Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: loefflerchuck on November 10, 2015, 09:39:36 pm
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James(olhickory) was nice enough to gift me a nice piece of ipe for a bow. Someone asked me if I could make a heavy south American style bow. 85" long and 90# draw at 31" and a round cross section. I know a few trees that can make this bow and made one like this of ash in the past, but I have never worked with ipe.
I have heard ipe is weak in tension and makes a good bow when backed. Thats all I know. To the ipe people out there.- Is this possible or a waste of time? It's a nice 2x2 piece and by shaving the corners I could maybe try to find a ring for the back, but would that be better than cross cut grain?
90# @ 31" with 85" to work with with a D bow bend is not asking much. When you add back and belly strain of a round cross section that adds a little challenge, but plenty of species of wood would not have a problem with that. What about ipe??????
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It depends on the board, I've seen epe selfbows on here a few times so i know it can be done
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Chuck sent you a link in a pm
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Bubby, that link has all the info I need. Thanks, and I'm going to give it a try.
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I see no reason it wont work Chuck, if the ipe is spotless. Grain swirls and pin knots have a tendency to fret and collapse. I would back it with grade A hickory or boo. It will take a surprisingly small amount of ipe to make a heavy bow like your after.
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I think he wants to make it authentic to the SA culture. Part of the key is keeping the wood at a much higher ,moisture content than we would consider optimal.
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I'd be skeptical if I didn't start with a sawn or split full stave.
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I sent chuck a link to an epe selfbow justin snyder built it was a heavy draw weight bow and looked like board stock but i didn't read the whole thing
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Chuck wants to make it authentic to the shape as well. It's one thing to make a rectangular bow like Justin did and another thing to make it round.
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Thanks everyone. Pat, I was working the wood and thinking the exact same thing. With a draw knife the wood was flying off, dry as can be. I may rehydrate it, however it has a floor tiller on it now. I used a draw knife to shave the square board sideways to get the grain running like a stave, then pretended to attempt to chase a ring(hard to find). I think I came close though. The drawknife also showed me where the grain ran off near the tip. Now the bow will be 78" and maybe just 28" draw to be realistic. If I can get a bow out of it I'll come back to this and post it.
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I will be watching this post for the finished bow.
Did Legionnaire do a similar build a couple years ago?
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Not sure Carson. Sounds like something Cesar would do. Not going to get all the power I wanted. 79" tip to tip It's drawing 62# @ 27". Give me till monday or so to post some pictures with 28+" draw.
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Ipe differs a lot between trees and species. Some of it is higher in tension. I was using a 64 inch ipe bow that pulled 48#@28'' for a while before it lifted a splinter. Didn't blow up. Just lifted a splinter. When I bought boards from another supplier, I couldn't even laminate the stuff without it blowing up. Confused the hell out of me till I read threads on PA from bowers who almost exclusively make Ipe self bows. They said the tree encompasses a variety of sub-species that have radically different properties. Seems like that just from looking at different boards too.
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I work on ipe permanently, great wood, but like all know - in compresion. I have made 2 ipe selfbow, one was broken after some time. Ipe selfbow is possible but pointless for me becouse of poor performance, poor shooting comfort compare to for example ipe/bamboo backing. Ipe is just to heavy - when you make bamboo backing you have higher draw weight with much lighter limbs
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I made one successful Ipe selfbow that was 66" long. It eventually blew up. A good piece at that length with a low brace height? I agree on the humidity factor. The wood seems at it's best, much healthier down here in the humid summer, I think. Perhaps you should keep the bow in your bathroom! Bring it down here and we'll try to put you on some of Florida's finest feral monkeys! ;D
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I didn't leave enough wood to get the power I wanted but have a near round cross section shooter. 78" long 69# @ 28.5". 1 1/16" wide at the handle. 7/8" mid limb 5/16 below nock. It has decent power but is a little harsh on release. The bow Justin S made in a post would be a improvement and how I would make the next one. His was just under a inch at the handle and 1/2" wide mid limb. As he said this heavy wood needs to be very narrow for a faster and more comfortable shooting bow. I see why everyone backs this wood, but it is fun to try a self bow the way they were made in South America from this wood, and the dark color is beautiful. It is also fun to tiller a bow with a round cross section. Just scrape away in a circle to maintain the shape.
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Very cool chuck and good info
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Awesome bow Chuck, looks fun to shoot
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I had the sister board to the one that Justin made his self bow from. I ended up backing mine with bamboo, I didn't trust a couple of swirls in the wood.
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I have one in the process backed with bamboo. The properties were not at all what I expected and it has been neat feeling the different properties of different woods. I had only worked with Osage until last week when I started a hickory self bow. I got first hand experience on why not to assume that all woods are similar. The Hickory will be underweight but I love working with it. Ipe is a whhhoooole different animal. I'm glad I saw this thread and will bookmark it. I bought a 1 by 6 piece and am going to try to eventually get 3 bows backed with bamboo. I planned on just cutting it into 3 one by twos. Will this work? I can plain it down thinner if needed.
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Killer tiller Chuck. Ipe always amazes me at how little wood it requires to make one damn stout bow.
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Great job Chuck, good info here
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I have one in the process backed with bamboo. The properties were not at all what I expected and it has been neat feeling the different properties of different woods. I had only worked with Osage until last week when I started a hickory self bow. I got first hand experience on why not to assume that all woods are similar. The Hickory will be underweight but I love working with it. Ipe is a whhhoooole different animal. I'm glad I saw this thread and will bookmark it. I bought a 1 by 6 piece and am going to try to eventually get 3 bows backed with bamboo. I planned on just cutting it into 3 one by twos. Will this work? I can plain it down thinner if needed.
If you are backing with Boo and you are staying in the 50-60 # range, you shouldn't need your boards much more than 1-1/4" wide. If the board is 5/4 decking, and you have a thin kerf ripping blade, you could rip each board in half and add back a 1/8" power lam. So you possibly have 8 bows worth of Ipe if you work it right.
Ken
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I have one in the process backed with bamboo. The properties were not at all what I expected and it has been neat feeling the different properties of different woods. I had only worked with Osage until last week when I started a hickory self bow. I got first hand experience on why not to assume that all woods are similar. The Hickory will be underweight but I love working with it. Ipe is a whhhoooole different animal. I'm glad I saw this thread and will bookmark it. I bought a 1 by 6 piece and am going to try to eventually get 3 bows backed with bamboo. I planned on just cutting it into 3 one by twos. Will this work? I can plain it down thinner if needed.
If you are backing with Boo and you are staying in the 50-60 # range, you shouldn't need your boards much more than 1-1/4" wide. If the board is 5/4 decking, and you have a thin kerf ripping blade, you could rip each board in half and add back a 1/8" power lam. So you possibly have 8 bows worth of Ipe if you work it right.
Ken
Gotcha. All I have is a little 9 inch band saw. Its kind of crappy for that kind of stuff. I have been tempted to buy something bigger and more precise for a while now.
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I have one in the process backed with bamboo. The properties were not at all what I expected and it has been neat feeling the different properties of different woods. I had only worked with Osage until last week when I started a hickory self bow. I got first hand experience on why not to assume that all woods are similar. The Hickory will be underweight but I love working with it. Ipe is a whhhoooole different animal. I'm glad I saw this thread and will bookmark it. I bought a 1 by 6 piece and am going to try to eventually get 3 bows backed with bamboo. I planned on just cutting it into 3 one by twos. Will this work? I can plain it down thinner if needed.
If you are backing with Boo and you are staying in the 50-60 # range, you shouldn't need your boards much more than 1-1/4" wide. If the board is 5/4 decking, and you have a thin kerf ripping blade, you could rip each board in half and add back a 1/8" power lam. So you possibly have 8 bows worth of Ipe if you work it right.
Ken
You could go even narrower. 7/8" would be alright
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Very well excited chuck. Any chance for some more detailed photos?