Hickory Hedge

[aeronut]

#6858

This one will be a work in progress and since I don’t have a whole lotta free time, will take a while with several installments.

I decided to use the same form that I made my Curly Hickory bow on and make a different style riser. I have a bunch of Osage that I got from a local sawmill about five years ago. It has been stickered in my machine shed drying since then. I bought this wood with the intention of making Bamboo-backed Osage bows, which I have, but there are a couple of slabs that have a natural split and I decided to make some laminations for a few glass-backed bows from them.

I ripped some thin strips from the slab and started sanding them down. The ‘sled’ they are riding on was a strip I cut off of the r/d bow form that I made.

A bow’s worth of Hickory & Hedge ready to go.

Next I took a 1-1/2″X1-1/2″X18″ slab of Black Walnut and inlaid some strips of Hickory and Osage into it, both being 1/4″ thick, and cut out and sanded it down.

I am going for a straight longbow style on this one.

Dennis

[Clay Hayes]

#19844

looking forward to the next step!

[aeronut]

#30113

I had some free time so it is time for another installment on the bow. I put the lams and riser in the hot box while I gathered up the rest of the stuff. Finally found my air hose after about an hour of searching.

Time to mix some glue. Equal parts of Smooth-On.

My daughter happened to come down to the basement so I had her snap a picture since I didn’t want a built-in camera on my bow.

Ready for the hot box. I learned that alcohol is great for removing Smooth-On from your hands.

I took everything apart this evening and I didn’t get a fresh-out-of-the-form picture:twisted:. I sanded off all the glue boogers and globs and this is what I’ve got so far.

We found a narrow white streak running along one edge and it took a while to realize that one of the Osage lams had shifted a bit. After looking everything over it won’t affect the bow at all since 90% of it will be removed when I taper the limbs and the rest will be covered by a riser overlay.

To be continued……..

Dennis

[aeronut]

#31067

I got finished with my fix-it project today so i got some more done on the bow. I re-taped the glass and checked everything with a long string. Looked good, even, and no twist in the limbs.

I decided to go with a 64″NTN bow so I measured everything for that. I marked center on the bow and laid out the line with my laser level. I stick it to my heat duct right above my head. Remember, I’m in the basement.

Next I marked out the limbs and went to the machine shed where my bandsaw and sanders are. I saved a dull blade for my bandsaw because it would work for cutting the fiberglass. After cutting out the limbs I sanded them down to the line.

Earlier I cut some thin Black Walnut laminations ot overlay on the front and back of the riser. I glued them in place and everything is now back in the hotbox.

To be ontinued……

Dennis

[aeronut]

#32151

I decided to use Black Walnut and Deer antler for the tip overlays. I have a big shed that I found with my bushhog a few years back and decided to incorporate it into some of my projects.

I used some of the leftover Walnut from the riser overlay and put the antler on top of it. I really hate the smell of cutting and sanding antler but I like the finished product.

Back into the hotbox again……..

Dennis

[Wv Lungbuster]

#43108

Looking good so far can’t wait until the next step.

[aeronut]

#44503

Here is the progress so far….

I’m still working on the tips, sloooowly trying to get them both to somewhat match.

I marked and cut out the sight window. The riser is 1.35″ wide and I cut the shelf in .50″, not quite to center.

I’ve done some feathering on the riser overlay too.

I made a string a few days ago and did some checking on the tiller. Everything is looking good but I am low on the weight I was hoping for. I was hoping for 40-45# but the initial scaling is around 30#’s. I’m going to finish it at this weight and shoot it for a while.

I Started rounding off all the edges and shaping the handle. Don’t have any pictures of that yet but I’ll try to get some tomorrow.

To be continued……

Dennis

[aeronut]

#46817

Haven’t done much the last couple of days, back’s been hurtin’ a lot.

Here is the initial contouring of the handle. The three pencil lines you can see are where I am going to sand shallow grooves for my fingers.

It’s starting to ‘feel’ like a bow now.
After I get the initial handle/riser section work done I’ll be down to the nit-pickin’ stage getting it ready for a finish.

Dennis

[aeronut]

#47604

Sanded the finger grooves in this morning and did a little more rounding on the riser. Buffed all the Walnut down with 4/0 steel wool.

Dennis

[aeronut]

#33761

Finally finished. I put four coats of True Oil on it on 8/23 and let it dry last week while I was in Wichita on company business. I got three arrows made last Saturday and shot it Sunday. It shoots great and I really like that style of grip. I think I’m going to use this one for 3D shooting.

Specs:

62″ 30#@28″
Hickory Core
Osage lams
.050 glass
Riser: Black Walnut with Hickory and Osage accent strips. Black Walnut front and back riser overlays.

Profile shots

Full draw (well, as full as I can get it):oops:

Dennis

[Robin Conrads]

#35026

Aeronut, thank you so much for a wonderful build along. We appreciate the time you put into this project so others could see how it’s done. Good job, and you make a beautiful bow.

[aeronut]

#35542

Thanks for the compliments. When I got interested in learning how to build a bow there wasn’t anything like the internet for information. It took a lot of reading and trial and error. I’m glad that someone will see this and learn a little bit from it. Compared to a lot of bowyers, I consider myself a rank amateur.

I’m already thinking about the next build.

Dennis

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