have to cut the boo in half now. It's all fun Chris, and the more you make, the better you will become.
Patience my friend, the white oak on the back of the handle is all but gone now, only a faint memory in the form of a tiny sliver of oak.
I apologize for not taking any pics of the bamboo back sanding, but it was so dusty and I had the stuff all over me I didn't want to handle my camera. It wasn't anything special, just sanding the back down on the belt sander until I got it all flat.
I wish I had made it thinner than what I did, but the edges were getting very thin and I was afraid of going to far with it. After glue up and cleaning my edges of the bow I realized I could have went even thinner with the boo.
So here we jump straight to the outfit clamped in my caul and you can see I lined it with carboard to accommodate the nodes which are facing downward, then I masked everything off with blue painters tape to keep the Urac glue from getting all over everything including my caul.
(http://i714.photobucket.com/albums/ww146/mohunter68/Avatar/Bamboo%20and%20Osage%20Project/BambooandOsageProject019.jpg)
(http://i714.photobucket.com/albums/ww146/mohunter68/Avatar/Bamboo%20and%20Osage%20Project/BambooandOsageProject021.jpg)
Here it is out of the caul after about 8hrs clamped up.
I love this shape!! First bow off the new caul and it performed awesome! Take a good look Lee this is what your future selfbows are gonna look like! :thumbsup:
(http://i714.photobucket.com/albums/ww146/mohunter68/Avatar/Bamboo%20and%20Osage%20Project/BambooandOsageProject018.jpg)
This is the before boo glue up that I forgot to add earlier. I actually put some bend in my blank with heat first to make clamping it all up easier.
This one gives a good comparison that the boo kept the blank perfect the way it was before and now it ain't going nowhere.
(http://i714.photobucket.com/albums/ww146/mohunter68/Avatar/Bamboo%20and%20Osage%20Project/BambooandOsageProject022.jpg)
More coming later..........
That is awesome Semo! I love the tip about pre-heating/bending the osage on the caul prior to doing the Boo glue up. That makes sense to me as the Boo & glue don't have to work as hard in making the osage keep or maintain that shape.
I REALLY think you let us down with no pics of the Boo prep...LOL, heck that is the only part of these type of build that really don't understand or can't make complete sense of...oh well. so you sand them flat on the boo belly and remove all traces of the inner nodes, correct?
Keep going and I can't wait to see this bow at full draw. Toss in some layout dimensions too if you don't mind...i.e. handle width, length from handle to fades, width of fades and width at tips & OAL.
Thanks!
Looking good!
When you heated it up did you use a heat gun or what Semo? I just started my caul today and was going to do a glue up in the next couple of days so any advice would be greatly appreciated. Your caul gave that bow a beautiful shape :notworthy:
Not too shabby for a rookie. ^5 Chrissy:)
Thanks Guys, I'm glad your enjoying it.
If this bow makes it all the way to the end I'm sure it's going to be the nicest and fastest one I've made to date. It's looking sweeter with every stroke of the rasp.
Lee- The boo prep is kinda a pain in the arse. My suggestions on prepping the bottom flat is to use the advice that Eric gave in his Bambo Repair along. I'm not qualified to give any advice on the boo prep because I'm sure I didn't do it right. This one was a learning experience so maybe on the next one when I can get a handle on what I did right and what I did wrong I'll give more details. I just don't want anybody following my lead on that part and screwing up their material. If you use Eric's advice to prep the boo I think you'll hit it perfect.
Here's the link >>-----> http://tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=125;t=005458;p=1
I'll give you all the dimensions when I'm finished. I'm still working the limbs down and they will probably get a little narrower at the tips for the last 6-8" before I'm done. So it's a bit premature to give the dims quite yet.
Thanks Brad, you played an instrumental part in helping me along with this. Thank you buddy! :knothead:
More pics coming later on, maybe tonight or tomorrow morning.
QuoteOriginally posted by Roy from Pa:
Not too shabby for a rookie. ^5 Chrissy:)
If I wasn't so dang happy being me Roybert, I'd wanna be you. :p :saywhat:
QuoteOriginally posted by SEMO_HUNTER:
QuoteOriginally posted by Roy from Pa:
Not too shabby for a rookie. ^5 Chrissy:)
If I wasn't so dang happy being me Roybert, I'd wanna be you. :p :saywhat: [/b]
:laughing:
If Ol' Roy was any happier he'd hafta' be twins!
By the way your glue up looks prett dang nice Chris. Give me a buzz when your ready to finish it up............................... and I will give you Royberts cell number!!!
I like the shape, Ill be watching this on.... Hope to graduate to lams soon... been messing around with board bows
Were did you get your boo at?
Looking good, SEMO. Keep it comin'.
Stan :thumbsup:
"I love this shape!! First bow off the new caul and it performed awesome!"
Sorry for the one post after another, Just a quick question. What is a Caul? im new to this so would you be refering to your form?
Either way it looks like a winner so far....
Yes, it's the form that the bow was clamped to. Mostly they are used for heat treating wood to bend some shape into them, but you can do glue ups on them too. There are many different designs and apparatus to bend wood and this is just one way.
Thanks guys.
I'll have some more pics up in the morning.
Hey Pearl, could you PM me Roybert's number? I need it for an online dating profile that I'm filling out. :goldtooth:
Elmo, don't make me drive out there tonight and lay a whoopen on ya son:) Might even swing by Pearly Boys and Lee's place and smack them around some too:)
Be sure and smack those two around first so your kinda tired by the time you get here Roybert cause I bruise easy. :saywhat:
Hey Roy, remember that oak lam on the back of the handle you mentioned? I said it was nothing more than a sliver, here's a good picture of it and you can also see the edge of my handle splice too.
Right underneath the knife blade you can see a tiny grey sliver, that's what's left of the oak lam. I left a little bit of it on purpose to keep the red oak handle from seperating from pressure of the backing when drawn.
(http://i714.photobucket.com/albums/ww146/mohunter68/BambooandOsageProject027.jpg)
(http://i714.photobucket.com/albums/ww146/mohunter68/BambooandOsageProject028.jpg)
Here's a nice pic to show how well my glue lines turned out.
(http://i714.photobucket.com/albums/ww146/mohunter68/BambooandOsageProject029.jpg)
Some left over glue that I take off with a rasp using the finer flat file part of a 4 in 1 rasp.
Careful to work the bamboo from back to belly!
(http://i714.photobucket.com/albums/ww146/mohunter68/BambooandOsageProject030.jpg)
Here it is with the edges all cleaned up and ready to start thinning down the limbs for tillering. Right now it's probably about a 130lb. bow which is just a tad on the heavy side for me.
No matter how hard I try, I just can't ever get the correct angle or just the right picture that I'm looking for with a bow. I have a heck of a time trying to take pictures of bows for whatever reason, so I just take multiple shots hoping that a couple of them will be worth looking at. :knothead:
(http://i714.photobucket.com/albums/ww146/mohunter68/BambooandOsageProject031.jpg)
(http://i714.photobucket.com/albums/ww146/mohunter68/BambooandOsageProject033.jpg)
(http://i714.photobucket.com/albums/ww146/mohunter68/BambooandOsageProject034.jpg)
(http://i714.photobucket.com/albums/ww146/mohunter68/BambooandOsageProject035.jpg)
That's looking good Chris! Think you're going to like that design. Man, I cringe every time I see one of those 4-way rasp. I haven't used one since I went to a farriers rasp. Now that's a hogging tool! Art
Lookin good Chris. FYI, that little sliver of oak you left on the back is not really going to serve any purpose. If you're going to use a powerlam to take pressure off the handle it needs to be 1/4" thick in the middle and extend out past your handle 2-4 inches. You've got enough deflex in that bow to take most of the pressure off the handle area anyways.
Thanks Art and Okie. I'm glad you mentioned that Okie cause I was wondering that very thing and looking at it I was scratching my head trying to figure out if there would be enough stress to cause any problems with my handle. So you answered one of my questions without me even having to ask it....Thanks!
I dont know, I have seen several people use a tapered piece under handle like that to put some of the stress inside the limb and keep the handle from popping off. I would thing if the fades began in the limb before the handle this would work very good. I don't use the tapered piece and just start the fades in the limbs and have no problems with the handles popping off the taper would just be extra insurance. And we have to remember this is a spliced billet I would have probably done the same.
Chris how long is it? It looks real close to the plans I have from binghams. I haven't made one off of its design yet, looking forward to seeing how its coming.... looking good!
(Hope it is easier to tiller than my perry reflex, I got it to about 20" and it feels really stressed)
It's going to come out to right at 60" nock to nock. I haven't cut the nock grooves yet, but I will shortly because I'm just about ready to start tillering. Right now I'm just taking off some bulk from the belly to get each limb fairly even, then I'll put the rasp away and switch over to the scraper and palm sander. I need to just kinda get everything evened up on the limb tapers (edges) and the belly even all the way down, nice and flat then round the edges just a little bit and I can put it on the long string and see what I got. It's real close to floor tiller now.
I tend to agree with Okie about the deflex taking some stress off the limbs, especially since I glued that into the design when I stuck the boo on. So it's not like going from a flat back then trying to pull the limbs through the arc from a flat position. It curves reall nice around the handle and fades so hopefully it will be fine. I'm going to find out shortly.
looking good semo.
Good Luck Chris. Tillering R/D bows can be a bit tricky so take your time and be patient. I tillered quite a few of them before I really figured out how to get the tips to open up just enough but not too much.
Looks nice Chris.
Thanks guys.
QuoteOriginally posted by DVSHUNTER:
looking good semo.
Thanks goes to you too Dave, I love this caul design!
Getting ready to put it on the tillering tree now.
Ok, here it is with about 6" of pull on it with the long string. I can tell that the left side is thicker and heavier than the right side.
Gizmo won't work on this design, so where do I start taking meat off first? I don't know what to get bending more first, or just sand it all down even as I go? Comments.....Advice?
When I flex it and let off it appears to be pulling even on each limb, but not bending evenly I'm sure of that since the left limb is heavier? Don't know if that makes sense or not.
I did put my scale on it and pulled to an actual 10" and it pegged at 50# @ 10" so I stopped. Just wanted to make sure I had plenty of weight there to work with and I do......I got lots of weight to work with.
Roy I may need your # if you want to PM it to me.
DVSHunter- Since this is your design, please feel free to chime in here as well. I know you've tillered a bunch of these and yours look great.
Okie- Need your input as well since you seem to be familiar with this design.
Thanks fellas, I just need a starting point here so I know where to get it moving first, mid limb, outer 1/3, inner 1/3, ect.
(http://i714.photobucket.com/albums/ww146/mohunter68/BambooOsageTiller.jpg)
No help here on my part for R/D glue-ups Chris. Looking good thus far though. Helps to run a temporary string from tip to tip at this point to help judge even/uneven tiller.........Art
From where you started to where your at right now.....you done good. :notworthy:
Chris from my experience stay away from the fades till later.Also don't work the last 6 or 7 inches from the string grooves.
Work the area in between first.A little on each limb.
Soon you can get a short string on it and let that tell you which limb to bring around first.
Ron
Right now, with that long string on, the near fade area is being over-stressed. Once you go to the short string, the profile you're seeing now is going to change somewhat. Greater stress is going to shift to the outer third of your limb. You're probably aware of that but thought I'd mention it anyways.
Just me, but I'd reduce the bow's weight to where I could get a regular string on and then judge profile from there. Folks tend to stay on the long string a little to long sometimes, which, in the end, causes them to come in under weight......Art
Very good info all, that's kinda what I was thinking about the mid limb. I reduced the left limb to move closer to the right limb, and reduced overall weight of both limbs.
You can see better in this picture that I believe it needs to move more mid limb? I think.
The fade on the right limb almost looks a little hingy to me, but it started out that way because of the Osage backing I used. That area was small to begin with and I haven't really done anything to it besides smooth it out. I'm staying away from that area all together till the limbs start to move in the middle.
Unless somebody else has a different approach? I'll hold off a bit until you all get a chance to look at this pic and I'll go get an unstrung pic for you to compare.
(http://i714.photobucket.com/albums/ww146/mohunter68/BambooOsageTiller004.jpg)
Unstrung profile
(http://i714.photobucket.com/albums/ww146/mohunter68/BambooOsageTiller006.jpg)
I took some more off the left mid limb and I left the right one alone.
What's up with the right limb? It looks like it needs something but I'm not sure what.
It looks flat from the fade out to the last 1/3 of the limb, so should I just work on the mid limb of the left side?
Also, I'm still very heavy 50+# @14" and my goal is to hit around 50-55# @28"
So I have a ways to go yet and I haven't pulled it any further than 14" so far.
(http://i714.photobucket.com/albums/ww146/mohunter68/BambooOsageTiller007.jpg)
I started thinking that maybe what I'm seeing is actually an optical illusion since the fade on the right isn't as gradual as the left is.
So I layed out some lines to make it easier to compare the limbs to and it appears that I'm not as far off as I thought I was.
I also colored in the fade area on the right limb so my eyes would stop focusing on that particular spot.
See what you all think.
(http://i714.photobucket.com/albums/ww146/mohunter68/BambooOsageTiller007-1.jpg)
QuoteOriginally posted by Art B:
Just me, but I'd reduce the bow's weight to where I could get a regular string on and then judge profile from there. Folks tend to stay on the long string a little to long sometimes, which, in the end, causes them to come in under weight......Art
very good advice! that I knew but did it anyway (mine just came in about 9 under)
Dont look to bad Chris but I would put it on a short string it will change your perspective. And I would also not get crazy around the fades. Lower mid limb on right looks to need a little attention.
Man my eyes are getting bad but it looks like the right limb needs a little on mid limb it looks really straight I am no pro though
Sorry I don't have any advice to give, but I really like your design. I have a piece of osage and a hickory baking I was looking for what to do with. I believe, thanks to you follow along, i have found what I will try. It looks really good so far. I'll be watching intently.
Yes I agree, I can see that flat area right there, but not sure how to attack it yet. If I don't do it right it may get even flatter. Tillering this style design is totally different than anything I've done so far. You can forget about the gizmo cause it rides all the way down the deflex leaving a solid mark as it goes. So I have to tiller this one by feel and looking at the pictures really helps. I can see things in the pics that I can't see while I'm standing there staring at the actual bow under tension.
I think if I work it easy and gradually bring my wt. down to just over my target wt. and then shoot it some that it will probably settle in. I hope.
I'll get it on the short string as soon as I get that right limb straightened out. I doubt there's any danger of going under wt. cause it's still fairly strong. I'll just take it slow and not rush things. I'm leaving it alone for now and pick it up again tomorrow. The cool thing about this design with the bamboo backing is that it snaps right back to it's original shape as soon as you let the tension off. Man that's cool, no set at all. This bamboo is some strange stuff, unlike anything I've ever messed with before.
Thanks for the compliments and comments, advice, ect.
Glad you all decided to follow along on this.
Ya need to weaken them midlimbs Elmo.
Looking good Semo. The unstrung profile does look pretty sweet. I agree the right mid limb is a bit flat.
Thanks, I'm gonna try to fix that this evening and then start tillering it down evenly to get the poundage down where I need it. Need to make a short string for it also.
It's 60" nock to nock.
Going crappie fishing today though and take a break from bow building for a few hours.
You need to get the midlimbs bending more. The right limb looks a little stiffer but not enough to worry about right now. I would start scraping around 8-10" from the fades out to the tips till you can get a short string on it. Dont get too scraper-happy out around the tips though.
Here ya go Chris, some art work:)
(http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f165/ROY-CHRIS/BambooOsageTiller007.jpg)
You all are some master paint artists lol :smileystooges: I actually am jealous
I think I have a different approach to the R/D. I tiller them starting from the inner 1/3. This gives me a chance to string the bow early and not undershoot the weight. I noticed that if I start to tiller from the mid limb or outer 1/3 the limbs take alot of set and it becomes alot harder to tiller when it's strung at brace height. I don't know why. but that is my experience.
Those are glued-in hinges Roy, so they don't count ;) . And those flat spots will round out somewhat when a short string is used :saywhat: ........Art
definitely put on the short string, but it still looks good
Where ya at SEMO? I'm watching this one closely because I've got an osage deflex/reflex needing tillered.
Catch any crappie?
I'm still here, just got pounded by a hail storm. I'll have some more pics up soon, just have a few other things to catch up on first.
I'm building a string for it now so I can put it on the short string and take some pics of it then put them up for you all to look at. It's been suggested several times to see what it looks like on the short string first then go from there.
Stay tuned...........
River got too muddy for crappie so we caught a cooler full of channel cat instead. :thumbsup:
Finally complete.
I worked on the bow for about 3-4hrs. last night and was fighting the mid limb on the right side not wanting to comply and I believe I can attribute that to the boo backing being thicker in that area. I almost thinned the left mid limb too much and worked on the fade on that side to straighten it out. While it's not completely perfect, I'm going to call it good enough at this point because I hit my target weight of 50# @28" exactly and it shoots great. I do have a few questions about the tips.
First one is reducing the mass on the tips. I'm going to round the ends of the tips and have actually thought about not doing any tip overlays on this bow, but I need some advice from you all that have made bamboo backed bows before. Are tip overlays really necessary, or can I simply leave them the way they are?
Second question about mass, as you will see in the following pics further down of the last 4-6" of the tip ends they are thicker because I stayed away from that while tillering. Can I reduce that last 4 or 5" of tip without effecting my tiller and draw weight?
Here's the strung profile.
(http://i714.photobucket.com/albums/ww146/mohunter68/BamboobackedOsagecomplete001.jpg)
Unstrung profile
(http://i714.photobucket.com/albums/ww146/mohunter68/BamboobackedOsagecomplete005.jpg)
Drawn to about 24" profile on tillering board
(http://i714.photobucket.com/albums/ww146/mohunter68/BamboobackedOsagecomplete002.jpg)
Group shot at about 10 steps inside my garage. Bow not properly tuned yet and I'm still playing around with my brace height. I'll get to that later when I can get outside and see how my arras fly at 15-20 yards. Not bad so far and the results are promising.
(http://i714.photobucket.com/albums/ww146/mohunter68/BamboobackedOsagecomplete008.jpg)
Now the pics of the tips. I'd like to thin these down to blend in with the rest of the limb. Do you all see any problem with doing that?
I just don't want to lose any of my draw wt. or screw up my tiller.
(http://i714.photobucket.com/albums/ww146/mohunter68/BamboobackedOsagecomplete009.jpg)
(http://i714.photobucket.com/albums/ww146/mohunter68/BamboobackedOsagecomplete010.jpg)
Nice! Any handshock?
Very little, much less than my Bear Grizzly recurve. It actually takes some getting used to because I expect it from shooting my Grizzly so much. I won't even pick up the Grizzly for awhile now that this one is complete so I can get used to shooting it and get ready to turkey hunt with it. I'm going to do some serious target pounding in the next few days.
I'm not one of those guys that can switch back and forth from recurve to longbow and be any kind of accurate with it. I have to stick with one or the other right before and during hunting season.
She turned out real nice Chris! Lots of work you can do on those tips yet. Round the very tip, remove the string groove's rear shoulder, and if you have the groove tear dropped shaped, you can remove and round the belly side. No, overlays aren't required unless you grooved the back of the boo. Which doesn't appear to be the case......Art
QuoteOriginally posted by Art B:
She turned out real nice Chris! Lots of work you can do on those tips yet. Round the very tip, remove the string groove's rear shoulder, and if you have the groove tear dropped shaped, you can remove and round the belly side. No, overlays aren't required unless you grooved the back of the boo. Which doesn't appear to be the case......Art
Thanks Art. No I knew better than to cut a groove over the back of the boo and I only cut the nock grooves deep enough to keep the string from popping off.
I may do something like you did in those pics, I kinda like that.
Nice job!
I guess it looks ok:)
Very nice Chris!
Thanks for the build along too. I know you're not feeling well but you got that bow done and put in the extra effort to help educate the community along with it. Thanks again!
CJ
Thanks guys, I enjoyed sharing with y'all.
Anybody got some advice on thinning the tips?
They are a bit thick and I just want to make sure it won't effect my tiller or draw wt. before I thin them down. I think the tip mass effects the speed of the limb tips as well as looking kinda clunky.
QuoteOriginally posted by Roy from Pa:
I guess it looks ok:)
Roybert, don't make me come all the way up there to PA just to toss you into your own pond. :saywhat:
I hain't skeered:)
Take a ruler Chris and get an exact measurement on the bow's positive tiller, if any.
Now, remove the string and start reducing one tip. Put your string back on and and check to see if the tiller has moved. If not, then remove the string and reduce the other side the same amount.
Keep repeating that until you get the desired effect.
Important thing here is to maintain the tiller you started with. Good luck........Art
Awsome Design, and Outstanding Craftsmanship!! All adds up to One Beauty of a Bow!! :notworthy: :notworthy:
Thanks Shakes, this was a first with bamboo for me so it's a "learn as I go" project. Yes, it's got some snap to it. I'm completely satisfied and it's a whole lot quicker than Osage by itself, and I don't know if it's the bamboo backing or the design, but this bow seems super quiet to me. I put some beaver silencers on it, but honestly I think it would be plenty quiet without them?
Art- I reduced the tips a little, just enough to even them out with the rest of the limb so it blends in and it didn't change anything about the profile or the tiller. I think that last 4" or so doesn't flex much anyway and it looks a whole lot nicer now. One tip was pretty fat, and the other one didn't need hardly anything taken off at all.
Thanks for the advice.
The next pics will be when it's completely finished with stain, tru oil finish, and ready to stroll. I'm going to experiement with different stains on some scrap pieces of boo that I cut off the ends to see what screams at me the loudest.
Looking forward to the "unveiling!"
:campfire:
Looks good Chris. Dont take this the wrong way but it looks like almost all the bending is taking place in the inner 1/3 of the limb. Nothing wrong with that but it may cause it to take more set than normal as you shoot it more and more. If it were me I would tiller it down a few more pounds and get the midlimbs working a little more JMHO. But its not mine so if you're happy with it thats what matters. :) Osage is good stuff so I'm sure its a great shooter.
Hey Lee, sorry I forgot to post the specs like you asked for.
60" NTN 50# @28"
1 1/4" @ Fades, Straight Taper to 1/2" at the tips
2" of Deflex and 2" of Reflex, but don't quote me on that cause I'm not 100% sure I'm measuring it right. That's the unstrung profile.
Chris,
I think it looks good man! :clapper: I have a bamboo backed Ipe on the caul right now I can't wait until tom. and see what that baby is looking like when I get it off there. great job
Lester
Thanks guys, you all remember that country song by the group Alabama...........
"She's close enough to perfect for me" ??
That song keeps running through my head everytime I go back and look at my last tillering board pics. :knothead:
QuoteOriginally posted by SEMO_HUNTER:
Hey Lee, sorry I forgot to post the specs like you asked for.
60" NTN 50# @28"
1 1/4" @ Fades, Straight Taper to 1/2" at the tips
2" of Deflex and 2" of Reflex, but don't quote me on that cause I'm not 100% sure I'm measuring it right. That's the unstrung profile.
Thanks Chris...what did you end up with for handle width, length and thickness and how far out of the handles did you start the fades?
Last night I finished chasing a "the ring" on a Osage stave I had drying so I might use it as my first "guinea pig" on the Caul...I don't have any type of lam/backing for it though so I think I will try it with just the solid stave (like some of the ones David posted pics of...) and see how I do. I hadn't really thought far enough ahead to realize that the tiller of these beasts was a completely animal but I think I am up for the challenge after reading this build-a-long and hearing some of the advice that was shared.
Thanks!
Nice job Semo!
Thanks Dustin.
Lee- David said he gets awesome performance from his Osage selbows without any backing just by the shape he puts in them. So no backing is required.
The only thing I would warn against is that if the stave isn't dry enough yet and you put dry heat to it you will get some cracks, but that doesn't mean that they won't come out when tillered. I had some that weren't deep and they all came out while tillering, and the wood I used has been under my bench since last August.
Just go super slow when tillering and if you start to lose patience while trying to get that mid limb to move, just walk away from it and come back later. I almost went too far with mine at one point and thought I had screwed it up, it turned out ok but almost ended in disaster because I started losing my patience with it.
Total length was 61 1/2" then I came in 3/4" from each end to start my nock grooves. So I ended up with 60" from Nock to Nock groove. That's how long my Osage blank was so that's what I had to go with. Handle width is the same till it hits the fades 1 1/4" then begins the taper down to 1/2" at the tips, length is 9" and the fade starts 2" from the end of the handle so I end up with 7" of handle for my grip and the cut out for the arrow shelf. I actually sanded away about 1/2" of the end of the fade on the bottom section of the handle when I was thinning down the fade on the limb.
I got big hands and I wanted an arrow shelf cut to center on this bow so I need a longer handle area than what I would normally do on a selfbow where I would be shooting off my top knuckle. I'll post a couple pics below.
I'll probably never make a longbow over 62" again now that I know I can get my draw length from a shorter bow. The first one I ever made was a full 68" long and it felt clumsy.
Handle pics
(http://i714.photobucket.com/albums/ww146/mohunter68/BamboobackedOsagecomplete011.jpg)
(http://i714.photobucket.com/albums/ww146/mohunter68/BamboobackedOsagecomplete012.jpg)
(http://i714.photobucket.com/albums/ww146/mohunter68/BamboobackedOsagecomplete013.jpg)
I went with simple natural tips on this one. I really didn't want to cover up any of the bamboo and I like the natural look so I decided not to do any tip overlays, I just didn't groove the back of the boo when I cut the grooves.
(http://i714.photobucket.com/albums/ww146/mohunter68/BamboobackedOsagecomplete019.jpg)
Splendid! I really like the shape of the tips...well done. Thanks for the added stats/details on the layout, it will help me out quite a bit having those dimensions.
Thanks for the heads up on the Osage checking...I'll likely make up a steaming rig since my Osage is fairly green yet. I'll steam it up for an hour or so and slap her on the Caul and get the clamps working for me and then I'll let it sit and stabilize for a month or two.
Coming along nicely, Semo.
Thanks Pat, thanks Lee.
Lee- That would probably work, steam that baby up and put some heavy gloves on then get the clamps on it as quick as possible. Then leave it overnight, then you can take it off the next day or if your in no big hurry just leave it there for a few days to dry out good. The smaller you work your blank down the quicker it will dry out. I know from experience that the steam will pull out a certain amount of the oils in Osage cause the water will be orange when your done.
Good luck and remember PICS! :thumbsup:
Not bad for a Red Neck fishermen from Missouri:)
Thanks Semo, pics will be forth coming~
QuoteOriginally posted by Roy from Pa:
Not bad for a Red Neck fishermen from Missouri:)
Thank You Roybert, I will take that as a compliment cause I resemble that remark. :thumbsup:
Lee- One last thing about steaming, there is a formula for how long you steam it. I'm thinking like 15 min. for every inch of thickness? Or something close to that, be sure and find out what it is before leaving in the sauna for too long or you will cook all the oil out of the stave and it will get brittle. Just my experience.
I normally went by feel, after about 30min. I started checking one of the limbs by either putting the tip on the floor and trying to bend it or with a gloved hand try to bend it. When it got a limpy feeling like wet spaghetti I stopped.
quick question semo,
did you have to make sure use follow the growth rings with a boo backed osage bow? just curious, I was going to get some osage lumber and try one but was curious about the growth rings....
Will the boo hold it together? Im sure it would help if you follow the rings but just curious...
Thanks-Jerrod