New Bows

[Kimall]

I got in and cleaned up the shed this weekend and decided to tune up the bandsaw aswell and it was cutting so well I ended up making a couple of bows. :D I have had some bamboo floor boards I wanted to experiment with so I made a kids longbow using the b/boo as the main timber backing it with Tassie Oak and a full size Spotted Gum self bow with the boo as backing.I got the kids bow glued up and didnt have enough clamps to do the self bow so will do it tomorrow night.Anyway here are a couple of pics showing a really nice hinge in the bottom limb :wink: but when I glue the backing on I will tiller it then and hope to get a bit better result.
Cheers KIM
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v288/kimall/P1020081_edited.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v288/kimall/P1020083_edited.jpg

[cooke]

are the kids keen after seeing dad shoot a pig mate?? sure they will love it!

[Kimall]

OK a bit of an update for anyone interested.How wrong can you be I thought the little bow made of a bamboo floor board was going to be no good as it got a fair bit of string follow at the start but it has not got any worse and has turned out a little ripper at about 20 pound.The spotted gum bow which is 66 inches long came up too light in weight so I have added another bamboo vaneer to the back but at this stage the shape is ok aswell.
The first 2 pics are the bigger bow which I hope ends up about 35-40 pound.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v288/kimall/P1020089_edited.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v288/kimall/P1020090_edited.jpg
The next set of pics are to help people understand the tillering process that dont make bows but want to.(I am not very good but it may still help someone)
With the tillering string on it looks not too bad................
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v288/kimall/P1020092_edited.jpg
But with the short string on the top limb on the right is way too stiff.....
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v288/kimall/P1020093_edited.jpg
The next pic shows the limbs now bending closer to even but still with a little to go.Notice that the bow is drawn slightly off centre to match the way it is drawn when held in the hand.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v288/kimall/P1020094_edited.jpg
This last pic is at 23 inches which is my daughters draw length and it is about 20 pound which suits her fine also.
I will add a leather grip and stain it tomorrow.As I said I am very new to this so any input would be great.The big bow has even length limbs but little bow has the top limb 1 inch longer than the bottom.
Cheers KIM

[barebow]

The bow looks great.....post a pic when you finish it please.

[Rob.M]

very nice work there kimall,i hope to have ago at making a few bows for my kids ,once i get my garage back(missus's antique furniture everywhere....told her it should burn well being that old and dry)wasn't impressed...cheers Rob

[Glenn]

Kim, the bow are coming along well. The only thing I would do next time is make the tips bend a little more as they look too stiff at this stage and that will reduce some string follow. I would have much prefered to soo the top limb on the top photo corrected before you drew it back that far...Glenn...

[Kimall]

Thanks Glenn I will weaken the tips more next time.
Cheers KIM

[Antarcher]

Nice post Kim, sure to be a big help to a lot of people. Be good to se what sort of groups come out of them

[Kimall]

Ok now I glued another venner of bamboo on the big bow and it made the draw weight go form 30 to about 50 and I retillered it as Glenn sujested and it has come out great and shoots nice I have some pics here of it with a coat of clear on it and I will put up some pics of it drawn when it dries properly.It shoots nice and quiet and with no real hand shock(all us bowyers say that):)
and Ant it shoots ok groups also but I need some lighter arrows to suit this weight bow.It will get a leather grip also.It is 66 inches long
Cheers KIM
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v288/kimall/P1020096_edited.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v288/kimall/P1020101_edited.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v288/kimall/P1020104_edited.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v288/kimall/P1020106.jpg

[Glenn]

Bow looks good Kim. Looks as though it has not taken much set and the set to both limbs looks even as far as I can see. When you get some correct spined arrows it would be intrsting to see what speed she is shooting...Glenn...

[iamyourhuckleberry]

Kim,

Forgive me for being as dumb as a rock. I so desire to learn the art of building bows. So, when you say "the limbs now bending closer to even but still with a little to go", what are you doing to correct this situation? Thanks for the help!

cheers!

[Kimall]

Mate there is no such thing as a dumb question with bow building.What I mean is that one limb is still a bit stiffer in one spot than the other limb in the same spot and you want both limbs to bend the same when drawn like I have it on the tiller tree.There is SOOOOOOOOOOOO many ideas on bow tiller(how the limbs are bending) that I do it the most simple way I can(because there are smarter rocks than me):) and I clamp the bow in the tiller tree where my hand will be and draw it off center the same as when the bow is being shot and if the limbs come back the same it will be a smoother shooting bow.I am very new to this and if you do a search on tillering on the net you will be a very old man when you finish reading it but this way is easy to understand and works a treat.Gee off track there sorry what I did to fix it is scrap the belly of the bow at the stiffer part to make it bend more.
Hope this helps............
Cheers KIM

[iamyourhuckleberry]

Perfect Kim! That helps a lot.

My first thoughts were that you removed material from the back of the bow. So much to learn...

Thanks again!

[ed]

Kimall, when you say "veneer of bamboo", just what are you talking about? Is there such a thing? and if where to get it :)

[Kimall]

Ed of course you can get a bamboo veneer as you can see on almost any of the custom bow makers they offer a bamboo core or outrer lamination and it is normally dearer as it adds speed they say.I cut them from a vertical bamboo floor board and sand them to an even thickness on a lamination grinder I made.The boards come from a carpet shop.
Cheers KIM

[ed]

ok, so thats another how to - how to make a lamination grinder :)

[Kimall]

A pic says a 1000 words so here you go mate.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v288/kimall/P1050098.jpg
Cheers KIM

[ed]

Thanks Kimall,

I can see how to easily make parallel laminations now :) How thin have you been able to get with this rig?

[Kimall]

Mate it is fully adjustable so can take them down thin as you like but I cut them 1-2 mil on the bandsaw and just clean them up on that machine.
Cheers KIM

[ed]

Another question Kim, What grit sandpaper are you using?

I have got to get my act together and finish two bows, but then will look to try this with some flooring I have and some bamboo flooring aswell.

[Kimall]

I use 40 grit mate the quicker it comes off the better.It also helps with the surface for glueing.
Cheers Kim

[Kimall]

These are the last ones I promise:)
I have the handle on now and it shoots great just need some arrows spined right for it.This bow is a new level for me and I am wrapped in the way it worked out and thanks for all the comments.
Cheers KIM
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v288/kimall/P1020132_edited.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v288/kimall/P1020133_edited.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v288/kimall/P1020125_editedcopy.jpg

[Glenn]

It's a good feeling to have a selfmade all wood bow turn out a good shooter. Have to get some game with it now Kim. Good work...Glenn...

[Clinglish]

nice work Kimall.

[Kimall]

Yer it was going great but I am not confident that the bamboo will last on the back as it is starting to show signs of failing along the glue lines that are formed when they make the boards and compress them together.I think in future I will only use the bamboo under fiberglass it is very dissapointing to spend so much time and get a good shooter only to have materials fail.
ANYWAY onwards and upwards I have a ironbark self bow without any backing to the tillering stage today cut from a log I got on the red property I go to.When I finished my first board bow someone said to me "Anyone can make a bow out of a board make it from a log to see where you are at"Remember who that was Glenn? So now we will see what I have learned and I will put up some pics tonight.
Cheers KIM:)

[Kimall]

Here are a couple of pics of the new bow I made today at brace and 28 inches.It came out a bit lite 47 pound so I think I will take an inch off each end bringing it back to 60 inches and retiller it.
Cheers KIM
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v288/kimall/P1020135_edited.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v288/kimall/P1020136_edited.jpg

[Clinglish]

so far so good Kimall

[Kimall]

I finished the little bamboo longbow today also and shot it through the chrono and it is a wolf in sheeps clothes thats for sure.With the same arrow and the same draw length it shoots the same speed as the little recurve I made for Maggie some time ago.Not bad for an allwood bow when the other has fiberglass init.It shoots about 95-100 fps at the kids draw length.That is with an arrow way over 10 grain per pound so it hits hard too.
Cheers KIM
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v288/kimall/P1020138copy.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v288/kimall/P1020140copy.jpg

[ed]

bamboo is natures fibreglass :)

[Glenn]

Coming along well Kim...Glenn...