Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: DavidV on January 26, 2014, 02:24:14 am
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A couple of years ago I started buying cheap (less than $20) hand planes from flea markets just to get them working again. However I left them only to furniture work until now... not sure why, I guess I assumed bows were too much of an organic thing to use something as precisioned as a 14" bench plane on. Well I was wrong because it's the perfect tool for the "cookie cutter" bows I've been making. Take a straight grained hickory, oak, or maple board, lay out the side tapers and start hogging away wood with an aggressive plane. Then you can taper the belly just by taking progressively shorter strokes towards the tips, which is way more even than a rasp. And if I somehow got a flatspot I corrected it by bringing the blade up and skewing across the grain.
Only the finish tillering I did with a scraper.
Well that's my latest epiphany I'd like to hear if anyone else had the same... or more likely the exact opposite.
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My farriers rasp is the most used tool i have. I get a bow 75%tillered with it.
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Its a debate between my hatchet which does 80 percent of my rough out and my rasp which does 80 percent of my shaping and tillering.. I think I can replace the hatchet but not the ferriers rasp, so rasp it is.
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Bandsaw ;)
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Band saw and then block plane , for board bows. Then to spoke shave (rounding edges and faring curves into the stiff tips) and last to scraper for final tillering. The rasp and files are for shaping the real curvy bits like handle and nocks for me.
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My rasp does more work then any other tool. I haven't had the pleasure of roughing a bow out in 10 mins with a bandsaw yet
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Roughed out on the bandsaw, cleaned up on the belt sander, and then rasp & scraper to the end.
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If you took my rasp away I wouldn't miss it much. Lot's of guys swear by them though, so it just shows the diverse ways people can get to the Promised Land in what we do. Draw knife and belt sander.
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Years ago I did a lot of cookie cutter bows. Besides the block plane I like the spokeshave. I only use the rasp now for handles and around the tips. Draw knife and scraper are my two main tools anymore. If I pack up tools to go work on a bow away from home I pack a draw knife, scraper, nicholson rasp, nock file, a bastard file to sharpen the scraper with, and a file cleaner.
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Jointer. With a little playing a guy can pump out 95% tillered boards off a jointer all day. I lost my recipe, but I bet could get close again.
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I got a farriers rasp a few months ago and it is my main tool. I think I could do everything short of cutting the string nocks with it. I also use a hatchet, scraper and Shinto.
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I guess I'm the only one who uses my hunting knife for scraping. Between that and my draw knife I'm all set.
Mark
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Band saw for rough out, rasp for shaping and scraper for tillering.
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Band saw for rough out, rasp for shaping and scraper for tillering.
+1. Same same
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never really liked rasps till i got a shinto,it rocks!
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Band saw for rough out, rasp for shaping and scraper for tillering.
+1. Same same
Yep yep
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If the OP is referring to cookie cutters as laminate bows then nothing beats power tools....almost 90% or more can and should be done with the band saw,planer/jointer,n beltsander...well ya all can use your rasps n hand tools if ya want for lam bows,but not me....I live in a modern house with modern amenities and I'm gonna use that power for my benefit of much easier use of making lam bows....heck even over 3/4 of the work on self bows is easier done with power tools....to each his own
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My brain :)
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I am glad you find planes useful. Jawge
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My brain :)
Where can I get one of those?
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1. Bandsaw. I can bandsaw out a stave and then remove 0.6 oz to have the bow at full draw, desired draw weight.
2. Shinto Rasp. It has a fiercely aggressive side and a finer side. Doesn't clog easily, removes wood with supreme authority, or in delicate wisps.
3. File. For removing marks left by fine side of shinto rasp.
4. Chisel. A poor man's scraper. I hold it sideways. The blade geometry is excellent, and even on cheap chisels the steel is great for scraping out tool marks.
5. If you want to get a really nice finish, 300, 400 and 500 grit sandpaper, then 0000 or higher grade steel wool.
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My brain :)
Where can I get one of those?
I got one but it sure gets dull quicker than it used to!
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Blackhawk, I meant simple flat board bows, as opposed to character staves or complex designs. Not derrogotory either, I like them simple.
I'm in the beginning stages of building a collection of shop tools so a bandsaw is certainly coming soon. A big one that can resaw laminates. Maybe I just have bad rasps but I hate using them and I always end up missing a rasp mark when I finish it.
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Farrier rasp, Nelson 4-in-1 rasp, and an old filet knife with a rather thick blade. And a handsaw from time to time.
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this coming from a guy that has none of these..and desperately needs each..and more...
a shaving horse
a good swiveling vise
a bench
a room or shed to put it all in....
not askin for much..lol
and without all of this i still manage to build bows...just...slowly..lol
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4dog- I agree there, I take my vise and bench for granted
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I'm a Shinto rasp fan as well. I just keep a file card nearby to clean it off and it is ready to go again with just a moments attention.
...but I also love my stationary belt sander and my bandsaw. >:D
Additionally, I've come to really like having a collection of sanding sponges or various grits. The sponge keeps me from pushing unevenly and creating divits in the bow limbs.
A scraper is a necessary tool for me as well during the tillering phase. I'm not very good at putting a clean new edge on these yet though. I think I need to buy one of those burnishing tools. ...but then again, I'll avail myself of just about any excuse to acquire a new tool/toy. ;)
OneBow
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Roughed out on the bandsaw, cleaned up on the belt sander, and then rasp & scraper to the end.
Pretty much the same for me.
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These are nasty words to a lot of our buddies here but, I have to have my belt sander! It's not very primitive, but either is a bandsaw, and lots of guy use them!
Dale
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Kool Thread!
Band Saw
Rasp
Scraper
Chain Saw File...
Oh Yeah... Heat Gun!
:)
-gus
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From tree to bow
axe
chainsaw
iron wedges and sledge
draw knife
machete
a little more draw knife
rat tail rasp
quite a bit of farriers rasp
machete again, this time for scraping
Old-Timer knife for the itty bitty scrapes
sandpaper
modern finishes and string because I'm just not that hardcore ;)
I think my machete gets the most use. If I had to I'm pretty sure I could get decent at using nothing but the machete, especially if I made a magnetic clip-on handle for the blade to use it as a draw knife.
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Patience.... ;)
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I just bought and setup my first ever Bandsaw. I am very, very taken with it.
I managed to go through all of my lumber in one day and turn it into 2" wide 1" thick staves, or 9" long firewood in one day!!!!!!
That would have taken me a week and several cortizone injections.
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My brain :)
Where can I get one of those?
Apperently they can be quite hard to come by these days. You'll find most don't even bother trying to acquire one. ;). I find the best are the older models made up from the parts of many others.
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My brain :)
Where can I get one of those?
Apperently they can be quite hard to come by these days. You'll find most don't even bother trying to acquire one. ;). I find the best are the older models made up from the parts of many others.
How do you use it, as a Wedge or Hammer?
O:)
-gus
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4dog - I have completed a couple BBO bows and a selfbow with hand tools and my vise was a quick clamp and a 6X6 post resting on two saw horses.
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My brain :)
Where can I get one of those?
Apperently they can be quite hard to come by these days. You'll find most don't even bother trying to acquire one. ;). I find the best are the older models made up from the parts of many others.
How do you use it, as a Wedge or Hammer?
O:)
-gus
It's a multi purpose tool limited by your imagination :)