Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Del the cat on December 17, 2012, 11:12:45 am
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First time I've used boo, so thanks for the input from you guys which put me on track.
The Yew billets were kindly sent to me by a guy called Joe who had cut them over 10 years ago in the Cascades and realised he'd never get round to using them.
The sapwood had bug damage 'cos the bugs had never read those books which say the toxic nature of Yew prevents bugs eatin' it.
I ran it through the bandsaw to take off the sapwood and spliced 'em up with a little back set. I sawed it out following the grain a bit rather than just straight like a plank, filled a couple of knots too.
I then stuck on the boo strapped it up with the slight deflex of the tips pulled out and bish bash bosh, job's a good 'un.
The back is pretty much ramrod straight and there's a lot of early tension (it's harder to string than my self Yew longbow).
I found it pretty much tillered itself as I'd prepared the Yew with fairly even thickness taper before glue up.
I'll post the stats later on. Here's the pics for now.
Del
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Sweet..that turned out well for ya ;)
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Dell, all your bows are very well tillered, but the profiles are "classic" in every sense of the word, this one is no exception. Beautiful bow, sir.
rich
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thats awesome, nicely done, I love that combo
chuck
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That is a belter Del, stunning work as usual.
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excellent work del. i was just wondering why you fill the knots. would they pop out if left in? or are they a weak spot? i have noticed you do this quite abit. you do a great job of it.
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Beautiful bow Del.very nice tiller and all round work. :)
Pappy
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Sweet.That's a prize winner.
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Another beauty Del!
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Very nicely done Del!!!
That Boo almost looks like sapwood.... great bend!!!
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cool bow! as stated above tiller looks perfect
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Man that's a good lookin bow! Nicely done!
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excellent work del. i was just wondering why you fill the knots. would they pop out if left in? or are they a weak spot? i have noticed you do this quite abit. you do a great job of it.
The knot was pretty loose and rotten.
I've been caught out before now with what looked to be a small sound knot which turns out to be a big rotten knot which has grown over. So these days I give 'em a good pokin' with an old needle file ground to a chisel point. If they move at all or are soft I dig 'em out and fill 'em.
If you can see one end of the knot but not the other, there's no way of knowing how deep or rotten it is.
With the one in the pic, you can see, if I rounded the belly it would be breaking into the edge of the knot, and if that was loose it would be asking for trouble.
The bow is pretty much an ELB but with a rather flat rectangular section, it still conforms to the 5/8 thickness/width ratio which some archery societies say defines an ELB.
Del
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That's English art right thrrr!
Very well played ol'chap!
I'm digging your pearl inlays!
Maybe you could e-mail me the procedure:)
-Pinecone
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That's English art right thrrr!
Very well played ol'chap!
I'm digging your pearl inlays!
Maybe you could e-mail me the procedure:)
-Pinecone
I got some nice Mother of Pearl 3mm thick from E-bay. I saw it out as a rectangle using a hacksaw with it clamped in the vice with some sheet rubber around it to grip it whilst preventing damage. The belt sander with a fairly fine belt grinds it to shape.
I then position it on the bow, draw round with a sharp pencil and the use a crafy knife to carefull cut just inside that line.
Some people just score right round with a knife rather than using a pencil first.
To make sure I don't cut too big a hole I make sure I cut the lower straightish edge a fair way inside the line. That way I can always adjust the hole or the MOP and push it further up into the pointed end (hope that makes sense).
Once the outline is scored I cut cross hatch lines inside the outline (see pic) and then flick out the resulting pieces with the tip of my blade or an old needle file ground down to a small chisel point. Once you've removed that first layer of cross hatching you have a nice clean edge to work to and it's relatively easy to cut the outline deeper and repeat the process til it's deep enough. Of course the final fitting requires some adjustment to get it just right, but it's simply slow and steady. I normally need a couple of breaks and a few mugs of tea ;) I also put on some higher strength glasses, get myself sat comfortably with the bow held in the vice. I find it helps to reverse the bow quite often to avoid the danger of the knfe slipping along the grain.
Hope this helps.
Del
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that's a beauty Del, how does she perform, Bub
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Oooh Del! I'm am really loving this bow. I got a funky piece of Yew that I might need to cut into billets and try this on. Awesome work and gorgeous tiller.
Gabe
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Excellent! Love the compass tiller and the finish details. I bet its not the 20# pull it appears from your relaxed stance at full draw.
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that's a beauty Del, how does she perform, Bub
I'll shoot her through the chrono' later, but she feels pretty fast. Shot her at a 3D shoot on Sunday, changed to slightly heavier arrows half way through as I was getting a bit of jarring on my left elbow, see below for speed results for the two arrows
Just tested it 170fps with my 'standard' 100gn point 5/16 shaft
165fps with the heavier 100gn 11/32 shaft arrows.
The 11/32 shoots smoother and doesn't snap the arrow when it hits the back stop still flexing... damn that's 2 I broke like that >:(.
@Shaun. Whoops, didn't say she's a bit over 50# :)
Del
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Looks like you nailed it, Del. I like how thin you got that bamboo out at the tips. Oh yeah and the tiller looks perfect.
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Clean, clean, clean like all your bows Del. Nice combo as well.
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Looks like you nailed it, Del. I like how thin you got that bamboo out at the tips. Oh yeah and the tiller looks perfect.
Cheers, I was just tryin' follow advice 1/8 at the grip 1/16 at the tip courtesy of Roy.
Del
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I adore your knot fillings!
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Thats some fine surgery right there putting those inlays in like that. I am sure I would end up cutting too much and having to make about ten arrow passes just to get the shape right. Do you think getting both surfaces of the arrow pass and part of the bow where the arrow pass will be glued on nice and flat, and just gluing it on, and then feathering out the ends with sand paper would work? Or maybe feather the ends of the arrow pass before gluing? I guess the arrow pass would have to be pretty thin to avoid taking a bunch of width off the bow. That has always been my plan, but I have never tried anything like that. I honestly don't know if I could ever have the patience to do an inlay like that, those are something else, very nice as always.
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Great job Del! Impressive glue line!
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Thats some fine surgery right there putting those inlays in like that. I am sure I would end up cutting too much and having to make about ten arrow passes just to get the shape right. Do you think getting both surfaces of the arrow pass and part of the bow where the arrow pass will be glued on nice and flat, and just gluing it on, and then feathering out the ends with sand paper would work? Or maybe feather the ends of the arrow pass before gluing? I guess the arrow pass would have to be pretty thin to avoid taking a bunch of width off the bow. That has always been my plan, but I have never tried anything like that. I honestly don't know if I could ever have the patience to do an inlay like that, those are something else, very nice as always.
I've seen arrow passes done various ways, sometimes they are just a very thin overlay or a flat inlay. I like to have plenty of thickness so it can be rounded once it's glued in. I shoot some arrows before I do the pass and note where they chaffe on the bow. I have done 'em too thin such that when rounded off I went right through and down to the glue >:( , that's why I took the trouble to find some 3mm thick mother of pearl. Ofcourse waterbuffalo horn is easy as it's thick as you like.
Del
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That's a beauty of a bow Del. I enjoy looking at all the bias you post. An elb is on my short list and I have a nice piece of pacific yew here that is in trouble once I get a respirator cuz that stuff hurts me. :o
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Beautiful and graceful bow Del, love the way a well made elb looks drawn. :)
Greg
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Very nice bow Del. I'm curious--it looks like the grain pattern in your plug follows exactly the pattern in the limb??
Eric
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If ever I hit the lottery, Del, I am heading to Oregon to harvest a shipping container load of yew to send you. Then when it has all cured a bit and arrived on your lovely little island, I am flying over to become your adoring and worshipful apprentice. I promise to be up an hour before you so I can get the shop warmed up and your tea brewed to your exact specifications. At the end of the day I will stay late to sweep up, put everything in order, sharpen and oil all your tools. Heck, I will sleep on a pile of shavings in the corner with a burlap bag for a blanket. I will hide in the closet if friends drop by, in order to save your reputation. All this in hopes that some day I will learn enough from you that maybe I have a chance of turning out an ELB half as good as your stuff.
But I don't want you to think I'm sucking up to you or nothing. :-\
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Very nice as always Del. Thanks for sharing your inlay methods. I've been considering trying one on one of my bows.
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Very ni :)ce!
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@JW- I'll be buyin' you a sack full of lottery tickets.
I'm PM ing you the tea specification, and BTW you forgot the toast... gotta have toast ;D ::)
And if I win the lottery I'll come over there and do that road trip and build a log cabin up in the cascades (so there'll be somewhere to stay while cuttin' Yew )
Del
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Nice all the way around Del. Classic.
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Very nice bow Del. I'm curious--it looks like the grain pattern in your plug follows exactly the pattern in the limb??
Eric
Hi, yes, I try to get the end grain of the plug running the length of the bow. I feel it may be stronger that way, and I think it looks better.
Del
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Tardy as always and late for the party. Stunning bow, clean and lovely as all your work is. I adopted your CD trick (in this case, Blade Runner, the Final Cut DVD) to view the arc of circle on the screen. Can I be you when I grow up? :)
Dane
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I was del the cat for holloween:)
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If ever I hit the lottery, Del, I am heading to Oregon to harvest a shipping container load of yew to send you. Then when it has all cured a bit and arrived on your lovely little island, I am flying over to become your adoring and worshipful apprentice. I promise to be up an hour before you so I can get the shop warmed up and your tea brewed to your exact specifications. At the end of the day I will stay late to sweep up, put everything in order, sharpen and oil all your tools. Heck, I will sleep on a pile of shavings in the corner with a burlap bag for a blanket. I will hide in the closet if friends drop by, in order to save your reputation. All this in hopes that some day I will learn enough from you that maybe I have a chance of turning out an ELB half as good as your stuff.
But I don't want you to think I'm sucking up to you or nothing. :-\
Yup, my thoughts as well! We'll split the airfare and i'll hide in the overhead compartment :o
Superbly done as always del. Love everything about it!
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Beautiful bend, great fit on the tips, classy handle wrap and sweet inlaid arrow pass. Tough to not fall in love with that bow. So, how did you handle the boo? Did you remove the rind or leave it? What did you do at the nodes?
I asked the guys on here!
http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,36419.msg479494.html#msg479494 (http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,36419.msg479494.html#msg479494)
Got some great advice which I followed!
Del
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Ok, right.
I lightly filed the ridge off the nodes (including some light use of a round needle file to clean up the slight groove by the lip), leaving the main smooth swell of the node.
I scraped carefully with a cabinet scraper until the rind was gone (it's pretty obvious as you go through the rind) then 120 and 240 grit wet & dry paper, with Danish oil to finish.
The actual Boo was taken down with a freshly sharpened plane aiming for about 1/8 at the grip 1/16 at the ends and then cleaned up on the belt sander.
On the finished bow the edges are well chamfered to blend in.
BTW I've narrowed that last 7" of the tips today as they looked a bit fat and I was slightly dissapointed that it was the same speed as all my other 50# bows, I'd been hoping for a bit more!
Del
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Beautiful job Del!
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AWESOME!
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BTW I've narrowed that last 7" of the tips today as they looked a bit fat and I was slightly dissapointed that it was the same speed as all my other 50# bows, I'd been hoping for a bit more!
Del
In other words, yew don't need no stinking bamboo!