First bow..

[dw.luke]

Hi everyone
Started shooting some arrow's about six months ago and the bug got me real bad...
Want to start my own bow and will be doing a build along with "poorfolkbows"
Cannot find any red oak. Will Tasmanian black do as a first go?

[greybeard]

Hi Luke, welcome to Ozbow.

It would be helpful if you could provide your general locality as there could be a bowyer nearby.

Do you have much in the way of suitable tools for bow making and have you set a budget for bow making materials?

Daryl.

[Outbackdad]

Welcome to Ozbow.

Yes shooting arrows is great fun, enjoy Ozbow.

Eddie

[dw.luke]

Hi Daryl – I'm in Adelaide, originally from South Africa. Australia is home now for the last four years and loving every moment!
As we started over when landing here, budget and tools are almost non-existent. That’s why I’m starting with an easy board bow as it won’t break the bank and doesn’t require too much on the tool front. I’ll buy what’s needed and slowly work my way back into a proper equipped shed.
The Tasmanian black wood I picked up is very straight and the grain runs perfectly down the whole length.
I’m shooting with a 70” 40lbs take-down recurve at the moment and hope to work my way up to my own recurve.

[Gringa Bows]

Welcome to Ozbow

[hunterguy1991]

Welcome to Ozbow mate!

Can you post a photo of the board you have so we can assess what you're working with?

Colin

[dw.luke]

Here it is after it’s been cut to size (40x20x1850mm)

[rodlonq]

Hi Luke, welcome to Oxbow.

I haven't made a successful board bow yet, but I reckon your board look better than any I have tried with.

Good luck with it, there are many fellas on here that will be able to help you.

cheers... Rod

[Nezwin]

By the numbers, "Australian Blackwood" (I assume this is the same as Tasmanian Blackwood?) has a relatively low Crushing Strength for it's Elasticity. It has a fair Mod. Rupture though.

http://www.wood-database.com/lumber-ide ... blackwood/

My instinct is that this wouldn't make a good wood for a mechanical part of a bow, but I could be wrong. Until you or someone else has tried it, who knows?

If you can get to Bunnings you should be able to locate some Spotted Gum decking and some Pole Bamboo. Not necessarily the easiest beginner build (more akin to the bamboo-backed Ipe bow on poorfolkbows) but you should be able to get a shooting bow from it. Otherwise, try a visit to Otto's Timbers in Adelaide - they stock a few imported timbers such as Hickory, White Oak or Maple. It will be significantly more expensive than cheap Red Oak from Masters but easier to work than a bamboo-backed bow, just take your time using it or you'll be making mistakes on (relatively) expensive boards!

Unfortunately, it would seem that Adelaide & SA as a whole doesn't have a whole lot of good timber suppliers, so the best of luck with your search. If you're really brave & have the time to ask around a few small-scale timber mills, I've been given a lead that there is Yew, Hickory, Elm and all sorts of other northern hemisphere timbers widespread throughout SW Victoria/SE South Australia, if you know where to look.

Good luck & welcome to the forum!

[dw.luke]

Okay so that didn’t work.
Don’t know too much about bow making just yet …but after two attempts (got two sections out of the board I bought) I can make my first statement... You were absolutely 100% correct - Don’t use Tas-blackwood for a board bow…lol.

I was taking my time and all went well on the second attempt even with the tillering. Up to about the 18 Inch mark. Both limbs slammed off at almost the same distance from the riser.

Well - I got myself a Spotted Gum decking board and will go it again.

Whish me luck …

[Nezwin]

Luke - you'll need to back that Spotted Gum with something, even if it's just cloth.

[dw.luke]

Would fiberglass work?

[bigbob]

something I've used with success is plain old denim. glued it up with titebond 3 glue I'size' the back of the bow[spread a thin layer of glue on] , leave it for a day and then lay out backing material after submersing temporarily in water. Once wrung out so cloth is just damp spread glue all along backing and lay out on limbs smoothing all creases and wrinkles out . allow cloth to fold over edges a little and I also apply small quantity of glue to laid up backing working it into material. Allow to dry for day or so and CAREFULLY run along edges with razor sharp blade to shape.Don't exercise limbs for some day to allow glue to dry properly.

[Nezwin]

Would fiberglass work?

Fibreglass cloth with resin applied directly to the back of the bow would seal it from splintering, up to a certain poundage. It's basically the same as Bigbob has described - a cloth & a glue/resin to bind it. It won't win any awards for performance or long-term durability, but it'll turn an unsuitable board into something that won't explode (probably).

If you go the fibreglass route, try to get unidirectional glass in as heavy a weight as you can get - it will be better than a light crossweave. Personally, I'd apply the backing before cutting out the bow, that way you have very clean edges when it's cut to shape. Once your glue or resin is set, cover the back in masking tape and draw your profile on that. But that's just my preference, I'm not sure it makes a big difference.

[dw.luke]

Thanks Guys – will let you know how it goes…with some photo’s.
I just struggle with the upload of pic’s as the file size is usually to big…?

[greybeard]

........I just struggle with the upload of pic’s as the file size is usually to big…?

If you don't have suitable software for compressing photos you could try setting your camera to 1 megapixel.

I have done this with my el'cheapo 8 megapixel Samsung and the image size comes in at 1024 x 768 pixels that fits the Ozbow format.

Images hover around 300 kbs and if needed I do a bit of cropping.

I have noticed that a lot of photos posted on the site contain too much foreground / background with the subject of the photo being a narrow strip somewhere near the middle of the photo.

Daryl.

[Nezwin]

If you right-click the image and select 'edit' the picture will open in paint. From there you can click 'resize' on the top tab and resize accordingly. If the image is 1mb, taking it to 25% of the original size will get it to about 90kb (1/8 of the original file size) which is about right for the forums.

[dw.luke]

Bow 1 riser.jpg (119.09 KiB) Viewed 8376 times

Thanks, lets see how it works...
- First one to brake

Bow 1 back.jpg (139.03 KiB) Viewed 8376 times

[dw.luke]

That was a bit big but now i know...

[Nezwin]

So it seems the fibreglass cloth backing came out neat but I'm not sure of the context of your second picture.

Some shots of the full bow at full draw, braced and unbraced can be good to understand how the mechanical parts of the bow are working. Ofcourse, that does assume the bow is fully tillered, which I'm not sure you've got to yet...?

[dw.luke]

IMG_20160504_193046.jpg

Hi been away for a bit..
No this bow didn't make it far into the tiller process.
Mostly my ignorance and Tasmanian black will not make a bow....me thinks... As you said...Lol
I'm in the process of making the spotted gum bow I mentioned. It's going well at the moment. I'll post some pics later...in tiller. Unfortunately I don't get much time to work on it,but enjoy every moment.

[dw.luke]

Hi Nezwin,
What epoxy do you use to laminate with or to glue a wood backing on?
I did fine with the spotted gum board – against you advise I made it without backing…my bad…
It popped a splinter on full draw 29” at about 45pls after six arrows…if I had a backing on I now would be working on my second “working “bow.
I must say those six arrows felt better than all the other arrows I’ve ever shot!
I promise to pay more attention to advice in the future…

Lukas

[Nezwin]

Hi Nezwin,
What epoxy do you use to laminate with or to glue a wood backing on?
I did fine with the spotted gum board – against you advise I made it without backing…my bad…
It popped a splinter on full draw 29” at about 45pls after six arrows…if I had a backing on I now would be working on my second “working “bow.
I must say those six arrows felt better than all the other arrows I’ve ever shot!
I promise to pay more attention to advice in the future…

Lukas

Hi Lukas,

I just sent this as a PM in reply to your PM -

Morning Lukas,

My advice isn't gospel! It's just what's worked for me. I'd encourage you to try things out & make your own mistakes - they're lessons you'll never forget.

I use an industrial epoxy from a composites company in Brisbane. It's about the strongest stuff available, but I use it because I also do composites & custom motorbike work as a hobby, so I need something with a broad usage. I also use an epoxy resin, which is an Aradur-derivative. Again, pretty hard to come by stuff and overkill for bow making.

If you want to use a fibreglass cloth backing, my advice is to go to a composites company and get some heavy weight unidirectional glass and some epoxy resin. You shouldn't need much. Here's the google search that turned up a few options -

https://www.google.com.au/search?q=fibr ... e&ie=UTF-8

If you want to use an epoxy to glue on a timber or bamboo backing, these guys should have an epoxy glue, or gel, that would do the job. Just ask for the strongest stuff they've got.

The cloth backing will stop splinters lifting but won't do any work. A bamboo or timber backing (you'll be lucky to find a decent bit of straight-grained Hickory or White Oak in Adelaide, from what I've read) will do work but is trickier to prepare & apply.

Good luck! Get in touch if you need any more help.

Neil

You could also order some Smooth On EA-40, if you want to go that route. It's the industry standard for bow makers and will do any bow making job just fine, I'd imagine. It's a branded epoxy gel, as far as I can tell. My understanding is that there's a chap who sponsors this forum who is able to provide this particular product online.