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Post by bigpete on Mar 22, 2015 2:21:09 GMT
Looking good mate :-)
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Post by ineffableone on Mar 22, 2015 3:01:27 GMT
Thanks guys, it was hard walking away today. I don't have that much left to do. But the biggest mistakes tend to happen when you try to rush to the end. So I made sure I took a step back and called it a night.
Plus I need to study for my Ham license test tomorrow, so that helped drag me away.
If I had had a fish scale I would have used that. But all I had was a bathroom scale.
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Post by ineffableone on Mar 23, 2015 23:54:52 GMT
Well today was all about sanding and gluing. Sanded down the helper bow's handle section to round the edges a bit.
Also rough sanded the nock overlays on the helper bow
As well as using a file to smooth the transition between the parts
Then I gave the helper bow limbs a nice sanding. Starting with 120 grit going up to 600
Then moved on to the main bow doing the same, 120 up to 600 grit
Now it was time to get the main bow prepped. First I needed to sand the riser/handle sections to make sure there was a nice flat to mate with the bow.
Then is was glue time.
 I intentionally did not connect the bows yet, as having them separate will let me work the nock overlays much easier. Just a couple more days before this bow is put together and looking like it should. After I had sanded the bow down, I did check the draw weight, and was still getting a 54# @ 28" So I am not loosing too much draw weight from sanding. Which is making me consider going back and giving it just a little more scraping. to get down to 50#. Because I have the helper bow, I can use that to tune up to 60#. Not sure if I want to have it tune up to 64#. Will see as things progress. I am not overly worried about the extra 4 #. |
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Post by chrisperoni on Mar 24, 2015 2:16:44 GMT
how are they going to be connected? just glue or also some kind of dowel/biscuit?
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Post by ineffableone on Mar 24, 2015 3:23:52 GMT
how are they going to be connected? just glue or also so,e kind of dowel/biscuit? They can be connected just with glue, however I am thinking I will drill some holes and put some dowels in to make it a little stronger, and give another little different wood contrast and pattern. The original Penobscot bows were just wrapped together, not even glued. |
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Post by ineffableone on Mar 24, 2015 23:59:12 GMT
Today was mostly a sanding day. Rather than talking a bunch of pictures of me sanding then sanding some more, then a bit more sanding. I just took pictures of it at the end, well the end of today. I still plan on doing more sanding, and shaping. This was just to get the general shape and sanding done. Main bow nocks sanded and shaped, with the string groove shaped.
helper bow nock sanded and shaped with sting groove shaped
 Did you notice something in that last picture? Did you notice the helper bow was on the main bow? I also glued the bows together
 It is finally looking like a Penobscot bow
Yay, looking pretty good I think. I still have to drill some holes in the handle and glue some walnut dowels into the handle. For a little extra security as well as creating a little more interesting wood contrasting pattern. Then cut the shelf and glue some Wenge wood on the shelf. And shaping the grip of the handle. After that the only thing left will be to apply the finish and then wax the bow. Well and of course take it for a test shoot. Getting really close to finished now, yay!!. |
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Mikeeman
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Post by Mikeeman on Mar 25, 2015 1:25:59 GMT
I don't know much about bows other than I like to shoot them, but... WOW. This looks really nice.
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Post by ineffableone on Mar 25, 2015 3:20:13 GMT
I don't know much about bows other than I like to shoot them, but... WOW. This looks really nice. Thanks. I like shooting bows too, which is part of what got me interested in bow making. It takes the appreciation of shooting to another level having made a bow and understanding what goes into making it. This should make for a pretty fun shooter too. Everything I have heard about the Penobscot bow style says they are quick and powerful with very little hand shock and quite fun to shoot. I know I will be very excited to get to shoot this bow soon. |
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Post by bigpete on Mar 25, 2015 3:21:24 GMT
Yep that's a nice bow ! :-)
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Mikeeman
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Post by Mikeeman on Mar 25, 2015 3:46:12 GMT
I tried making my own, once. I failed miserably. So I just shoot the ones I have.
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Post by ineffableone on Mar 25, 2015 3:49:37 GMT
I tried making my own, once. I failed miserably. So I just shoot the ones I have. Well at least you tried. If you ever want to try again, Rudderbows kits make it pretty easy. |
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Mikeeman
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Post by Mikeeman on Mar 25, 2015 3:55:13 GMT
All of my free time is filled, these days. I'd love to, but I just can't.  |
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Post by ineffableone on Mar 25, 2015 4:05:03 GMT
All of my free time is filled, these days. I'd love to, but I just can't. No worries, maybe you will revisit bow making in the future when you have more time. Or you might just buy your bows and enjoy them. Not all archers try their hand at bow making, in fact not that many do. And funny thing, not all bow makers are even archers. Some are just really skilled woodworkers who branched out into bows but have little to no real first hand knowledge of archery. I think we all can relate to not having enough time for everything we want to do. There is always too little time and too much to get done. |
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Mikeeman
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Post by Mikeeman on Mar 25, 2015 4:12:30 GMT
I know the feeling... Hell, Josh is still waiting on a kiradishi from me. From, like, a month and a half ago. I guess it's a good thing I don't have people pay me until I get it done.  |
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Post by bigpete on Mar 25, 2015 5:39:58 GMT
I've shot bows since I was old enough to pull one back (30 years approximately) and I still haven't actually made my own proper one yet ! :-) Something I mean to rectify very soon though :-) Biggest problem for me seems to be my love of heavy bows, I'm jut a little doubtful that a bow of my favored draw weight that I've made will hold up lol
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Post by ineffableone on Mar 25, 2015 6:19:25 GMT
I've shot bows since I was old enough to pull one back (30 years approximately) and I still haven't actually made my own proper one yet ! :-) Something I mean to rectify very soon though :-) Biggest problem for me seems to be my love of heavy bows, I'm jut a little doubtful that a bow of my favored draw weight that I've made will hold up lol Then start lower weight, just to learn. Then when you feel confident of your ability make what you want in the poundage you want. You could do a cheap board bow using lumber from the local hardware store. Back it with sinew and rawhide and get a very powerful heavy weight bow from it. |
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Post by WEWolf on Mar 25, 2015 21:22:19 GMT
Your craftsmanship is outstanding, really beautiful work. I've never heard of this type of bow (but then I'm no bow expert) so this is fascinating.
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Post by ineffableone on Mar 25, 2015 23:39:43 GMT
I decided to go ahead and tiller the bow down to 50# at 28" so did that now, before I went any further. Didn't take much and the bow feels quite good. I forgot to take pictures of this, but I imagine you all can figure out what it looked like since it is pretty much the same thing as the tillering before, just a little more curve now in the bow. Next I started drilling holes for the Walnut wood dowels to be inserted into the handle. These aren't necessary but they will help add a little strength to the bow, and add a little extra decorative pattern to the wood.
It was during this drilling that my first and hopefully last mistake happened. While drilling the second hole I went a little too fast at the end ans split out the Zebrawood lamination on the back of the handle section.
While I would have preferred not to have done this, maybe it will be a happy accident as Bob Ross liked to say and result in something interesting when I shape the handle grip. At this point it really doesn't effect anything and the reality is that the laminations are just extra added strength for the handle and not overly needed anyways. So I moved on drilled the third hole and glued up the walnut dowels
Can't really really do much else while waiting for the glue to dry so this ended my bow building for the day. The accident today reminded me, not to rush. Keep my patience and do things right not fast. Tomorrow is cutting the dowel ends off, cutting the shelf and sight window, rough handle shaping, and gluing a Wenge wood piece into the shelf. I could skip the Wenge wood shelf and it would speed up the build and make it so I could shoot the bow sooner, but I think it will make for a nice accent so I plan to go ahead and do it. |
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Mikeeman
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Post by Mikeeman on Mar 26, 2015 16:44:10 GMT
*Impatiently checks watch and taps foot.* *Audible sigh*
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Post by ineffableone on Mar 26, 2015 23:51:08 GMT
Did a bit more work today. Cut the Walnut dowels that I glued yesterday off. Cut the basic grip shape Test to make sure it could handle being strung Now the time consuming shaping the grip, shelf and sight window. I cheated a bit and used my Work sharp with 80 grit belt to do the majority of grip shaping. Being it is a nice slack mini belt sander, I was able to get a lot of shaping done with it. Filing the shelf into a radius Now the confusing part. How do you string a Penobscot bow? Pretty much like any other bow, but the loose string loop has to go over the upper string when you use the stringer.
Taking my Penobscot bow out for a first test shot
 It was shooting nice, but a bit heavy. I tested the draw weight and it was pulling 65# @ 28. The helper bow had added 15# draw weight. One problem the shelf is too long and hits the fletching.
Back to work, reduced the shelf a bit. That is a bit better, the flecthing now fit fine. I started sanding and sanding and sanding. Getting rid of glue. smoothing transitions between overlays and the bow limbs, rounding out any sharp edges. Now I did the dumb thing. Because it was shooting so heavy, I thought I would shave off just a little more. Tiller the bow down to 40#. I strung it up without the helper bow. And when I pulled it to 22" on the tillering stick, SNAP!! I should have known better, I had removed a lot of material that was originally part of the main bow to shape the grip. So without the helper bow keeping the pressure distributed, the draw was too much. *sigh* Those are the breaks. (pun intended) At least I got to shoot it some before it broke. And I think I can salvage the helper bow and use it to try again. I will just need to order a Rudderbows longbow and attach the helper bow to it. |
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Nov 1, 2024 0:13:58 GMT
Nov 1, 2024 0:13:58 GMT
