2020 Virtual Bowmaking Festival

[Dvshunter]

Hello and welcome!  This is the spot to be for the next few days!   

It's not as good as real life get togethers, but hopefully it gets enought of us together building bows at the same time all around the world. Dont be shy about posting things that you are working on. Even if you can't post pictures join in the conversation. Everyone from new to old is welcome to this gathering, so let's have some fun!

[BowEd]

Good idea Dave.I'm in the middle of tanning a couple of bobcats right now but need to make a kids bow for a land owners' daughter that I cut BL from.She shoots a compound right now.

[PEARL DRUMS]

Unfortunately I am being made to work right now. When I get home tonight I will be chasing a ring on these billets and readying them to be spliced together. They have some color to them and are spotless. Should make somebody a fine bow.

[ksnow]

Nice looking billets Pearlie.

[Deerhunter21]

I have some billets too but their super weird. ones super thin and one gets super narrow. i will probably splice and then glue on a handle. whats a good glue for a splice because i only have 5min epoxy, JB weld, and gorrilla wood glue.

[PEARL DRUMS]

You will get lots of answers to that question. I feel there is only one glue available to use on splices and backings, Smooth On EA-40. I've used Titebond 3 and it worked, but it was an incredibly runny mess and most of my glue ran out the bottom. I had to put painters tape on the back of the splice to act as a stopper. 

[Deerhunter21]

I actually dont know now... I can't go out to get stuff... would the 5-min epoxy or gorilla glue work if i add a glue on handle (im gonna have too). if not ill just work on a stave.

[Deerhunter21]

actually, i dont wanna make a bow with a less than desirable splice.

[bjrogg]

This is a great idea Dave. No bow building for me at the moment. I’m trying to get my old planter working. It’s just new enough to be pretty complicated and old enough to be making trouble. I can usually get it figured out but I had to call the experts. I think the young man that came out yesterday was even more confused than I was.

Hopefully I can get this figured out soon. The fields are almost ready.
Bjrogg

[Deerhunter21]

whew!! no scary smile this time!!! I hope you can figure it out BJ

I can't tell you guys enough, even if its over the internet, how much i love hanging out and talking with you guys. meeting you guys in person was amazing!!!!!! my day is getting better and better! thanks guys!!

now... i gotta do some homework as fast as i can and chase a ring on a osage stave 

[Deerhunter21]

just like the marshalls, people slowly start to wake up 

[mmattockx]

I might as well join in since we're stuck at home and the weather is brutal.

I have started a red oak pyramid bow. 65"NTN, target draw is 36-38# @ 28". I see why people like these, once the limbs were cut to thickness they feel like they are already mostly tillered and are itching to become a bow with a nice, even bend.









The tips were left wide because I was planning to flip the tips and wanted them to not twist in the jig. Because I had never done this before I figured some testing was in order, so I cut some test strips to the same thickness as the limbs and boiled them. One failed experiment in the books and experience gained. Red oak doesn't bend, it breaks... First piece I boiled for 15 minutes and it broke before bending more than maybe 30 degrees. Second one I boiled for 25 minutes and it made it maybe 45 degrees before cracking sounds were heard. I kept going with it just to see how it would fail. That is the next pic.




Lesson learned, red oak bows stay flat from now on. Weather has been terrible the last few days so nothing more has been done besides narrowing the tips and gluing on tip overlays. Hopefully I will get at it again today and through the weekend.


Mark

[PEARL DRUMS]

You can add a bit of full limb reflex with a heat gun if that's what you are after. It will handle that.

For the future, my basic rule for static tips is 30 minutes of steam per half inch of thickness.

[bjrogg]

I usually go 15min per 1/4” so that’s right where Pearl is. I don’t know about Red Oak, but some woods bend easier than others. Osage bends great. Hop Hornbeam I usually double the length of time steaming. Also a metal backer on the belly side of recurve helps to keep it from lifting grain. Rounded corners to.

Bjrogg

[mmattockx]

You can add a bit of full limb reflex with a heat gun if that's what you are after. It will handle that.

On this one I just wanted to flip the tips, similar to this bow by High-Desert:

http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,65382

For the future, my basic rule for static tips is 30 minutes of steam per half inch of thickness.

I wasn't steaming the pieces, they were actually in the boiling water. They were 7/16" thick, so 25 minutes of boiling should have been enough on the second one. I based my efforts on this video from Weylin:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JllYjPwi7Wc

I can't say I have been impressed with the oak so far as a bow material. The spongy early growth rings seem very fragile and that is where the bend tests failed. I think I will stick to maple once I have used up the oak I have on hand, it was generally nicer and more consistent to work with.


Mark