Recurve Build Along

[OH Longbow]

I have been lurking on this site for a while and am always impressed with what I see. I thought I would try to contribute something. This will be my fourth bow. I have built one in each of the previous three years. The first was a recurve. The next two were longbows. This one will be another recurve. It will be black glass with a red elm core. The riser is charcoal Dymond wood. I've also posted this on another site but, I like the more relaxed atmosphere here.



First, I draw a centerline completely around the block.



Next, I use a template to draw the riser shape.





Now, its time to square things.







Stay tuned for more.

John

[OH Longbow]

Now that things are square, it's time to start cutting. This is the first time I've used my bandsaw in about 8 months so, I was a little nervous.







There's more.

John

[OH Longbow]

Now here is something I thought was neat. I temporarily traded a friend of mine. I gave him my longbow form and he gave me his recurve. Along with it, I got this template. It is used with a router to true up the riser. He made this. He is a woodworker/master craftsman. I swear, I think he could build a house with nothing more than a router and a rock...you need something to pound nails.

Here is the template.



Put the riser on the template and line up the centerline.



Screw it in place. I had to drill a small pilot hole.



Then, clamp template with riser to my makeshift workbench. It was designed to sit in a vice but, I don't have one.



As you can see in this image, the riser protrudes from the edge of the template. It is this material that we will be removing.



It is designed to be used with a template cutting bit. I don't have one and didn't want to pay more than $40 for a 2" bit so, I used a standard 2" straight cutting bit with a 1/2" shank. The cutter head is also 1/2" in diameter. This allows me to chuck it a little long and use the shank as the bearing. It glazed the template a little but, it's barely noticeable.



Now, I'm off to the disc sander to fix something. I'm not a skilled router operator. As I was doing this step, I allowed the router to tilt ever so slightly and it gouged a little. A few passes with the sander and it is good as new.



Stay tuned for more.

John

[OH Longbow]

Now, to drill the hole for the locator pin. This will hold the stack steady on the form while I'm putting everything together. The wasted portion of the riser block was brought back into action for this step. It did a wonderful job of holding the riser level and plumb while drilling the hole.



I think I drilled a 1/4" hole. It was just big enough for my high tech locator pin(cil).



Next, I'm laying out all the laminations.



I stack the first piece of glass and the tapers. I them tape them to hold them in place while I drill a hole through them.



It's off to the drill press again.



I don't want to hear any crap from the safety geeks. I know my fingers were too close to the bit. I'll do better in the future.

I then taped the shiny side of the glass with high temperature masking tape. I actually taped it before I drilled it.





Then, everything went into the oven to warm, including the Smooth-On.



Stay tuned.

John

[OH Longbow]

Now it's time to do a little prep work. I roughed up the glue sides of all the pieces with some heavy grit sand paper (something like 60, I think). I also drug a hacksaw blade across the glue surfaces of the riser to rough it up a little extra. Then, I took an airhose and blew everything off and finished with a course brush.



It was at about this time that I realized that I didn't have anything to use as a pressure strip. I looked around and found an old roll of flashing that I had from when I built the house. It was too flimsy so, I cut four, 2" wide strips. I stacked them on top of each other and taped it well with the high temperature masking tape. I made two straight passes on the full length and then spiraled another pass down the length. I think it worked fairly well.



Now, I had to lay everything out again and clean it off again. This time, I laid it in the order that it would be assembled.



It was then that I noticed the Smooth On cans. One was significantly dented and the other was slightly. This is the fourth order from Bingham's and the fourth time the cans were damaged. What do they do, have the UPS man kick these from Ogdon, UT to Southeast Ohio?



Now to mix the epoxy. I have been saving a few old containers despite my wife's efforts to throw them out. Also, they have handy little scoops in them that I just knew I would find a use for someday. Here they are in action. I'm mixing in a big plastic lid.







There's still more.

John

[OH Longbow]

Time to start gluing it up.

I used shims to do the mixing and spreading.





And now, it's finally in the form. I sorry there are no pictures of putting it in the form but I had epoxy on my hands and didn't want to handle my camera. I previously covered my form in tape and then a couple layers of plastic wrap. After building the bow, I held tension on it while my wife and daughter helped tape it in place. I covered it with another layer of plastic wrap and laid the pressure strip on it. Next, the pressure hose. I then used rope to bind the hose to the form. I double wrapped it. I, personally, like two piece forms but, since I was borrowing this, I couldn't be choosey. This last picture is a composite of 4 different images. They didn't line up perfectly but, you'll get the idea.



I put it in the oven at about 7PM and let it bake. I went down at about 12:30 AM and shut the oven off. It baked for 5-5 1/2 hours. Tomorrow morning, I'll let the air pressure off and then when I get home from work, I'll unwrap it and see what I have.

I was speaking with a high school friend of mine. I told him that I had just put the bow in the oven and would not know what I had until I pulled it out. He said that is just like his wife's cooking. I don't think she was around when he told me. lol

L8R,

John

[BK in TEXAS]

Those are likely the best first 6 posts I've seen from new guys on the ship......welcome aboard!

[OH Longbow]

Thanks BK. That means a lot. I have to admit I kinda' wished I waited until I had the bow finished BEFORE posting. At least then, I would know what the finished product is going to look like.

It came out of the form OK. It will probably be Saturday before I get anything else posted.

Stay tuned. I'll try to make it worth the view.

John

[superkodiak38]

Looking good and welcome aboard !

[4nolz]

looking good! blue painter's tape will make you forget that high temp masking tape. Thats how I make bowforms never thought of doing risers that way.