Outfitting Shop for Bowyer work...

[Chris Jackson]

Over the next few months I'll be outfitting a shop from ground zero, both hand tools and machine tools for Bowyer work. My intention is to start with a couple of Reflex/Deflex designs and perhaps some hybrid designs depending on where things lead.

Looking to hear from some other folks who have done Bowyer work about what essential tools I should start keeping an eye out for. I've got a few must have's on my list to get started:

14" bandsaw
6"x80" edge sander
Heat Box w/ Thermostat
Miter Saw

Any of you Bow Builders out there, I'd like to hear your thoughts.

Thanks,
Chris

[Michael Peet]

My brother has made a couple bows; how about a shaving horse, drawknife, and spokeshave?

Mike

[Dean Chapel]

If you are going to grind you own lams, you'll need a drum sander of sorts. I did not use a chop saw at all, but used a table saw a fair amount. Of course you'll need the assorted rasps, files. I used a big disc sander alot as well. Shaping the sight window is a pain. A smal belt sander than can reach in and do narrow work is a good thing.

[Chris Jackson]

Dean,
I can certainly see the idea of a drum sander for grinding individual laminations to thickness. At first I plan on purchasing pre-thicknessed laminations and performing final profiling work on the edge sander. If it turns out that I get a little more "advanced" I'll definitely be looking for a drum sander of some kind.

Any thoughts on hand tools beyond rasps/files?

[russell lusthaus]

Hi Chris

If you will be mainly crafting fiberglass bows, then I suggest some type of buffing machine with sanding drums attached for tillering. If wooden laminated (or bamboo) or self bows are more your flavor, than you will need draw knives, spokeshaves, scrapers, rasps and a good vise. Not too many tools necessary. You should put together a shaving horse and tillering tree - they will come in handy, especially the tree.

If you have never crafted bows before, I would caution you on going straight to R/D type bows. They require a "good eye" to get right, and that eye comes only from practice. I would suggest that you initially build straight limbed or reflexed bows before doing the R/D.

I always have about 5 bows in various stages of completion about my shop. If you would like more detailed info, do not hesitate to ask.

Instead of gathering tools, I would concentrate on getting and storing the wood you wish to use. If you find yourself in the NY area, I would be happy to give you a stave or two of freshly cut and split black locust. After a brief drying period (4-5 months) they will be ready to go, and depending how bad they check while drying - there could be 4 bows in the two staves.

Russ

[Chris Jackson]

Russell,
Thanks for the tips. I will certainly be building a tillering tree and I have a shave horse I built some years ago which I'm sure I can modify as needs be. Do you have any design resources for the tillering tree; photos or links?

For tillering my thoughts were that the edge sander would work. Is this a faulty assumption? I had seen some Youtube videos of folks performing their tillering in this way; it seemed about as controlled as you can be with the tillering evolution. Here is a link to the unit I am considering purchasing:

http://www.amazon.com/Grizzly-G0512-.../dp/B0000DD08U


Construction types: Wood laminations, with various wood cores and FRP backings look like the way to go for me. I plan on experimenting with several design ideas. I spent a lot of time with Jack Harrison's book "Traditional Bowyer", and liked some of the experiments he constructed, and plan on similar (minus his "breakdown" hardware).

That said, I'm not ruling out straight limbs as future products, I'm just not sure that they will suit my objectives; which are: custom length to accommodate a 30" Draw without stacking (I'm 6'3" and 28" draw is not adequate), 55# to 60# draw weight at 30" draw, adequate core elasticity to maintain longevity of the bow, etc...also, I really like the lines of R/D design.

I definitely understand there is a lot of nuance to this construction, and I'm not afraid of having to go through several attempts to get a usable product. However, I certainly would like to improve my chances. Any reference materials/books/videos you recommend?


I should have prefaced my questions with a little background: I've worked wood in some form (usually household furnishings) for about 15 years. Due to some personal issues earlier this year I had to liquidate my shop. I'm starting to rebuild and I've decided that in remaking the shop my focus is going to be something a little different...I'm going to give bowyer work a shot and gear up explicitly for that.

I have a good local sawyer who can source anything I might need from domestics to exotics, and ample storage area in my shop for conditioning my lumber to the appropriate moisture content. I would most likely resaw many of the laminations myself (for core materials) and take them down to finish dimensions on my planer and with hand tools...for the bamboo I would most likely order the laminations from a reputable online company (stickbow or Binghamprojects). Any suggestions there?

Thanks for taking the time Russell...looking forward to your answers...

Chris

[russell lusthaus]

Hi Chris

That is some piece of machinery you are looking at. While I am sure you will find a way to use it, for bows, I think I would only use it in cleaning up edges of glue ups and in bringing the blank to down to the drawn line. I use the flat of my belt/disc sander for that task now. If I made many fiberglass bows (which I do not) I would likely use this ( http://www.grizzly.com/products/The-...3450-RPM/G1061 ) to tiller them with. I know many guys who do the same.

I have not read Harrisons book yet and you can not go wrong utilizing Binghams plans and materials. Although written mainly about the construction of self osage bows, Dean Torges "Hunting the Osage Bow" should be required reading for any aspiring bowyer, IMHO. The Hamm four book set (I forget the name) is the bible - although expensive, most bowyers I know have a set - and they can be read in the library too. The Bent Stick by Comstock is packed full of tidbits and focuses on white wood self bows. There are also many good forums where lots of info can be found. Primitive Archer and Stickbow are some of my favorites. I would also recommend Torges DVD on building Bamboo backed bows - very informative, even if you only plan to use Hickory or Osage for backing woods.

The style of bows and their size and draw weight that you wish to build can be achieved with R/D bow as well as flat bow, a reflexed bow, a recurve bow, etc. If properly tillered, within reason, the shape of the bow will not affect the specs. That said, the R/D shape is quite difficult to tiller correctly as the end of the limbs must get thicker before thinning out - I found it very counter intuitive when I was learning. You can not make use of the tillering gizmo either. No matter how you slice it, the first few bows you build will end up as junk. Do not throw them away. I love showing my junked bows off (not sure why). My suggestion to leave the R/D bows till later reflects my own experience in learning to tiller. BTW - of course you like the R/D profile - everyone does. To my eye it is the most pleasing too. That said, most of the bows I make on commission are either recurves or flat backed with a little reflex. Many traditional shooters are understandably worried about paying a lot of money for a bow to have the handle pop off and the wrong moment (like there could ever be a "right" moment).

You are on your own when it comes to making laminations, as I said I do not do fiberglass bows very often, and when I do, I purchase lams. Lots of ways to skin that cat, drum sander and a jig being the most common, I think. Browse the forums for ideas. Lots out there.

I get my Bamboo from Franks. They mail it to me from CA. You can find them on the web. Call them and tell them you want it for bows. They know what to send you - they come about 2 inchs wide and 8 feet long. They come full thickness and of course need to be thinned. I usually buy them 6 at a time due to shipping costs. You can also get rattan from them, if that interests you. I make lots of kids bows from rattan. I make lots of Bamboo backed Ipe bows. Great combo IMHO.

Here is a link for a tillering tree - http://www.tradgang.com/stuff_bin/tillertree.jpg. Modify to suit your needs. Make sure you build it tall enough to reach your 30 inch draw. I think my tree goes to 31 inches, making the 30 inch draw the biggest I can do with it (I always design them overbuilt one inch as you never know who will pick it up an draw it). Not much fear in overdrawing a 30 inch bow, though.

BTW - what is "FRP backings". I cant place the initials.

As to your local sawyer - if he can hold of an osage tree, I would split the cost with you, to get a load of both splits and planks, if it is green. MD is not too far for the right wood. I know many guys on this forum would travel a lot further.

In a nut shell, while some of the tailed tools aid in making bows, most of the real work is done with hand tools. The buffer and band saw are very useful. Table saw and disc sander I am sure you will have anyway. After that, the most used tools in my shop is the vise and shaving horse with draw knives, spoke shaves and scrapers and rasps.

If there is anything else you wish to know, do not hesitate to ask.

Russ