WOBI Explosion

[JWMALONE]

Hello Guys, So I'm in over my head maybe but what the hay. I have two pieces of ipe 1 3/8 wide 13/16 thick, two backing strips a bamboo and a white oak. Ive never done a R/D or worked with boo or ipe so I'm using the oak first to keep it as simple as possible.

Due to a slight wave in the grain the oak backing will make a bow 59 3/4 long (here after referred to as 60). So this is my idea.
60 inches t2t 1 inch wide parallel through the middle tapering to .5 or smaller at the tips, BITH bow with SLIGHT R/D. My actual draw is 26.25. My shortest bow to date was 65 inches.

Gluing in the R/D is no problem as I've done similar stuff for chair rockers and such. How does the design sound, am I on the right track here?

[Badger]

  That should be fine, I use white oak quite a bit to back ipe, I really don't see any performance diff between that and boo but the boo is a bit tougher.

[JWMALONE]

That's what ive read about w oak. This way ill know what the difference is in tillering a R/D vs straight limb without the added complication of boo.
Well I said R/D but I think its only reflex. I'm doing it like Pat B in his hickory backed lemon wood build. Hopefully I can skip the part were the backing snaps. This backing appears to be in good shape but who knows?

[Pat B]

Reflexing will be fairly easy but trying to get deflex in the ipe will be difficult if possible at all. Ipe, like other tropicals don't bend well with heat. You could cut the ipe in half and splice it back at the handle adding deflex.

[Springbuck]

Should be great.  Deflexing, as PatB says, is a little tougher with a thick middle BITH bow, and especially with ipe.  I usually avoid really high reflex in narrow, thick bows, anyway.   Maybe just move most of the reflex toward the tips, and count whatever set it gives you in the middle as deflex!

[JWMALONE]

My plan is what Spring buck said. Don't know why I put R/D in the post? Ya see I need help lol. Also I'm going to floor tiller the belly before glue up. I'm using Pats build along as a guide.

[Morgan]

Following this with great interest JW. I’ve got several 3/4” x 5 1/2” ipe boards that have a handful of bows hidden in there somewhere, just gotta pull the trigger on it. I look forward to seeing what you do and picking up tips from this thread.

[JWMALONE]

Well guys, I scraped one of the belly tapers in. Started at the end of 4 inch handle area at 13/16 to 7/16 at the tip. Not hard to work at all. Ive dealt with other dense oily tropical hardwoods over the years, so its what I expected. tomorrow ill get the other limb and I will be able to tell if its close enough for glue up, I think it will.
Question, I don't think I have any acetone will alcohol or mineral spirits work to prep the ipe for glue up?

[Pat B]

John, what I've done is sand the glue surface just before glue up and brush the dust off with a good, clean brush. By doing this you shouldn't have to degrease. I've heard that solvents will bring oil to the surface. I discussed this in the hickory/lemonwood bow thread.

[JWMALONE]

Thanks Pat, I must have missed that one.

[JWMALONE]

Well fellows, I've got both belly tapers roughed in, 13/16 at handle area down to 7/16 at the tips. Its still 1 3/8 wide and plenty stiff. So I guess I should rough in the profile leaving some room for future adjustments. 1 1/8 wide and taper to 5/8 tips for now. If I keep floor tillering as is, I'm thinking I wont get a true idea of what needs to be done in preparation for the glue up.

[JWMALONE]

Well this is it we shall see.

[Pat B]

What glue did you use John?

[JWMALONE]

Meant to use tight bong original, grabbed tb 2 by mistake. Oh well.

[Pat B]

I think TBII is the strongest of the three.  Looking forward to seeing your results.