Tatty-Drew
New member
Damn, in the wrong place, this should be under 'bow building' - First Bow
A fairly common post I would guess. I've been shooting for a while but after making all my arrows, leather work (etc) and with a practical mindset been keen to complete the set and make a bow of my own.
After a lot of research and planning I went for a Ash-Mahogany-Ash laminate - which might not be ideal but I'm saving a Maple-Walnut-Oak strips for a better second try.
Everything seems to be going okay but I've been tilling it slowly on and off for a week now and I'm not seeing a clear progression develope - which is where I thought to ask advice from those with a bit more experience.
fig 1.1
Trying to put some care and process into it I've been using my engineering background to try and regulate the process. This image shows the current bow state. Drawn to 14" off flat. Red shows the line of the back, blue the radius of curvature and green shows curvature value. Curvature is based off a free-hand spline so I've taken several lines to provide a range - but the trends are clear. The two smooth green lines show the curvature for the radii circles (almost and average or ideal curvature).
fig 1.2
The same as above but with the engineering turned off.
What I've taken from this is the lower (LHS) limb is too stiff and the upper (RHS) had a hinge developing (between the clamps) which has now been spread out across most of the limb lenght by removing wood. Potential hinges are developing in the lower limb but aren't too strong yet but the tip is very stiff.
My questions:
I've been slowly hand sanding and scrapping the lower limb (x10 strokes at a time) and following the Bowyers Bible advice but the stiffness doesn't seem to change much - what approach is best taken for this/is the flex in the other limb limiting any changes I might be causing lower limb?
Is the current state of flex in the upper (RHS) limb anything to be worried about or worked against or this the hinge suitably removed now. Should I work at getting some more flex into the tip and near the mid-bow?
I hope I've made some sense but I've got to the point where lack of any real progess has me chomping at the bit to go at the limbs with something more heavy duty than a scrapper (though thankfully so far I've resisted).
Any advice is very greatfully received.
Cheers
-Drew
A fairly common post I would guess. I've been shooting for a while but after making all my arrows, leather work (etc) and with a practical mindset been keen to complete the set and make a bow of my own.
After a lot of research and planning I went for a Ash-Mahogany-Ash laminate - which might not be ideal but I'm saving a Maple-Walnut-Oak strips for a better second try.
Everything seems to be going okay but I've been tilling it slowly on and off for a week now and I'm not seeing a clear progression develope - which is where I thought to ask advice from those with a bit more experience.
fig 1.1
Trying to put some care and process into it I've been using my engineering background to try and regulate the process. This image shows the current bow state. Drawn to 14" off flat. Red shows the line of the back, blue the radius of curvature and green shows curvature value. Curvature is based off a free-hand spline so I've taken several lines to provide a range - but the trends are clear. The two smooth green lines show the curvature for the radii circles (almost and average or ideal curvature).
fig 1.2
The same as above but with the engineering turned off.
What I've taken from this is the lower (LHS) limb is too stiff and the upper (RHS) had a hinge developing (between the clamps) which has now been spread out across most of the limb lenght by removing wood. Potential hinges are developing in the lower limb but aren't too strong yet but the tip is very stiff.
My questions:
I've been slowly hand sanding and scrapping the lower limb (x10 strokes at a time) and following the Bowyers Bible advice but the stiffness doesn't seem to change much - what approach is best taken for this/is the flex in the other limb limiting any changes I might be causing lower limb?
Is the current state of flex in the upper (RHS) limb anything to be worried about or worked against or this the hinge suitably removed now. Should I work at getting some more flex into the tip and near the mid-bow?
I hope I've made some sense but I've got to the point where lack of any real progess has me chomping at the bit to go at the limbs with something more heavy duty than a scrapper (though thankfully so far I've resisted).
Any advice is very greatfully received.
Cheers
-Drew