Feathering fades

[critman]

I have looked at a ton of bows you guys have made. How in the world do you feather in your fades so smooth? Even the bows with phenolic on the back are faded smoothly, almost to the point of dissapearing. Every time I try to smooth these out I wind up sanding into the limb right below the fade and have had more than a couple of hinges pop up. Is the key riser prep? I do sand the ends paper thin. What am I missing?

[talkingcabbage]

Lots and lots of practice, patience, and determination!  What I do is take it down as close as I can with a drum sander mounted in a drill press, then by hand from there.  Just a piece of sandpaper on a block and a lot of elbow grease.  I've heard of people using a dremel to get it to blend in, but if you're not careful, it's easy to get a divot on the end of the fade and get it uneven.
This feathering is one of the major things I look at in a bow.  It tells me how much the bowyer actually cared about his creation.  It either says, "I take pride in my work", or "Eh, I really don't care".  Just take your time, don't get in a hurry.

[Dmaxshawn]

feathering overlays and tips takes practice and patience and lots of it.  I pre sand mine at an angle to make it easier to feather in.  sometimes you just cant help but get a divot or into the glass a little before you know it it too late.  then just do the best you can .  

Hope this helps

[Roy from Pa]

Put a piece of masking tape across the belly of the limb right at the end of the fade and write "NO Crit" in big bold letters on it:)

[Bowjunkie]

"This feathering is one of the major things I look at in a bow. It tells me how much the bowyer actually cared about his creation. It either says, "I take pride in my work", or "Eh, I really don't care"."

Me too. It's one of the first things I look at. I've actually seen some halfhazard work in this department by some respected, well-known bowyers... go figure.

It's a very good start that you're conscious of it and want to do well there. I knew from my first bow that it was an area that would easily reveal me, so I was very meticulous about it from the get-go. As a result, I feel confident that there isn't a 'dip' to be found where the dips blend into working limb of any bow I've made. Nowadays, navigating this area while shaping and tillering is second nature and I hardly think about it. If you care enough to do your best on each of your bows, it'll eventually be just as routine for you.

On bows where there is a handle piece(to include dips) glued on, or on overlays, I don't pretaper anything prior to glue-up. I just glue it up square, then cut it out and shape it. I finess the dips with #49 and #50 Nicholsons, files, scrapers, and finally sandpaper... but don't use the scraper or sandpaper any more here than I do anywhere else on the bow, probably less, since too much of their use can create a washboarding effect.

If you're having trouble, it may help to write on it, or wrap masking tape around it there as was mentioned. It may also help to work rasps, files, and scrapers from limbs toward handle... so you're not coming down off the handle/dips and digging a hole there in the limb. On the tip overlays, work them from limb out toward the tips.

With wooden bows, it may be harder to finess this area on flat-bellied bows than on radiused. A radiused surface just seems easier to blend into.

[Buemaker]

A small very thin springsteel spackling tool can be held up to the edge you want to feather. When you have worked down to the steel's thickness it is very little material left to feather. Bue--.

[jsweka]

Feathering overlays is one of the toughest things in bow building.  When it's done right, it makes the bow look great.  When it's done poorly, it makes the bow look cheap.  

Some of the best feathering of overlays I've ever seen was on the bow I received from Trux Turning in the 2012 swap.  I use that bow as my standard for what they should look like.  I've gotten better at it with more and more practice, but I still fall short of what Trux can do.

[Roy from Pa]

That's a good idea, Bue... Got me thinking about a hose clamp wrapped around the limb at the end of the fade...

[chackworth3]

I do it pretty much the same way Shawn does it and sometimes it seems to go way better than others.  I think Bue and Roy might be onto something though...

[critman]

I like the spackling tool idea. Maybe just clamp it at the end of the fade and file/sand/scrape away without worrying about the limb. Hmmm........

[Buemaker]

Just to make an illustration of what I mean. In this case the piece of Purpleheart is the overlay or tip reinforcement. We call these small spackletools Japan spackles. They are only 00,010" thick, they can be had in several widths. This method works best on a flat bowlimb, but they can easily be bent and taped on a Bamboo surface, for instance. I gouged a couple of limbs before i thought of this.  Bue--. (smart ass squarehead)   :D

[Roy from Pa]

Bue, your not as dumb as ya look..    

Excellent idea dude..

[Swissbow]

I often glue a piece of clear glass under the tips, that gives a bit more room to blend the tips nicely into the limb without hurting the glass.
__________
Andy

[karrow]

Thanks for the pic Bue just what i needed