Bow Night Part Deux

[tom sawyer]

When you fall off a horse you gotta get right back on.  After the appropriate number of days off, we've started back on getting Jimmy his own homemade bow.

I managed to find another set of billets over the weekend.  Got them cut out and spliced on Sunday, heat-straightened the limbs and then glued on a handle Monday,and cut the handle to shape this morning before work.  I'm getting better at the z-splice, this tiem the billets fit together very nicely right off the saw.  This bow is shorter than the last one, its 65" tip/tip.  The spliced billets have more natural reflex and were straighter to begin with, I just had to straighten one outer limb.  The blank has a good 3" of reflex.  Almost too much, I was half-tempted to splice in a bit of deflex in the handle but didn't.  I warned Jimmy that a lot of reflex means the bow will be tough to get to weight and easy to blow past it.  We'll watch out for that best we can.

Jimmy came over tonight (in a mini-blizzard) and started again.  He used the ultimate bowyers rasp again and got both limbs down to a real stiff floor tiller stage in about an hour.  The bow looks even, the rings are running down the middle on both limbs.  I may cut nocks myself and start a bit of tiller stick work to keep things moving along for him.  I'd like for us to get the bow reasonably smoothly tillered next session.  Then I'll send him home with a rasp to shape the handle and nocks.

We're already talking about his next project too, maybe a short sinewed bow.




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[Lost Arra]

Was all this bowyering before or after the venison philly cheese steak sandwiches?

I've got to learn to splice billets. I've got a bunch of nice 40" pieces of wood.
I've also got some nice 70" pieces but I hate to waste the short ones.

Jimmy is sure making faster progress than I did on my first osage bow!

[tom sawyer]

Splicing is really not that difficult.  I'm not using any jigs or anything, just sort of squaring up the stock to about the smae thickness, drawing the lines and making the cuts freehand.  With URAC or resorcinol you don't have to be perfect anyway.  Jimmy doesn't waste time, and the rasp is very aggressive but easy to control.

There was a nap right after the philly cheese steaks as I recall.

[Dano]

This one oughta be a dandy from the looks of that stave, nice work Lennie and Jimmie.

[PK]

Tom sawer, is that bench better on the back cause I think I'll Make one of those. I got the same kind of vise too.

[Pappy]

Looks like he is back on the horse,that is what you have to do,I have fell off many times.
You are doing a great service,looks like he is hooked,hook ,line and sinker. Good lookig
stave.
   Pappy

[tom sawyer]

PK I personally prefer using a vise on my bench where I can stand and work.  But its harder to see both sides of the blank like that.  With the bench you can check out both edges quickly so it is handy.  And I have a bunch of junk on the workbench right now so it wasn't an option.  I made the bench out of a 2x8, 8'.  1.5' for each of two legs, and a 5' seat.  I cut out at the feet of each leg and used that wood to bolster the legs so it wouldn't rock back and forth and pull the screws out.

Pappy yep he's a bowyer now and its nice to have a little guy time each week.  We're planning a trip to hunt elk in Wyoming next fall, my old bowyering friend moved out there last fall.  And Jimmy will be hitting MOJAM this year with his boy.

Dano the last one looked pretty good too.  But I do have high hopes as always.  I'll be getting to do a little more on this one, since he's been through the process himself once already.  Straightening up the floor tillered blank mostly.  I still want him to get to do most of the work himself. 

[George Tsoukalas]

Way to go TS. We have to pass it on or there will be nothing left to pass on! Jawge

[Badger]

Good Job Lennie, you can't keep it if you don't give it away!!  Steve

[tom sawyer]

I did try to convince him that the blank looked like a good left-handed bow.  He wasn't buyin' that.

[Dano]

Lennie, I didn't mean there was anything wrong with the first stave, just that I like this one.

 Now "get r dun"!!!

[tom sawyer]

Well here it is over a month later.  Between Jimmy having pneumonia, me being sick and then some snow goose hunting and church events getting in the way, its been slow going.  After a couple of sessions, he had it floor tillered but one of the nocks started to split so we had to do walnut overlays to shore that up.  Tonight he went to town on the tiller, went from 50lb@20" to 64lb@28".  he wants about 60lb and I figure the bow will settle in at about that after he shoots it in.  We kept a full inch of reflex after tillering and shooting it 20 times.  The thing shoots where he aims, first shot at 20 yards was a heart.  Couldn't say that about his last bow, the low poundage was throwing him off I think.  In any case, I was just a little leary of leaving the bow at 60lb since it is only 62" t/t but the tiller looks nice and we made sure to get the limbs bending to just outside the fades.  So if it lasts the week of Jimmy shooting it in, I'll rest easy and be glad we went for it.

Here's some pics taken tonight.  This isn't ready for BOM yet, we have finishing and maybe snakeskins before its ready for prime time.




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[Pat B]

Excellent!  I see no reason why this bow shouldn't make it. Tiller looks right on. Good work, Jimmy and Lennie.     Pat

[Otoe Bow]

Really nice guys.  Let us see it when you "doll" it up with the skins.   

Otoe

[medicinewheel]

nice bow! tiller looks goooood!
frank