Hey, all.  I recently got a BBI blank from a fantastic bowyer/sponsor who was trying out some new ipe.  (He's a heck of a nice fella and gave me permission to post this thread.) Well, about half way through tillering I noticed that the grain on the ipe was starting to lift in a few places.  Not fret, but simply separate and lift.  They were small enough that I could simply patch them with a round plug:

 

 

Well, as luck would have it, the problem manifest itself in other, larger areas as shown here (I've outlined the offending areas):

 

 

I decided to add a belly lamination of osage to try and curb the problem and save the bow.  I used a pull saw to hand-cut two laminations from the waste section of an osage stave I was working on, then trued them up on a belt sander.  Here they are after being cut, then after being trued and trimmed to rough profile:

 

 


I needed to remove an equal amount from the ipe from the belly as the osage lams were thick (1/8"), and do so in a uniform fashion.  I created this little scribe to cut a line 1/8" from the belly of the bow on both sides:

 

 

Next, I thinned the ipe belly down to the lines using a 50 grit belt on my sander.  I then pre-bent the fade section of the osage lams using heat so that I would get a nice tight fit at glue-up.  I heated the osage lams well away from the bow and protected the fades with tinfoil while I clamped the lams in place:

 

 


Then it was time to glue the lams on.  I needed a way to apply good, even pressure at the fades, so I created these clamping cauls:

 

 


Using Urac 185, I glued one limb at a time and hung the bow from the other limb tip while the glue cured so as to not twist or deform the limb.  Since I was going "commando", so to speak, and not using a form, the limb would deform easily if not suspended.


After both lams were glued and cured, I trimmed them to profile, cleaned up the belly face, and came out with this:

 

 

 

 

awesome job, nice look also

I slowly tillered it back out to my draw weight and length, going the last 6-8" using a mirror and drawing the bow in the hand.  Here's what I'm left with after shooting about 200 arrows through it.  This bow is NOT finished, but is sanded enough to be able to shoot safely.  I'll post some finished pics soon.  

 

 

 

 

Nice save and good looking bow 4est.

what was the problem with the ipe? you mentioned the friend was trying out some new ipe. don

Nice save Curt. Amazing how a little osage and a little Urac can save the day and in many cases improve the original.  Great instructions! d;^)

Good work, I liked that little scribe also. Bue--.

That unstrung profile pic is something I don't seem to get tired of looking at. Very awesome recovery, and thanks for the knowledge.

Wow, I wished you'd posted your clamping caul pictures about 12 hours sooner!

Fantastic recovery Curt and just in time for my own repair on my BBI. I thought about this very thing when I was scratching my head trying to figure out what to do. I wasn't sure if it would work or not with osage under Ipe, but this repair along confirmed for me that it does work!
Thanks a bunch for sharing this man, I'm saving it in my favorites!  

Nice job, 4est. Did you heat the osage lams on the bow itself?
Stan

Thanks for the kind words, all.

Don:  The ipe was raising along the grain line.  Not quite sure why, other than ipe is a crazy wood, as evidenced by the recent rise of the ipe counseling cirle here on the Bench.     I'm a part of it, that's for sure.

Red Hill:  Nope, I didn't heat the osage while on the bow.  I heated them well away so as to not foul up the epoxy.  I only bent them to shape on the bow itself, which I protected with tin foil.  

Thanks again, all.  Finished pictures coming soon, along with a matching set of arrows  

Ghee,

That is one great bow! I really like that you now have a an Ipe core and osage belly! Must be a brilliant shooting bow!

Pete

Does it seem faster than with straight Ipe? Or did it make any difference at all?

BTW- forgot to mention that was a real smart razor limb scribe you made, that's using your creative muscle I'll have to store that one away to memory.

Beautiful bow after an awesome fix

Yeah, Semo...it smokes an arrow  

QuoteOriginally posted by 4est trekker:
Yeah, Semo...it smokes an arrow    

Oh Baby........That's what I wanted to hear!  

Here's the finished pics.  Thanks for looking!

Very nice. I really like the finish on the bamboo.