BBI first attempt

[jtbluefeather871]

Well, we had a fun weekend building bows. Here's my first attempt at a BBI.
72" ttt, 70"ntn, pulls 48#@28" buff horn/bocote tips.
 

 

 


 

Lessons learned... I need to thin my boo backing much, much more. I sanded dad's down to 1/8" in the middle and really thin at the tips, but we got so excited about glue up that I didn't do mine. It's 1/4" middle to 1/8" at the tips.  Lost a lot of ipe in the tiller. Still working on the tiller, too. Looks like too much bend near the fades, not enough mid limb. Is that right?  Any suggestions?
Thanks for looking.

[jtbluefeather871]

And my dad's first shot from his BBB...

[PEARL DRUMS]

NICE!

[coaster500]

Looks like it's putting them where they need to go  

Well done!!

[SEMO_HUNTER]

Very nice JT! It may not be a bad thing that you left the boo backing thicker on the BBI cause Ipe is so strong that it will find any little mistake in tillering and make splinters out of a boo backing in short fashion. Thicker could be the key to having better results.

Do you have some close ups of the BBB you could post? I'd really like to see the riser section and a side profile of the limbs if you have some? Also, what thickness did you end up with on the boo for the limbs and what draw wt. did you end up with on it?
Sorry for so many questions, but I'm getting ready to start work on my own BBB and need to gather all the info I can before I start thinning the boo. I just got the riser pattern roughed out today, that was kinda tricky but I think I may have a winner.

Thanks and great job.

[jtbluefeather871]

Thanks guys. We had a fun weekend, LOTS of work!  SEMO, Dad has his bow down in Cedar Rapids. I'll have him get some specs and some better photos for you. He's got a bum shoulder and doesn't hunt, so he wanted a 30-40# draw weight. I think it's 5/8" thick coming out of the fades tapering down to 3/8" at the tips. 72"ttt and 70"ntn. It draws 34#@28", but he's going to scrape the rind off and sand it down good, so he may lose a few pounds. It was 1 1/2" wide from the fades out to about 6", then tapers down to 3/8" wide at the tips. it has a little twist in the limbs, but it seems to shoot pretty well! Good luck on your BBB! I'll be watching to see how it comes out!

[Dmaxshawn]

Looks awesome.

[wood carver 2]

Looking good!
Dave.

[mwosborn]

They look good!

[Pat B]

My first backed ipe bow had a hickory backing. After I built it I realized that it needed to be narrower. My hickory backing was thicker than the ipe belly. It shot good, just looked funny. Ipe doesn't mind being narrow, like 1 3/8" to 1 1/2" at the widest. Bamboo backing almost dictated narrower limbs.

[jtbluefeather871]

I hear you Pat. The BBI is 1 1/2" wide. Much different from the 2 1/2" wide bows I've made!  Still shoots fast though. I'd like to build a few more of 'em!