I was excited for Vern when he said what he wanted.  He really liked the figured bubinga board I posted, and wanted to combine it with a birdseye maple riser.  Wow!  I've hardly been able to contain myself, while awaiting my supplies.  I have broken ground on this fine longbow!  She will be a 66" long straight profile longbow and draw in the low 60s at 28.  Due to the draw weight, I decided to laminate a hickory I-beam down the center of the riser.  I'm still waiting for him to let me know whether he prefers the flat grain or edge grain bubinga.  Here are both side by side.  The flat grain is normally called waterfall bubinga, and the edge grain I'm not sure about, but will have a wavy look.  These lams will be much more brilliant under glass!



First I have to build the riser.  I laminated it last night.  After cleaning it up, I cut out and feather the fadeouts.







I think the wood combo will be absolutely stunning!

I think we have all been waiting to see these lams show up after we saw the boards a couple weeks ago.  This is going to be a beauty for sure Marty.  I got my eye on this one.

Oh boy...Im exited about this one...what a combination...that birds eye maple is going to be outstanding...Apex I am always looking fwd to seeing your posts on here...you do some amazing work.

I glued up my lams last night to make them full length.  I'm about to go back out to the shop and get everything ready for layup.

I had a dream last night about this bow.  Man, I have it bad!  I was thinking that the hickory I-beam may have been a poor aesthetic choice.  When cutting in my shelf, I expect to cut into the hickory.  I want this one to be within 1/8" of center, so the front and back of the cut out will show the I-beam.  The I-beam shouldn't show much except here, and I'm thinking I should have went with bubinga.

Yesterday I built a quick little jig for sanding lam butts for joining into one piece before lay-up.  Here is the jig.



I use a good CA glue to join the lams.  Then I sand them down.





The lams need cleaning up along the edge as well.  I use a 220 grit sandpaper to knock off the splinters.  These will get in between the lams during glue-up otherwise.





Cutting the glass with my handy, dandy Dremel.



Last, but not least for today, my log book.  I take notes on everything I think is pertinent.  All my build specs get taken from here and the data is entered into an excel spread sheet.  Looking at the spread sheet enables me to select the ingrediants for subsequent bow builds.

Lookin good Marty!!

Hey,open that book,we wanna read your recipes!! LOL

Kenny, you've been building bows longer than I have!

You guys know that I'm an open book.  If you need anything just ask.  I keep pretty good notes.

Just kiddin ya Marty!

Note to new bowyers- Follow Marty's lead,get a book and KEEP NOTES!!

Don't ask how I know this!  

 You guys know, ya cant keep enough notes, I have got me a book, and just started keepin notes!    That little dude isnt swingin the hammer fast enough to get this in my thick head!!  :(    

That looks like govt. issue logbook. I need to start mine!!!

I finally got this one glued up.  It went pretty well.  Here is some eye candy.  I decided to use flat grain for the bows back and edge grain for the belly.  

Tomorrow I will profile the limbs and start shaping the riser.

OH MAN!! she's lookin great!!

Very nice. Did you already clean up the squeeze out in the pic , or are you that neat? Don

Yep, thats gonna be a beauty for sure.  

I'm not nearly that neat, and use too much smooth-on to boot!  She has already been cleaned up.

Another beautiful bow Marty. Great Job

This morning I marked a centerline and profiled the limbs.  I start by marking the exact center of the riser.  Then I stretch a line over the bows back.  When the line bisects the riser mark, and the string is as close to center on each limb tip as I can get it, I mark the tips.  I then measure my tip width and mark it.  I normally will start with about 5/8" width on the tips.  I draw straight lines from a point 3" outside the fades to each width mark on the tips.  Now I take it to my belt sander and take off the sides of the limbs to the line.  Next I cut in rough string nocks to check weight and alignment.  This is where I had to notify the "next of kin"!  I'll update you folks when I hear back from Vern.

Nice work Marty! Going to be a looker!

As usual Marty.  Outstanding work.  On another note glad to see we are both getting some good rain for the pigs.

Shawn

Thats gonna be sweet Marty!!