Another Build A Long

Are you guys tired of my Build A Longs?????..

Well tough here is another one:D

This is the main wood in the riser it is Shedura, I did not have a piece that was 1 ½” thick so what I done was laminate 2 pieces together.



After the epoxy had set, I marked out the rough shape and seeing I am doing something special for this bow I marked in an arch, the same arch as the riser. Then it was off to the band saw to cut out the inner arch.
I cut just inside of both lines.



Then using the belt sander I sanded to the lines on both pieces making sure everything was square.







Ok what I decided to do with the riser was to make up some Green and Gold linen phenolic.



I also decided on some Maple accent strips.

I did not get any pics of the actual glue up of the riser.

Here is the riser rough cut to shape.



A close up of the Phenolic and Maple accent Strips.



Then I sanded to the lines made sure the limb side of the riser was square. I marked the center line.



Then using the alignment jig I drilled the holes.





Using a ½” tap, tap the larger holes for the locking hardware.



Then epoxy the locking receiver into place.



That’s all I can do to the riser for now.

Now it’s time to think about what we are going to use for the limbs.

This is what I came up with.

On the belly some highly figured Mesquite.



The Back will be some beautiful Black Walnut.



For the wedges I decided on Osage. So we mark the wedge shape.



Then it’s onto the belt sander to grind our wedges making sure you use a scrap block for support because the ends of the wedges have to be paper thin.



Close up of the end of the wedge.



With the wedges made it’s now time to grind the Mesquite and Walnut to thickness.

The Mesquite making a pass through the drum sander.

 

Now it’s the black Walnut’s turn.



The sled I am using has a .002” taper per running inch.

Once we have all the laminations to thickness we can finally glue up the first limb.

Place all the limb material into the heat box for an hour to make sure there is little to no moisture left in them.

Then lay the material out in the order that it is going to be used.

 

Shedura is awesome wood. Can't wait to see how she turns out.

 

Russ , those accents strips look great . I can see this costing me somewhere down the line , i'm liking that riser a lot .

 

I am about to do the glue up of the second limb.

Didn't get any pics of the first one due to the batteries going flat in the camera.

Dave.

I'll gladly take your money:D

 

Ok let’s glue up a limb.

Apply some epoxy to all adjoining surfaces.
First the glass then the Mesquite.



Flip the Mesquite over onto the glass apply epoxy to the dry side of the Mesquite and Bamboo.



Flip the bamboo onto the Mesquite
Apply more epoxy to the dry side of the bamboo and wedge the place the wedge onto the bamboo.



Next comes the Black Walnut and yes you guessed it even more epoxy.



Now comes the glass of course after you have applied the epoxy to the dry surfaces



Now comes the fun part, Transfer the limb stack to the form and add the pressure strip.



Secure the stack to the form.



Add the air hose.



Last but not least the top of the form and secure it.

 

Add 60 PSI of pressure to the air hose and double check to make sure nothing has moved, if it has then let the air out of the hose and adjust, but remember to put pressure back into the hose before placing the form into the heat box.
Let cook at 180F for 4 hours.
After 4 hours take the form out of the heat box and clean up the excess glue, trim ¼” off the butt end making sure it is square.
Then we can mark our limb shape.

Some guys use their band saw to rough cut the limb to shape, I prefer to use the belt sander as sanding belts are cheaper than 93 ½” band saw blades.

1st limb ground to shape.

Using our Jig drill the holes in the limb.

Now it’s time to do the string grooves.
After I have marked where I want them I use a triangle file to start the groove.

Then a round file to finish them.

Repeat for the second limb.

 

Lookin nice Russ!!

 

Thanks Al I appreciate it.

Something I don’t usually do is rough shape the riser till the limbs are tillered, but seeing I have another riser un-shaped in the shop I decided to go ahead and shape this riser. Besides that it gave me something to do while the other limb is in the heat box.








All the sanding to the riser from here on will be by hand.

 

Thank you for using the mask and doo-rag in that one pic. It covered up a bunch of ugly!:D:p:D

 

The bow looks like its gonna be a beauty. But not the bowyer!

 

You sure don't mess around do ya Russ!

 

Greg.

Yep she is sure gonna look nice when she's done.

Joe.

I have been working on this one now in my spare time for over a week

 

I still enjoy the build-a-longs...and appreciate you taking the time.

That baby is really looking good...

 

your stuff is awesome , i'm glad you live in texas otherwise i'd be over at your house all the time , what you do is great, can't wait to see it finished

 

Next thing you know he's going to have spinner wheels on his pimped out truck! :p ... I mean "ride".

 

Thanks guys I appreciate it. Don't know how much more I am gonna get done this week, Have to be back at work tomorrow night, this working 8pm till 4am really bites into my bow building time

Rob.

What makes ya think I don't already have them:p

 

You're too cool Russel... too

 

Yeah I am ain't I:D

 

Thanks for the pics and the lessons!! As always, great work, cant wait to see it finished!