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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Hit the sander today and got the limb shaped to form. Looks more like a bow limb now. Now I have to make another one just like it..
I pulled up the spec sheet on Huntsman epoxy and it cures faster than the Smooth-On I have been using so I pulled the limb out of the hot box after 2.5 hrs. That was a little longer than needed.
I took the form apart to see how well everything had stayed in place. Laminations do shift sometimes so it’s a relief when everything is still in line.
The epoxy that is squeezed out can be as sharp as glass so you handle the limb with care until you get it sanded off. After sanding the fiberglass laminations are still a little rough so you make sure you don’t slide your hand on them or you will pick up small splinters.
Sneak peek after sanding all the glue boogers off the sides.
Back.
Belly
Next I strip off all the painters tape and check the glass. Then I retape both sides and mark the centerline in the back of the limb. The tape is pretty tough to remove after baking so I use a plastic putty knife to help get it off. I used masking tape on the first bow I made and it was terrible to remove.
Draw the limb shape on the tape and it is ready to sand down.
-2* with a -20* wind chill here now. I sure glad I’m retired and not on call with the electric company any more.
I spent a long day yesterday thawing my daughter’s water line. Got it going around 10pm and got my stuff gathered up and home around 11:30. Sat dow2n in the recliner and woke up after 3am.
Lots of hobbies here. Building bows, arrows, game calls, reloading, etc. I have some flame Maple burl laminations I’m going to use for my first take down bow build. It’s just got to warm up a bit.
I hope my bees survive Robin. It’s danged cold out there. I made a bee vacuum with interchangeable baskets this past week. Just need some #6 hardware screen to finish the baskets. That size is very hard to find.
Some of my game calls
This is a bow I built for a cousin several years ago. He passed away from cancer and the bow came back home. There’s a pretty good story involved about this that I may write about.
My cousin shooting the bow on the first outing.
Enough for now.
Dennis
