Luke's turn for a build - DONE!!!

[JJB]

Wayne (and everyone else) - if you see anything we're doing and you know of a trick or better way please let us know, we're always wanting to learn.

I like your thinking Greg, maybe we'll have to build a nice big shop in the back yard also.

[red hill]

Great thread, JJ! Wish I'd had some help like this when I was a few decades younger.

[JJB]

Here are some updates from the week.  This bow is going to be 58" so we measured and cut our laminations down to size.  The fiberglass for the back got trimmed to 64", the parallel maple lam also was cut to 64".  The glass for the belly was cut to 64" then cut in half leaving 2 pieces at 32".  The tapers were also cut to 32".



The remaining fadeouts on our riser also got cut and sanded.  


It was now time for a dry run at our glue up.  Our form is pretty old school but we've had good luck with it.  First to go on is the 64" glass lam followed by the 64" parallel lamination.  After this the riser gets placed and everything is held in place with a large c-clamp.

[JJB]

After the riser was clamped the maple taper and remaining fiberglass was placed on top.  A rubber pressure strip gets placed on top of this followed by a steel strip shaped to our form.



Once everything gets squared up C clamps get placed all the way to the end in ~3-4 inch intervals.


Everything went smooth tonight, hopefully it will go as smooth with the glue on.

Everything was removed and the form got a coating of paste wax to protect it during the real glue up.

[kennym]

Lookin good!!        

I've debated making a riser blank with a belly like that so I can run full length glass on both back and belly.

[JJB]

Thanks, Kenny.  Having full length of glass on the belly side would be pretty slick.
-Jay

[Mike Most]

That young fella isnt going to forget what he is learning for a long time.... kuddos....  

[JJB]

We were able to get some overlays cut and glued up yesterday and this morning.  Luke was up early and wanted to work so we started while still in our PJ's.  Here are what will be the tips and back overlay.



We mixed up some 2 ton epoxy which went on each piece after getting roughed up with 40 grit sandpaper.



After the epoxy was on they went on a mini press that I've found to be helpful.


When a few hours have passed they are ready to go.  

[JJB]

This afternoon we did our glue up.  First everything was organized and cleaned.



The smooth on was mixed and applied to the laminations.


When everything was laid up we applied some tape to keep everything from sliding then applied our clamps.



Into the oven it went after everything was securly in place.

[kennym]

He is never gonna forget this bow!!!      

[Trux Turning]

Cool- that's the fun part once you get one in the oven!! Looking good!

[red hill]

Great build-along, JJ. Luke looks like he's got everything goin' on! Good job, Luke.

[JJB]

Thanks guys. - Luke

[arrowlauncherdj]

That form setup is quite ingenius.  I have been dealing with two piece forms with the air hose set up.

[JJB]

The bow popped of the form well and the glue buggers were sanded off.  The next step was to remove the old tape.


After that tape was taken off some clean tape was put on and we found our center.


We then marked our center line down the whole length of the blank.



After the center was marked we laid our template down and traced it on the tape.


Then it was out to the garage to cut our our limbs and sand them to our line.  When this was complete our string grooves were filed in.  I use a drill bit to help visualize where the one on the opposite side is to keep things straight and even.

-Jay

[Mike Most]

Looking good you guys,  

[razorback]

Luke, you are doing a geat job there young man. It is good to learn the important but boring bits early, like proper cleaning of everything and being organized. Takes time but is quicker that doing it again because you messed up rushing. Can't wait to see this finished.

[JJB]

Thanks for the kind words and encouragement.  The last couple of days were spent fine tuning our tiller and limb straightness.

First we measured from the string to the end of the fadeouts.  The stiffer one was marked as the bottom limb.  


We were over 1/4" different so we sanded both sides of the stiffer one very slowly and carefully measuring often until they were the same distance.  Here's an action shot of the process and the final measurement.



When we were happy with our tiller it was time to check our limb straighness.  


This was pretty close but a small adjustment was needed on the bottom limb.  We deepened the string groove and evened the tip back out and that did the trick.

[Mike Most]

Since this is Luke's build is this bow a righty or a lefty? and what weight is he looking for in his build at what length bow?

Getting more than curious here.  

[red hill]

Way to go, Luke! Your bow looks awesome.