Been a while since I have made a bow without power tools. Here's one I mostly finished this week while at our family lakehouse.
(http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r607/jdscifres/001-2.jpg)
(http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r607/jdscifres/002.jpg)
(http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r607/jdscifres/003-2.jpg)
I sorta cheated since this stave had been reduced with a bandsaw before drying. But all the final shaping was done with handtools, mostly a drawknife.
The stave has some natural reflex and a little sideways bend.
Here's the tool lineup.
(http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r607/jdscifres/005-1.jpg)
Measuring and marking tools. Hatchet, drawknife, #49 nicholson rasp, half round file, nockfile, some B-50 and a scraper.
Since I had already chased a ring on this stave before drying, the first job was to mark it out at 62" total length and 60-1/2" NTN. 1-1/4" wide for one third of the limb and then tapering to 1/2" tips.
(http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r607/jdscifres/010.jpg)
I mostly used the drawknife and then the rasp.
(http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r607/jdscifres/011.jpg)
Thna I reduced the thickness to about 5/8".
(http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r607/jdscifres/013.jpg)
(http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r607/jdscifres/014.jpg)
I cleaned it all up with a rasp and scraper and then got to bending.
(http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r607/jdscifres/020.jpg)
(http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r607/jdscifres/021.jpg)
(http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r607/jdscifres/024.jpg)
Upper limb is a bit weaker than lower and stiff at the outer half. I did a little work on the lower limb and the outer half of the upper limb and came up with this.
(http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r607/jdscifres/025.jpg)
Looks good enough for a string to me.
(http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r607/jdscifres/026.jpg)
First pull. Not too bad. More tomorrow.
Looking good John!
Nice pictures John. Thanks for posting those. Makes it easier for a beginner like me to figure out(maybe) what your doing. I like how you balanced that bend in the second photo.
Nice, John! I t looks great so far. What weight are you looking for? Jawge
Thanks all. 50# or so is my weight goal. It's the lakehouse where all diets are suspended and the women won't allow a scale so I'm winging that part :)
Looking alright so far...thanks for sharing john
You know your a bowmaking junkie when ya take a stick to work on while on vacation ;)
Cute kid working on bow sidetrack...
This is Lainey, my 11 year old. She has a friend named Shelby with a birthday tomorrow who is a huge Hunger Games fan. Lainey asked me if I could make her a bow like in the movie. It didn't take long to convince her to help and this is the final scraping and sanding before finishing.
(http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r607/jdscifres/015.jpg)
(http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r607/jdscifres/017.jpg)
(http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r607/jdscifres/019.jpg)
We dyed and put some teak oil on her last night. We'll do the finishing touches tonight. It's gonna be a wicked cool birthday for Shelby.
Back to the "Hand Made Bow".
First draw looks pretty good but a bit stiff in the upper limb and way too heavy. 30 full-length scrapes on the top and 20 on the bottom and here's where I am.
(http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r607/jdscifres/033.jpg)
It's kinda hingy there at the handle on the upper limb and still too heavy. 20 scrapes midlimb on both and here's the result.
(http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r607/jdscifres/028.jpg)
Getting better but let's try that again. 20 midlimb.
(http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r607/jdscifres/029.jpg)
Lower limb looks pretty good but the upper still has that persistent weak spot at the handle. 20 more on the top only.
(http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r607/jdscifres/030.jpg)
Better but still needs more at the middle. 20 on the top and 10 on the bottom in the outer two-thirds of the limbs.
(http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r607/jdscifres/031.jpg)
Better yet. More later.
Looks good John. Didn't Know you had two workshops.
Yes, that's my vacation shop :)
Thanks for sharing John good looking bow and a pretty young lady.
Ron
There's a stiffish spot between the near handle and midlimb on the top and the bottom needs some work midlimb. Here's the results of another scraping session. I think I am down to 10 scrapes at a time here.
(http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r607/jdscifres/032.jpg)
I am at full draw now. Weight feels good. Lower limb looks pretty good. Upper limb is flat in the middle. 10 more scrapes there.
(http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r607/jdscifres/033.jpg)
Still need a bit there on the top but she seems to be rounding out. I think I am holding the string a little too high here and that threw things off a bit. 10 more scrapes midlimb on the top.
(http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r607/jdscifres/034.jpg)
Getting closer. 10 more.
(http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r607/jdscifres/035.jpg)
One more round.
(http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r607/jdscifres/036.jpg)
That's looking pretty good. I'll get her on the scale at home and see where she finished weightwise. Got a cool idea for a finish on this one. Stay tuned.
John, great looking as always. How did you deal with the sideways bend, or did it take care of itself?
Lee
Awesome build along, as usual, John. I like seeing the top limb gradually start bending in the mid section as you scrape between pictures. That is really cool.
Lee, it's still there. Haven't decided what to do yet. I'll shoot her in and see if it causes problems on release. Feels decent on drawing. I'm leaning towards correcting it though. I'd use a bed of hot coals instead of the heatgun just to keep in the spirit of no power tools. However, there is a burn ban here in Indy and it's looking like we might set our all-time heat record of 106 this weekend. It's only 100 right now :)
Thanks Sam. Very nice of you to say. I did a buildalong many years ago where I drew it by hand the whole way. It really changes things from using a tiller tree. I like it too.
I never thought of that (coals). The heat here is a few degrees cooler 96 but been a burn ban also. Had to cancel the family bonfire. :(
I guess I could just just leave it outside strapped to a caul and let the high temps do it for me :)
Hmmm, maybe a solar oven. I'm kinda serious. I have some plexiglas and an old heatbox. Wouldn't even be hard. I think I even have some black paint I could use. Great idea Lee, thanks!
John, the solar oven will probably work. I've seen students bake cakes in cardboard boxes lined with aluminum foil and covered with transparent plastic wrap.
Looking good John!! Great build along also...Dan
Looking real good. Great how you showed each step after each scraping.
Thanks for posting
Getting back to the basics with hand tools. To me it is the most rewarding bow making there is.
I was bragging on your movie bows just yesterday to my coworkers.
Good to see you getting the hand tools and kids involved in the yellerwood.
I see the problem spot, John. I think a few scrapes above it would fix it. Jawge
John, that would make it a solar bow. I'll be invoicing you the consult fee! LOL :readit:
I would start working the fade on the top limb to try to eliminate the weak spot.
Thanks all. I'm still pondering the solar oven. Might be fun to try but I'm kind of afraid to step outside. It was 97 degrees last night at 10:20!
The string hits the handle so I doubt I'll do any correcting at any rate.
Here's where we are after getting the fade down like Eric recommended plus taking 10 scrapes off the bottom.
(http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r607/jdscifres/001-3.jpg)
Rounding out some. But let's try 10 scrapes in the fade and 10 more on the bottom.
(http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r607/jdscifres/002-1.jpg)
Better yet. The weak spot is fading. Lower limb is still a bit too strong for me. 10 more there.
(http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r607/jdscifres/003-3.jpg)
Still needs some on the lower limb.
(http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r607/jdscifres/004-2.jpg)
I think I'll stop there and shoot her in some and then see where we are.
First 5 shots. #s 4 and 5 are in the plate.
(http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r607/jdscifres/005-2.jpg)
Lower limb is still too stiff. 20 scrapes, full-length.
(http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r607/jdscifres/006-1.jpg)
Still needs a touch. 10 more.
(http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r607/jdscifres/007-1.jpg)
That's getting really close. What say ye?
Here's a cool digital overlay of the limbs to gauge tiller.
(http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r607/jdscifres/overlaid.jpg)
Upper limb is on the bottom here. Looks pretty good except a little stiff midlimb on the upper limb.
I decided to lose my no power tools certification and went ahead with the heat gun to correct the side to side. I am also a little light so I went ahead and toasted the belly to see if I can recover 5 pounds or so.
(http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r607/jdscifres/008-1.jpg)
(http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r607/jdscifres/009-1.jpg)
In light of the heat, I sprayed it down with some water to keep it from drying out too bad.
(http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r607/jdscifres/012-1.jpg)
p.s. The water is not really "soapy". In case you were wondering :)
Very nice, It's been fun watching this progress the past couple days!
You worked wonders on that weak spot in the upper limb, looks just fine now.
John, looks great! Jawge
Thanks guys.
In the interest of never leaving well-enough alone, I decided to flip the tips on this thing too.
(http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r607/jdscifres/013-1.jpg)
(http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r607/jdscifres/014-1.jpg)
(http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r607/jdscifres/015-1.jpg)
I'll give it a few days to rehydrate and then see what the tiller looks like. Thanks for watchin'.
John that looks like a sweet bow. How did the movie bow come out?
John that looks like a sweet bow. How did the movie bow come out?
Looks great, I would be smiling to :)
Hey Kelly, bow turned out great. We gave it to Shelby yesterday and she loved it.
'Hawk, I am just easily amused.
I'm working down the handle and tips today. Still 90 sumthin' degrees outside so we'll see how long I last.
I narrowed the tips down today. Here is the upper tip before and after.
(http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r607/jdscifres/001-4.jpg)
(http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r607/jdscifres/004-3.jpg)
I went from nearly 7/8" to 5/16" about 5" from the nock. It's got a bit of a Holmegard feel to it but I'll try and smooth that out just for looks.
Thickness was left alone just to ensure that they don't start bending. After I get it shooting again, I'll see if I can thin them a bit to remove mass.
(http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r607/jdscifres/005-3.jpg)
I also minimized the tip to just a little after nocks. It's about 3/8" wide at the nocks.
(http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r607/jdscifres/006-2.jpg)
My string was still a bit off center even after heat correction. Since I had already narrowed the tips, that left me with 3 options: leave it; heat correct again, or narrow the handle on the off side. It's not really that far off so I am going to narrow the handle some but it will still be a bit off center.
(http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r607/jdscifres/003-4.jpg)
Here's the handle before.
(http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r607/jdscifres/007-2.jpg)
And after a little work. After I shoot it some, I'll finish it off.
(http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r607/jdscifres/008-2.jpg)