first build

giff · September 27, 2010, 04:14:00 PM

I am starting a 68" red oak longbow, with a mahogany and black riser. I am shooting for 50# @28

here are a few pictures of the riser, almost finished, need to finish cutting sight window

Mike Most · September 27, 2010, 04:42:00 PM

Ah, yes good looking riser parts, now for the bending of limbs which we all want to see.

Welcome to the adventure.

Mike

giff · September 27, 2010, 08:01:00 PM

Here is today's work: walnut tip overlays
P.S. sorry about the picture.

hova · September 27, 2010, 08:13:00 PM

keep it comin

giff · September 28, 2010, 10:02:00 PM

here is today's work, gluing riser to limbs.

before I finish the limbs can anyone tell me if .389 is the right thickness? I am going for 50#.

WestTexan · September 28, 2010, 11:46:00 PM

How wide is your board? I'm thinking the last one I built came in around 53# and it was 66 ntn pyramid limbs tapered 2 1/8 to 1/2 inch and about 7/16ths thick but i could be off a bit.

giff · September 30, 2010, 09:49:00 PM

finished gluing things up today. now just waiting for it to dry, finish sanding and finishing. ordered a string which should be here soon, then I can shoot!... hopefully

giff · September 30, 2010, 11:10:00 PM

Roy from Pa · October 01, 2010, 09:07:00 PM

Looks very nice, congrats.

vanillabear? · October 01, 2010, 09:29:00 PM

kiltedcelt · October 01, 2010, 10:49:00 PM

Next time around don't cut out your sight window until the bow is completely tillered out to final specs, or very close. Often you'll end up with one limb stronger than the other and that one you'll want to make the bottom limb. In the case of this bow, if that limb is the top and you've cut out your sight window already you may have some issues. It's not the end of the world. You just don't want to do so much finish type work before the bow is completely tillered.

giff · October 02, 2010, 08:32:00 PM

thanks for all the tips. I put the first coat of finish on tonight...still waiting for the string.

hope it works

giff · October 03, 2010, 10:21:00 PM

its done! hopefully I get the string tomorrow to get pictures of it braced, and maybe some good groups(I hope)

razorback · October 04, 2010, 10:05:00 AM

Giff welcome to the wild and crazy world of bow building. Bow looks good, however you may run into a problem where the riser meets the belly. Your fade stops at the board instead of transitioning into the working part of the limb. What may happen is that the limb will bend to the static riser and because it does not bend the stress may be too much and cause the handle to pop off the bow.
I have a bow from a friend with same design issue and am going to try to fix it for him.