Gonna try my hand at a bamboo backed ipe bow

[bubba1986]

Well I'm taking the plunge and decided to try my hand at a reflex/deflex longbow out bamboo and ipe. Any advise? Tips? Tricks? Suggestions on forms for gluing it up and any donts that I need to avoid? Any help would be much appreciated!

[vanillabear?]

[macbow]

Here is a link from a week or more ago.
http://tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=125;t=009184

Should answer a couple of your questions.

[bubba1986]

Thanks guys. I'm pretty excited about it!

[Roy from Pa]

Wear protection when working with IPE. It's great wood, but is known to give folks severe reactions. I know first hand.

[psychmonky]

X2 on the reactions. Personally I don't have issues but my wife gets pretty severe skin irritation from the dust. I guess its a reaction,  but its almost like she scrubbed her skin really hard with a stiff brush.

[Tom Leemans]

Was IPE the one that smelled like cocoa when you scraped it? I remember there were scads of people trying IPE for bows one year at MOJam.

[Pat B]

One thing I learned about ipe bows is you don't want them too wide. I wouldn't go wider that
1 3/8".

[D]

I start with mine bows at 1.5 inches wide and when I get them all the glue cleaned up they are 1.25.  I love using ipe.

[bubba1986]

I planned on making mine 1.25 at its widest point but what is the reason you won't make one any wider

[Pat B]

If it is too wide the ipe will be quite thin by the time you get it tillered out. I did this years ago with a hickory backed ipe. My first ipe bow. When tillered, the ipe was thinner than the 1/8" hickory backing and the bow was 55#. It shot fine, just looked funny.
 Ipe doesn't mind being a little thick and does well with a radiused belly.

[vanillabear?]

[ber643]

I did a BBI pictorial build 3 or 4 years back (from a glue-up by Rich's Archery in CA) and I think it might still be in the archives. Did it as a pretty narrow and small tipped longbow. Named it "Cowgirl". LOve it and i believe it is probably the fastest all wood bow i have. The Ipe didn't bother me at all but I have a friend that gets a lot of nasal and skin grief when working with it. You might want to have a mask handy - just in case.

[bubba1986]

Thanks for the pics guys. Those are both beauties! Should be getting my materials in sometime next week and I'm sure ill be posting lots of pics with lots of questions as I go

[D]

Me and a buddy was making one a while back for him and the boo lifted a splinter off the side.  He didn't want a boo backed bow after that so he cut his riser off of it and as an experiment I took the bow and cut the width down until I got out of the splinter.  Glued on a new riser and tillered it.  The width at the widest point was 3/4ths of an inch.  I nicknamed it skinny minnie.  Even at that narrow width the draw weight was still in the 60's.  I don't shoot it much but it is a pretty good little shooter.

[Grandpa Bill]

Go to Harbor Freight and buy a $15.00 dual filter respirator.  Use it when you are sanding Ipe.  Once you develop a sensitivity to the dust, it does not go away.

Much better to be safe and not sorry next year.

Bill

[Roy from Pa]

Got that right Bill. I got my bad reaction 3 years ago and I still have problems with things that never bothered me before.

[Grandpa Bill]

My sensitivity started about 3 years ago with composite radio controlled gliders....lots of carbon fiber and epoxy.  Now I have to use a respirator and double gloves (latex and nytrite) to even glue in arrow inserts.  Otherwise, I get really nasty breathing problems for about 2 days.  It is not fun.

Bill

[D]

Heck yeah on the respirator.  Hardely ever sand anything without wearing it.

[Roy from Pa]

Heck Bill, we had to switch laundry detergents and go to dainty flower bath soap for me. LOL