Take-down Longbow and Recurve laminations?

[J. Frank]

#5915

How does the taper (.001, .002, .003) come into the decision of poundage,pull, and thickness? I think I’ve asked the question wrong. I understand the poundage is determined by thickness, what I’m curious about is how the taper thickness comes in play with the speed of the bow and the hand shock?

[wojo14]

#51390

different limb designs = different performance.

handshock…all in the limb design. riser materials can have some decision there.

[J. Frank]

#54169

The taper thicknes will give you a slightly thicker or thinner end of the limb, is this related to whip and does that contribute to the handshock? Also when you say riser material contributes are you saying harder material, shape, or angle of limb placement are factors. Sounds like all will come in play.

[wojo14]

#54992

I am by far not a seasoned Boyer, but, my experience in shooting and building a couple bows is….

Skinnier tips, and a dense riser wood keep bow soft in the hand. Sometimes quieter as well.

I am a fan of phenolic, walnut, maple, kingwood, and wenge in the riser.

Now, as for smoothness…that is a total bow design IMHO.

Hope this helps.8)

[J. Frank]

#55464

Thank you for your response. I have been studying anything I can find to make laminate bows (for a year and a half). I’m looking to make bows with a troop of boy scouts. Bingham is where I started, and am currently finishing my molds. After looking at some of the available lamination my other question is can I use raw veneers as decorative backs and bellies. They are .024 in thickness and some of the lams on the market are .030 and .025. Do these thinner lams cause any difficulty in bows or does the glass control the possibility of separation when glued up properly.

[wojo14]

#56192

Not sure I follow. Hopefully Greg or someone will chime in. But, .030 is pretty common for finish veneer. .024 should be fine under clear glass. Keep in mind, every bit of thickness adds to the draw weight of the limbs,so take into account your finish veneer.8)

[Cameron Unruh]

#15504

The .024 veneer thickness is fine – I have used a Fair amount of red cedar at that thickness. Woodgallery295.net has some nice veneer and lamination selections.

[J. Frank]

#15674

Thanks Cameron, is a humidity box a good way to keep lams soft and pliable for extend storage. And then dry them out in the heat box just before use. Or is there another trick to this. Woodgallery295 has some really eye popping lams, Any other places you recommend to glance at good looking lams.

[handirifle]

#38528

I have built about a dozen bows, and some of them actually came out decent. It’s trickier than it seems. Frankly I never came within the desired poundage. How’s that for a confidence builder :lol:?

Seriously, I went be Binghams formulae and never got it right. Hopefully the folks here know a better way. I had WAY better luck with wood bows.

Good luck on yours. It’s a blast in the process though.

[J. Frank]

#45011

That seems a little disheartening,but I kind of see what to me is the error. Bingham sends decent looking plans but there is no real nomenclature of accuracy. I find that when given a measurment or angle written without a decimal carried out to the distance of needed accurac, the amount of slop allowed by each persons tolerances gives many terrible experiences. This is what has slowed me down to a crawl. When your spending a young mans money or even his parents money a small percentage of error(1%-2%)or (1 in 15) it’s just not appreciated.I know I would cover one boy’s loss, I’m sure the troop would cover a couple but when you see the business not making improvements on the root of the problem ( diagrams, spec sheets, and tolerance levels) you wonder if the industry is not wanting the builders to make to many bows.There is a a lot of desired improvments that could be helpful if spelled out further, course trial and error, leaning on the error seems to be the norm, who are we not wanting to spend our money fruitlessly. Its the 21st century and money is easier to come by than water, right.

[Robin Conrads]

#45157

Do you have your heart set on building laminated bows? It might be easier to start with selfbows. Dean Torges wrote an excellent series on making kid bows from a board. It’s just a thought.

I don’t have these articles in digital format, but I can scan them tomorrow when I’m at the TBM office if you are interested.

Apr/May 98 The Self Wood Bow Dean Torges Starting at the beginning (to build selfbows)

Jun/Jul 98 The Self Wood Bow—Tillering Kids’ Bows Dean Torges

Oct/Nov 98 The Self Wood Bow-Strings & Finishes Dean Torges

[J. Frank]

#45387

I don’t know if my text to you went thru. So here it is again. I would appreciate any and all reading material. I have read a good bit on wood self bows and I will definitely adventure into makeing them myself. My concern is with these boys bows I wish to add some interior strength thru uni-weft or fiberglass to help make them less likely to fully separate or explode, I can’t help strengthen a one piece wood bow.

[handirifle]

#45402

Then is when you use a backing like hickory or similar. Does a LOT to strengthen a bow, in my experience.

[handirifle]

#45491

I once helped a scout troup build their own wood bows. I helped by connecting the troup leader to a guy that provided them with bows about 50% complete, and they did the rest.

Personally that was an excellent idea (not mine unfortunately) because the rough work was done and he gave them great instructions on how to do the finish tillering. My understanding was the kids loved it and was a great success.

The guy is still in business doing that and more from what I understand.

[handirifle]

#45520

Not to be a Debby Downer, but I was in Bass Pro shop a week or so ago, and they have take down recurves there (beginner level for sure)cheaper (probably better) than what it costs me to build one. Doing it yourself is a HUGE confidence builder, when the outcome is pretty controlled, so I don’t want to try to take that away from your thoughts. Just keep it in perspective.

[J. Frank]

#48879

I’ve read and considered your responses, and I’ve read and watched many hours of wood self bow builds. I come from the milling and machining background and I guess I am use to a more technical set of tolerances in a diagram. I really felt that I probably wouldn’t have many problems up into today’s statements were presented to me. I’ve built model airplanes, muzzleloaders, and knives from scrstch (all). I build what ever the wife desires for around the house, I enjoy working with wood. It’s just when someone makes a statement of not having success with the plans I selected I am concerned if the plans go into enough detail. I went fishing for more information about those plans.

[handirifle]

#49561

Part of my problem with poundage was going by their charts I always came in about 10lb high. I even ordered 5lb under on the last one and was still off considerably. I would also suggest when building the limb forms, and probably cutting the riser, use a router with straight bit to insure the sides are square to the face. If not twisted parts will come out, I know from experience. I have and used a band saw as they say, but obviously my blade did not run true.

I saw an article, somewhere, where a guy made a single template 1/4″ thick or so, of his desired limb shape, and used it with a router to clean this issue up, AND to insure identical limbs. Very smart I thought, but I was done making bows before that article came out.

Guys turn out some terrific bow by themselves and you will too most likely.

[J. Frank]

#54196

Thank you, I appreciate all of your perspective thoughts. The trueing up on the molds was definitely big on my list. On the poundage issue is this a common issue with people trying to build bows, and might the problem arise from the angle of the riser where the limbs sit being off the desired angle by a degree or so. The angle tipped forward might increase pull weight.

[handirifle]

#54578

It might very well be an angle issue, considering the consistency of my problem. Worst case scenario is build a bow and see how it goes. If they are off, try again after making adjustments to thickness.

One thing to note on bow woods. I used red cedar once and apparently didn’t de-grease them well enough because I had limb delamination. There was plenty of glue in the area, just no adhesion.

[J. Frank]

#55135

The lim delamination topic due to oils is a thread that has come up often. I’m curious if wiping the lams is something that should always be done? Bingham sugest just brush off the lams well before starting, What is your take on the subject. Also what degreaser do you find best results with.

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