[aeronut]

in reply to: Hobbies #152359

The bow I liked the most was an Osage selfbow I made from a 1″ wide splinter (hence its name) off of a stave.  It wound up at 64″ long and pulled 42# at my 26″ draw.  It really launched an arrow with authority.

Total weight:  bow, string, antler overlays, layered leather rest, and leather handle wrap….14 oz.

[aeronut]

in reply to: Hobbies #152358

I have about $120 in wood, fiberglass, and glue plus the takedown hardware (my guess, I didn’t look at any receipts).  The big cost was the Flame Maple veneers at $70.  That is including the cost of the entire quart can of Huntsman epoxy but I could probably make 30 or more bows from that can which knocks down my estimate.

Most of them I make I use my own wood and sand my own veneers and it is just the glass and glue cost + my labor.

[aeronut]

in reply to: Hobbies #152343

Riser time

Sanded and ready for the accent stripes.

 

[aeronut]

in reply to: Whatcha Got Going 2021 #152340

Went out to try calling in a coyote or other critter today and swap out a couple of trail cameras.  I didn’t get any takers on the free meal offering so I wandered the woods looking for shed antlers.  Strike two.  If the bucks have shed their antlers they hid them.

I put out a brand new Wildgame trail camera two months ago.  It has great video but the trigger is so sensitive I think a bug would set it off.  The LED lights are also flickering and dimming.  Within the past week it almost filled a 16GB card and completely drained the batteries four days ago.  I have it in a baggie of desiccant to see if it might have gotten damp.

A old time tree stand that’s seen better days.

And a view of the woods beyond it.

 

[aeronut]

in reply to: Hobbies #152318

After soaking up the Cactus Juice I wrap the wood in a thick layer of aluminum foil and bake it in a toaster oven for 2 hrs at 200-210*.

After cooling down and unwrapping.  The resin is cured hard and the rough edges are very sharp.  They are ready to be sanded down.

[aeronut]

in reply to: Hobbies #152281

My Jatoba riser wood was delivered this morning so I laid out the riser shape on it.

Then marked the cut line for the accent stripes.  I’m going to use two strips of Maple with a black dyed strip sandwiched between them.

Meanwhile I have another project in the works.  I bought a knife blade blank and am going to put stabilized Spalted Elm scales on it.  They are in the vacuum chamber soaking up Cactus Juice and will stay there overnight and then get baked tomorrow.

[aeronut]

in reply to: Hobbies #152277

The tips are sanded down to rough shape and all that is left cutting the string nocks and final shaping of them.

I also set up the limb drilling jig and drilled the pin and bolt holes in the limbs.  I probably quadruple checked this before even getting the drill bit chucked up.   This is not a time to goof up.

[aeronut]

in reply to: Hobbies #152259

Decided to go with deer antler tips on a piece of Tiger Maple.

Cutting and sanding down some antler from a long dead Texas deer.  Now my shop stinks.

[aeronut]

in reply to: Hobbies #152234

I picked up a new belt yesterday at Home Depot so I was able to rough out limb #2.  Now to drill the limb for the mounting hardware and add some antler tip overlays.  I haven’t decided to use deer or Caribou antler.

Looks a whole lot like the first one.

#2 is on the left.  I really like these Flame Maple veneers.

[aeronut]

in reply to: Whatcha Got Going 2021 #152202

I decided I needed to go for a woods walk and swap out my trail camera cards.  These have been out since mid December.  I got to the first camera, a real cheapie, shut it off and swapped the card.  Turned it back on to check the battery voltage and everything was fine.

Second camera is a new Wildgame camera and this is it’s first outing.  Battery is still good, swapped the cards, and headed for camera three.

Number three is the oldest of the trio and has been in these woods for probably three years.  I mounted it a little higher than normal because I had one camera drown here last year.

Got home to check the videos.

For some reason #1 had no videos.  I’ll have to check it next outing.

Camera #2 had 1017 videos on it.  Very few had animals in them.  The Wildgame cameras have very good photo and video quality but their sensors are way too sensitive.  I think a mosquito would trigger it.  LOTS of videos of woods.  Wind, rain, fog, snow, anything and everything triggered it.  Right around two weeks ago the night videos started getting dark.  The IR LEDS started flickering and fading out over the next week.  I need to bring it home and put it in a baggie of dessicant.  Maybe it got wet????

Camera #3.  Old reliable.  Somehow it got reset to take pictures, not videos.  The videos are much better quality than the pictures.  I wound up with 2238 mostly grainy pictures of deer, squirrels, and a few coyotes.  For some reason it would detect something and then take a picture every ten seconds for a couple of hours.  Maybe it is time to retire this one.

Here’s a few shots of the woods.  It was a good day to be out.

I spotted this tree a couple of months ago and showed it to my 8 year old granddaughter and explained what bird did this.  She thought it was neat.  We have lots of Pileated Woodpeckers around this area and when they go to work it sounds like someone is beating the tree with a hammer.

This gives an idea of the size.  The hollowed out area is around ten feet high.

[aeronut]

in reply to: Hobbies #152180

One thing that has been a problem for me on laminate bows is sometimes the glue line at the fade has small gaps.  None have been bad enough to scrap a bow but they look bad.  The glue lines on these fades came out perfect.

To drill the holes in the limb butts and riser you need a jig to make sure everything lines up.  These jigs can cost $65 or more.  I was lucky enough where I worked that we had a full machine shop.  I made this jig out of steel from the scrap bin and my only cost was for the four screws.

Work has stopped for now because I need a new sanding belt for my sander.  The one in use now is my last belt and it is getting worn enough it is starting to burn the Bubinga wedge.

[aeronut]

in reply to: Hobbies #152136

Limb #2 out of the hotbox and ready for initial sanding.

I ordered a piece of Jatoba wood to use for the riser.  I’m going to add a Hickory accent stripe in it.

[aeronut]

in reply to: Whatcha Got Going 2021 #152127

Yesterday, Monday, was a work day.  My laundry room is an enclosed porch on the north side of my 100 year old house and one cold day last week I went to wash my clothes.  The washer drain had frozen.  Not the drain that the washer dumps water into but the drain on the washer itself.

I got out my trusty heat gun and pumped a bunch of hot air under the washer and finally got it thawed and the washer drained.  I then noticed a slight drip on the hot water hose feeding the washer.  OK, I’ll get a couple of hoses and replace them since they are 16 years old and I shut off the valves on the hot and cold lines.

A while later I look and there is water on the floor.  The old valves started leaking around the stems so I added new valves to the list.

So yesterday I start replacing the valves and hoses.  Not everything went smoothly but there was no major hangup in the process.  Hopefully these will last at least another 16 years.

[aeronut]

in reply to: Hobbies #152124

Limb #2 assembled and in the hot box.

 

[aeronut]

in reply to: Hobbies #152122

I’m glad another of my hobbies didn’t freeze during our – 15* nights.  My bees are showing up at the feeder.  Not in great numbers but they are showing up so there’s hope for this coming season.

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