Game. On. First board bow...

[Ippus]

I'm noticing there's actually kind of a lot of early wood in this board, in spite of the straight grain. It's actually a 1x3 (.75"x2.5") not 1x2, like most of the pyramid build-alongs I'm seeing.
Given all that early wood, I don't think it'd be overcautious to go ahead and take the limbs out to the full 2.5" before narrowing to the tips... at 72" (71 13/16" really), is that too overbuilt for red oak if I'm aiming for 40 lbs or so?

Also, bubby, no tengo table saw, per your buildalong, for ripping down to .5" limb thickness. Is it a ton of time/work to remove that wood with a knife (my rasp is the short kind) such that I should pester a buddy with a table saw to rip it for me?

[Ippus]

Hm. On the limb width...

Baker's ballpark rule of thumb in TBB II "Boards from Bows" for a 'low-set, safe limb-width' on a '66" stiff-handled bow drawing 50lb at 28"[...]'
Density (lb/cu ft) = Limb width
30 = 3"
35 = 2 1/4"
43 = 1 3/4"
55 = 1 1/4"

I weighed out this board at about 44.4 lb/cu ft.

Given that I'm starting with just under 72" and hoping to keep most of that, shooting for a lower draw weight, that means I'm planning easily 40% more width than I theoretically need.

But then again, he says to widen the limbs by 1/2" for every inch of early wood showing on the back... so maybe that's not too conservative after all. I mean, I probably shouldn't expect my first bow to be ludicrously efficient... I don't know. Am I just crazy over-thinking this, guys?

Favorite quote yet from TBB, though (and most encouraging), right after Baker finishes talking about going from stave to quality working bow in 9m37s: "Rushing a bow into existence by such unsubtle means might seem disrespectful. But a bow is not such a temperamental creature. Bows are not made. They cannot be made. They are tillered. An emerging bow will not permit itself to be disrespected. Regardless of the bowyer's tools or mood, the act of tillering soon has his full mind and heart. Without this communion proper tillering cannot proceed. The bow will not emerge. So make your bows as quickly or as slowly as you please."

[bubby]

Me personally i would go 2-1/4" wide at the fades. If you have a skill saw just set the depth so it leaves a full 1/2" thickness on the limbs and make a bunch of kerf cuts then pop them out with a chisel or screw driver. Do that before you cut the profile of the limbs

[Ippus]

Chapter 2

Got the tips lined up and measured out the handle and fades.

I'm going with a 6" handle like on that cherry "ringer" from "Boards from Bows" in TBB II. 2" fades.
At this point I'm debating whether to glue on a handle (the ringer didn't), but I guess if we don't want it bending through the narrowed handle, .75" is just not enough thickness?

Think I'm going to stick with the full 2.5" width, narrowing to 3/8" at the tips, see how it goes.

IMG_0473

IMG_0475

IMG_0474

[loon]

nice! good luck

[bubby]

You don't need to glue anything on the handle at 3/4" thick

[loon]

hope it goes well, I want to build something like this, though I think I'll go with a D bow first..

[Ippus]

You don't need to glue anything on the handle at 3/4" thick

Thanks, bubby. I had wondered about that. I have a piece of alder about the right size, but if 3/4" is enough, I won't bother.

I did most of the bulk removal with the skill saw, and had good luck taking off wood around the handle by making kerfs with a hand saw and knocking the chips out with the chisel.

Something went a little haywire with the depth guide on the skill saw when I was kerfing the belly on one side, though, and looks like I got a bit too deep. Hopefully that doesn't leave that one tip too thin to tiller, but worst case I'll just end up shortening the bow by a couple inches on each end. It should still be wide enough near the handle for that not to be a problem.

[loon]

Also, bubby, no tengo table saw, per your buildalong, for ripping down to .5" limb thickness. Is it a ton of time/work to remove that wood with a knife (my rasp is the short kind) such that I should pester a buddy with a table saw to rip it for me?

lel neither do I. Too big for my tiny garage. This is what I was thinking of using a plane or spokeshave (or machete) for. MAYBE my gyokucho saw would work... huh...

Rasping that much wood off with any kind of hand rasp just doesn't seem practical...

Looks nice! Good luck with tillering. I don't see the thickness taper on the fades..
6" handle seems nice

[Ippus]

Thanks, loon!

Haven't got as far as the thickness taper yet, just the width.

[bubby]

i used the tablesaw in the build a long because more people have them compared to bandsaws. But i have done the entire belly reduction with a farriers rasp, mark the thickness the lengtg of the limbs and remove it down to the line leaving the center of the belly hi like a pyramid, then remove that

[scp]

For most board board bows a small block plane will do.

[Ippus]

Well, I got a surform plane and a spokeshave and the rest of the roughing out has gone MUCH faster. Now I just need to make a string and start tillering.





I've narrowed the tips to 3/8", from ~2 3/8" at the fades.


Speaking of fades, I know the thickness taper at the fades can be a little tricky to get right. Does this look about right?
I have the widest part marked in pencil. It travels from 3/4" down to 3/8" in thickness. Most of the limb is about 3/8" thick currently.

Also, love the way the rays show up across the grain in this board.

[mikekeswick]

Stop now and glue a handle on. 3/4 thick is not enough. Add 1/2 inch to make it upto 1 1/4.
Also no need at all to go that wide. 1.75 is plenty.
A lot of people get set with red oak and go wider to alleviate some of it. This is the wrong thing to do. You want to trap the back eg. reduce its width relative to the width of the belly. Making the cross section a trapezoid.

[Ippus]

Thanks for the feedback, Mike!

I wonder if you can help me understand why you're recommending the thicker grip? That's pretty much the opposite of what Bubby said up above, and I've seen it both ways. This bow is based on a design in the Bows from Boards chapter in TBB, which does not have a glued-on riser, just a narrowed handle section at the original thickness of the board.

You don't need to glue anything on the handle at 3/4" thick

I'm not leaving the limbs wide to avoid set, more for efficiency and safety. I will definitely take a closer look at trapping.