first tri-lam, done, full draw added.

[Echatham]

hello boys and girls!  working on my first tri-lam.  bamboo back, elm core, osage belly, blistered maple handle.  got the dimensions from Roy before glue up.  just got the handle glued up and cleaned up a bit, and im working on taking the rind off the boo.  which leads me to my first question of the build:  is this an acceptable degree of rind removal? (nevermind the nodes.. haven't touched them yet, and im just going to smooth off the sharp edge.)  im a little paranoid about the bamboo after what happened with my first bamboo backed bow, so im going a little easier on the rind this time. still not convinced that was the problem... but still..  
 

the picture is kinda deceiving, in real life there is more power fiber showing than rind remnants, and its real smooth, been using very light scraping with cabinet scraper.  the rind is just left in the little natural grooves and valleys on the boo.  does it hurt to leave a little on?  

anyway... here is the profile
 

[macbow]

You can even leave all the rind on but will not take stain that way.
Yours will look good but varried in color.

Those nodes need to be smoothed over some.
Just enough to not have any rough edges.

[Echatham]

Thanks macbow, thats what i figured.

[Roy from Pa]

The boo looks perfect, Eric. But just remove the edge on top of the nodes. Just lightly sand it now with 320 and only length wise along the limbs. Don't even be concerned about the little bit of rind in those longitudinal depressions. After you stain the boo, those long depressions  will give the boo character... An area to pay attention to is on each side of the nodes, above and below it. There will be scratches there, I guarantee it. Just use your thumb or finger and sand those areas carefully. What I do is apply a light coat of stain to the bow, when you do that, all the little tiny nicks and scratches will pop, right out at you. I then just sand those scratches out and stain again. I use an alcohol based aniline die, and touch up after sanding out scratches is a piece of cake, it just blends in so nice.. Reason being alcohol based stain evaporates very quickly, like in 20 seconds. A water based stain takes a lot longer and the water raises the grain on the wood, alcohol based stain does not raise the grain of the wood.

That will be $19.95 for advice:) LOL

[Echatham]

thanks Roy.  gotta get some of that dye.  where do you get yours?

[Echatham]

hows that?  still gotta hit it with sandpaper on the nodes, and im gonna use your idea about the finish to show the scratches

[Echatham]

love the figure in this maple

[Roy from Pa]

Here ya go, Dude. There is a color chart on the page too.

http://woodworker.com/alcohol-soluble-brt-yellow-golden-oak-aniline-dye-mssu-845-541.asp?search=aniline  dye&searchmode=2

[Echatham]

haha what am i up to now roy?! $60 bucks and an a$$ whoopin?

[TimBoA]

Looks good so far!  I was hoping your next bow would be an Osage molly though...

[Echatham]

TimBoA i got a HHB molly in progress as well!  stay tuned!

[Bowjunkie]

Looks good so far.

[Roy from Pa]

I guess it's Ok...  

[LittleBen]

We're gonna have to start calling you Roy Jr. if you keep nursing off of Roy's advice teet lol.

I'm only kidding. Looks good. I like that maple .... I'm a sucker for mapole figured or not.

[critman]

Roy's whoopins only hurt for a little while.....  

[Echatham]

So my wife thinks im absolutely nuts for spending 60 bucks on dye..... But then.... She's been thinkin im absolutely nuts for some time now.

[Roy from Pa]

LOL, what did ya get?

[Echatham]

light golden brown walnut, jacobean oak, deep red mahogany, and dark antique cherry.

[Bowjunkie]

Which medium?

Another nice thing about them is you can tweak them/mix them together to get the exact color you want.

[Echatham]

Alcohol based.