Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Cameroo on June 08, 2013, 01:36:59 am
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Just thought I'd share a few pics of a bow I managed to salvage. This is a board bow that one of the students was working on at the bow seminar last weekend. I glued it up and Adam was flexing it a few days before the seminar, and the popped off between the belly and the white oak lamination. I cleaned up the joint on the belt sander and reglued it, and all seemed well.
Brent, the student that tillered it out, was shooting it in his back yard after the seminar, and the handle popped off again, this time between the top 2 layers in the handle. I went to his place and picked it up, cleaned up the joint, and tried regluing it, thinking that the glue I had used originally was bad. I braced it, drew back once, and it popped off again. It became clear that it was flexing too much to have a rigid handle.
I didn't want to give up on it and waste the day's worth of work that Brent had put into it, so we had a talk and he agreed to let me try putting a leather riser on it, so that it could flex a bit. I've read about some of you guys doing this, but I've never tried it before. I used some burgundy colored latigo leather that I have - it's pretty thick stuff, around 10 or 12 oz, so I only had to use 3 layers to get the thickness of the original handle. I saturated the leather strips with crazy glue and sandwiched it all up, put some wax paper around it, and then put a piece of 2 x 4 on it with a heavy weight on top.
Then began the long drawn out process of shaping the handle. I would sand it down, apply some black stain (Brent's request - he wanted it to match the black tip overlays), and then apply another layer of glue to soak into the fresh leather on the surface. This hardened the leather on the surface and allowed me to work it almost like wood. The problem I encountered was that in the process of trying to get it nice and smooth, I kept sanding through the glue, which exposed "fuzzies" from the leather below. Then I'd have to stain, glue, and sand again. In my quest for perfection this cycle repeated about 10 times, but I think it was worth the effort because it's smooth as glass now. But the best part is that I've put about 100 arrows through the bow and the handle is still holding. Apparently it just needed to be able to flex a bit.
The seminar wraps up tomorrow, and Brent will get to see it for the first time since the "operation". I hope he likes how it turned out. Even more, I hope that it stays attached for years to come!
(http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t253/cbergerman/junk/P1050003s.jpg)
(http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t253/cbergerman/junk/P1050002s.jpg)
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nice save!!!it looks awesome ;)
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nice save, works great don't it ;)
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That may look even better than the original riser. Great job.
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It actually does look better!
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Nice save
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Wow, did not think that was leather, nice!
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Holy buffalo, that looks just like horn! Dude! We will have to add this to the lexicon of names! We had what is commonly known as a Strunk Style grip, now we got the Cam Grip!
Actually, it looks a little too "professional". Maybe we need to have this deleted. *hehehe* >:D
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I bet the young man was happy. I would have probably used cork and if that didn't work I'd have done this or something similar. I think the handle came out really well.
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I've used leather on a few bendy handle or problem( :o ) bendy handle bows, all with good results. I use veg tanned shoe sole leather and super glue. I try to preshape the handle before glueing it to the bow then just a little scraping and sanding to get the final shape. Once it is saturated with the super glue the leather I use has a burled wood grain appearance. I use leather for tip overlays too.
Nice save on this one Cam. Sometimes we have to think out of the box to get the results we desire. Well done! I'm sure your student will love it. 8)
Please post pics of your class results. We love p[ics of new bowyers. ;)
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Well, the seminar wrapped up today and Brent seemed pretty pleased with how things turned out.
BowDoc - Cork would have worked well too, in retrospect. I'll keep that in mind for the future.
Pat, I'll have to try leather for tips overlays sometime. I know what you mean about how it looks like wood burl. Looks pretty sweet! I've never thought of using it on the tips before.
There are a few pics from the first day of the seminar here, Pat. I'll post some from today as soon as I get them uploaded.
http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,40166.msg536341.html#msg536341
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I'm very proud of my young apprentice! The challenges keep popping up, and he continues to pass with flying colours. Good job, Cam!
I asked Cam to help me teach this class, cuz I felt he was up for the challenge, and I'm glad to say I was right. I think he was a bit nervous going in, but I'm pretty sure his confidence has taken a leap forward.
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Great info on this site and great save. One more idea to float around in the head until I might need it. Thanks.
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Nice work Cam. Nice Save and nice finish work on the leather!