Been busy in the shop

[Jamie]

Correction, I did not shoot rabbit with hickory backed bow but rather a very similar bamboo backed bow which I also still have.

Evidence you all will get a kick out of, lol. Young Jamie in 1999 when he could still shoot a bow pretty good. This rabbit was running as fast as it could go from a pack of dogs and hunters after being shot at and missed about 30 times before I shot it at distance of about 20 feet. Got lucky.

The good old days.

 

[Jamie]

Junior BBO ready to roll. For all intents and purposes, I built this one just like I would build one for myself. Epoxy finish, stitched leather handle wrap, fur sting silencers and all. Fun bow to build. I hope it starts the fire. My hunting rig in the pic for reference.

 

[Jamie]

Some of the work I was doing in the shop 10 years ago is what started this thread. Today, for the first time since 2015 I went to work on a new bamboo backed osage static recurve. The one featured in this thread from 2015 is still a rocket launcher and still probably the best work I've ever done in bow building. I just cannot shoot it any longer because the draw weight is too heavy. Since my number one bow decided it was finished about two weeks before this season started, I scrambled to find one of my old bows that I could handle and would shoot the same arrows. I ended up hunting all season with a bow I had not shot in many years, but it got the job done. I'm not sure how many dozen hunting bows I have, but all but a few of them are too much draw weight for me today. Time to make myself an arsenal of old man bows so I don't wind up with an undesirable back up bow. in my hand all season again. I joined some billets and tapered some bamboo over the last few days. Time to bend some wood and get on with this.

 

[triple_duece]

You can’t cut the limbs down to a lighter weight draw? I know you can’t add but can always cut it down lower.

 

[Jamie]

Yes, I could reduce the weight of the bow, but she is a real looker, and I don't want to change that. You can add 5-10 pounds of draw weight by making the bow a few inches shorter, too. The reality is that a wooden bow that was made a certain weight at a certain draw length is just never the same if you try to make them something else after they are completely shot in. Besides, I just like making bows and need to spend more time doing it. Hell, I might even start taking orders again.

 

[GoetzTalon]

I’ll take a 40 pounder at 28’’ right hand draw. Where do I send the down payment lol ?

 

[Jamie]

I have a 40 pound D/R BBO that is tillered but not finished. PM me if you are serious. Make you a deal.

 

[Jamie]

Looking more and more like another squirrel hunt is very unlikely. Pisser as I'm not ready for it to be over. Too cold and snow too deep to do much besides work in the shop or do some day drinking, lol. Took the high road today and glued a riser on my new static, boiled and bent some more wood. I'll leave that clamped up until tomorrow, boil and bed the other side tomorrow. This will be a bamboo backed osage working recurve in the 45-50lb range if I can pull it off. These curvy ones can be quite challenging.

 

[Jamie]

Yesterday I boiled and bent the other end of this working recurve. Both of these bends held exceptionally well this time, barely springing away from the form at all.

The backing and the core will spend a few days in the hotbox drying out before I glue them together, and when I do, I'll glue 2"-3
of deflex into the middle of the bow/handle area.

 

[Jamie]

Yesterday I also glued up the core and backing for the static recurve. I glued about 2" of reflex in the process with the intention that the finished bow, fully relaxed, will stand straight or follow the string a tiny bit after being fully shot in

I also trimmed the excess core to the backing profile and also established the trapezoidal cross section at the same time (this also removes excess glue and makes the bow easier to handle until we get to the actual shaping with hand tools). Tilting the table of the bandsaw to 75 degrees makes the belly slightly wider than the back of the bow. This is a difficult maneuver but is the best way I know to get that angle on both sides of the limbs even on the entire length of the bow.

Cleaned up those cuts with a #49 Nicholson patternmakers rasp and a large sanding block with a piece of spent 60 grit drum sander wrap glued to it. I did all of this today so I could glue the stiffeners on the siyahs. Tomorrow I can go to work cutting and shaping the handle, the brush nocks, and start tillering.

 

[brock ratcliff]

Good to see you in action Jamie!

 

[finelyshedded]

Yesterday I also glued up the core and backing for the static recurve. I glued about 2" of reflex in the process with the intention that the finished bow, fully relaxed, will stand straight or follow the string a tiny bit after being fully shot in

View attachment 217537
View attachment 217538

I also trimmed the excess core to the backing profile and also established the trapezoidal cross section at the same time (this also removes excess glue and makes the bow easier to handle until we get to the actual shaping with hand tools). Tilting the table of the bandsaw to 75 degrees makes the belly slightly wider than the back of the bow. This is a difficult maneuver but is the best way I know to get that angle on both sides of the limbs even on the entire length of the bow.
View attachment 217540
Cleaned up those cuts with a #49 Nicholson patternmakers rasp and a large sanding block with a piece of spent 60 grit drum sander wrap glued to it. I did all of this today so I could glue the stiffeners on the siyahs. Tomorrow I can go to work cutting and shaping the handle, the brush nocks, and start tillering.

View attachment 217541

My goodness!!!!! What a process and skill!!!!

 

[Jamie]

Still moving along with these two recurves. Got the working recurve glued up yesterday, off the caul and ready for a handle fitting tomorrow.

Messing around with a slightly larger locator grip, too. Not sure if I want to try this on either of these two bows, but my deliberation is ongoing. Welcome opinions on the matter. I made a mockup from some scrap. Feels pretty good in my hand, but I’m not sold.

 

[brock ratcliff]

Still moving along with these two recurves. Got the working recurve glued up yesterday, off the caul and ready for a handle fitting tomorrow.
View attachment 217848
View attachment 217849
Messing around with a slightly larger locator grip, too. Not sure if I want to try this on either of these two bows, but my deliberation is ongoing. Welcome opinions on the matter. I made a mockup from some scrap. Feels pretty good in my hand, but I’m not sold.
View attachment 217850
View attachment 217851

You know what you like, but that would not be for me I don’t think. Like Howatt hamdles, for example, the high palm swell causes me to be more straight-wristed than I should be to maintain consistent pressure at the base of the thumb. But in your case, I don’t see how it would hurt to try it. If it doesn’t work, I’m quite certain you have an appropriate rasp to make needed adjustments.

 

[brock ratcliff]

I’ll add this; I’ve got a Widow with a similar shaped grip with one major difference. There is a flat spot whittled into the handle the provides a rock solid pressure point for the base of my thumb. It is a pleasure to shoot that bow.

 

[Jamie]

With all the glueing done, I laid out the handle profiles and got all the rest of the bandsaw work finished on my two new recurves. Hand tools for the rest of the way. I noticed while I was putting some bamboo backing and bow blanks I won't be working on for a while back in the hotbox that I have two bows that I got from my mentors shop a few years after he passed. I guess I forgot about them until now. I cleaned out his shop back in 2022 and 2023. It was very generous and thoughtful of Mary to offer all of that only to me, but she knew what it all means to me. She understood.

One is a 66" straight (slightly reflexed like my static) bow blank, the other a 62" straight bow that appears to be ready to shoot, perhaps has been shot already, although there was no string on it when I found it. Dean put both of these together, but they are not marked in any way, so I have no idea how long ago they were glued up. He did not build any bows for several years before he passed in 2016, so more than 10 years ago at least, probably more like 15. I decided to go to work on the blank since I was already doing the bandsaw work on my two. Spooky endeavor working on a bow that my friend and mentor put together so many years ago. It was an emotional day in the shop today. A part or me wanted to leave it alone, but I came up with a slightly more courageous plan. I was extra careful putting a saw blade on this one. I'm going to make the best bow I know how to make out of it, then I'm going to kill a deer with it, maybe a squirrel, too, then hang it up next to the ones I have already retired that still mean something to me. The shorter one I will finish as well, but I will need to find better home for it as 62" is too short for my liking.

After I turned off the saw and cleaned up a bit, I could not help myself but to go to work on the blank. I cleaned up the sides of the bow and went on with shaping the handle. I may have a string on it tomorrow. One thing about it that is suspect is the bamboo he used was probably an experiment with some kiln dried bamboo (that I may well have given him 15 years ago to try). I have a considerable amount of it myself but have never used any yet. You can tell it is kiln dried because it gets really brown when you bake it. Overly dried bamboo backing will be brittle and could fail in tension because of it. Kiln drying is about the only way you could possibly over dry bamboo, and it not likely to happen, but still, it could. We gonna find out. These pics also demonstrate how much Osage darkens over time from oxidation and UV exposure