First one off the new R/D form ... sneak peek for the swap bow design

LittleBen · February 27, 2014, 10:30:00 AM

Well, I've been working on getting a rew R/D form going for a while. Finally got the first bow off the form.

I've got like half a dozen bows I need to make so I decided to make them all of this same R/D design, just longer or shorter depending on draw length. It's designed for 56-66" length. Anything shorter than 66" will get the tips flipped slightly and I think around 58" it should be almost a recurve profile.

This one is for a buddy of mine who wanted a bow for shooting around the back yard. He's a compound guy so I figured I'd make this a little light so he can really get his form down, and then hit him with a hunting weight bow before hunting season.

Anyway, to the bow ... it's 66" 1.5" wide at the fades, nearly pyrimidal shape, 3/8" tips. Bamboo back, walnut core, tempered bamboo belly, redheart riser, horn tips.

I tillered by doing three things ...
first all the lams were tapered. I didn't tiller each one seperately because I think it's a waste of time.
second, I tillered from the sides of the limbs
Lastly I tillered on the belly side. Thats right ... the nodes are completely gone form the belly side.

It worked out really well.

Bow is 35# @ 30" of draw. +1/8" tiller. With such a low weight I'm sure it could be drawn farther but I didn't bother. Tiller is not perfect ... could bend more just out from midlimb, but again at such a low weight I'm not really worried and I didn;t wanna lose more weight.

Here she is:

Roy from Pa · February 27, 2014, 11:47:00 AM

Looks nice, Ben..

heartlandbowyer · February 27, 2014, 11:50:00 AM

Nice Ben, I really like the tried lams you guys build.

D · February 27, 2014, 12:08:00 PM

Dang thats got a nice bend to it. Looks great

LittleBen · February 27, 2014, 12:44:00 PM

Thanks guys. I had a great time bu8ilding this one. Went for a very slim riser and grip area which I was unsure about but really like.

Regardign the bamboo belly, seemed to work well, but took more set than I expected. Started with 2" reflex and has slight string follow (1/4" maybe) after a few shots. I expect it to settle in at about 1" string follow which should yield a low handshock and quiet release.

It was way more of a pain than a wood belly, so I don;'t know if I will do it again anytime soon.

I did buy a bundle of 25 bamboo slats recently so I better get over it soon because thats alot of bows if I only use them for backing.

MoeM · February 27, 2014, 01:16:00 PM

Very nice,
(I think I don`t need to mention the gluelines on pic3...)
I really like the midlam throu the riser!

Dmaxshawn · February 27, 2014, 01:23:00 PM

Thats a really classy looking bow bud.

T Callahan · February 28, 2014, 11:44:00 AM

That's a beautiful riser Ben. Great job!

LittleBen · February 28, 2014, 12:00:00 PM

QuoteOriginally posted by MoeM:
Very nice,
(I think I don`t need to mention the gluelines on pic3...)
I really like the midlam throu the riser!

Yeah clearly the glue line is not good. I guess they can't all be perfect. The glue lines in the limbs are very good, so I think structurally it's ok, asthetically it's garbage but what can you do. I filled the gaps with superglue but that still leaves a nasty dark band.

Zradix · February 28, 2014, 04:08:00 PM

I like it Ben.
Very cool..and something different.

wood carver 2 · February 28, 2014, 05:00:00 PM

Ben, next time try filling the gaps with fine sawdust mixed with glue. The bow looks great though. Would you mind posting a picture of the belly? How did you temper it? Don't be too quick to give up on this type of bow. I've been learning how to build them for some time now and the hardest thing I find is to get the right stack with different core woods. When it comes together, though, it makes for a nice bow that also looks good.
Dave.

mwosborn · February 28, 2014, 05:23:00 PM

Very nice - would love to shoot it!!

fujimo · March 01, 2014, 11:41:00 AM

hey ben, dont be so hard on your self- i dont think its garbage, bow building has evolved to such a high level- picture the bows that ensured our human survival for 10 000 years!
but i do know you are a practical perfectionist( oxymoron maybe!!)- just judging by your previous builds- some pretty way out there ideas and implementation!!

good job- better than i could do!!

robin · April 03, 2014, 05:48:00 PM

Hi Ben I am also building on such similar bows that you are building would you please share more pictures on the belly side?

Also I am keen to learn the profile of creating a 13 inch riser to conform to the lams. My last one had a bad hinge on both top and bottom limbs due to abrupt tapering of riser......rt

jsweka · April 03, 2014, 07:48:00 PM

Very nice Ben!

BCWV · April 03, 2014, 08:23:00 PM

QuoteOriginally posted by D:
Dang thats got a nice bend to it. Looks great

X2. Nice one Ben!

LittleBen · April 04, 2014, 07:54:00 AM

Pics of the belly as requested

LittleBen · April 04, 2014, 07:55:00 AM

You can see I ground the nodes right off while tillering. Doesn't seem to haev caused any problems.

Robin: For the riser it has to blend smoothly into the limbs like shown in my pictures.

To prevent a hinge you need to taper all of the laminations before you glue them. If you can't taper them precisely, then you need to take each lam and tiller it seperately before you glue them together.

Here is a good explanation of the tillering process.
http://tradgang.com/noncgi/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=125;t=001887

Roy from Pa · April 04, 2014, 11:03:00 AM

Not too bad I guess...

LittleBen · April 04, 2014, 11:43:00 AM

Thanks Roy,

It's definately not perfect, but alot of lessons learned about working with bamboo, for backing and for belly lams.

I may try another, but honestly the bamboo just takes so much set it's almost ridiculous. I don't think it really makes sense when osage and ipe are so good. and alot of other choices too.