Two packages I received today less than a week and goodies have arrived. :) JF

Come on now, we need to see what is in the boxes!! I always look forward to opening boxes up even when I know what is inside.

Ahhh the suspense, great fast shipping, everything arrived as ordered. Looks great! Batman you have an idea? JF

Ok, I've been wanting to get my cousins bows built. One will be with crystal clear over walnut, checked over 3 times. One Dark brown glass and one green glass. All will be 62"hybrids. I've always wanted to build a green glass bow. I also got another piece of that cool light gray. Next time I'll check out the Lt brown and dark gray. Looks like I've got my winter planed out for awhile :) JF

And some new edge grinder belts 24 and 36 grit. Ready to roll :) JF

It will be great to see the finished bows!

Joe

Looking forward to seeing the finished bows. I would love to have a green glass bow . I had one one time , it was an old Bear , but someone talked me out of it.

BODYMAN, Let's get this show on the road! Can't wait to see how this turns out! SHOOT GOOD! Batman

Ok, a couple years ago, my dads cousin gave me a walnut tree that a tornado blew over on his ranch in southern Missouri. This tree he drug back up from the timber line for me. This tree piece was like 8' long and 20"+ diameter. Cool but I can't get it in the back of my truck. So he says" I'll get it cut however I would like,he knows a gal over at a saw mill that owes him a favor". So the next year I go down its all cut into 2 1/4" ×8" eight foot long,cool. It has some nice dark grain, different than here in Iowa. It took another year of drying up in my house attic. Now its ready. My cousin will get the first from his tree. Birdseye, centered with Purpleheart and layered up into the palm area. Now I've got my glass from OMC, triple checked they call crystal clear.the walnut should look great under that, with a core of Cherry that came from my Barber. So here we go. JF

looking forward to how it'll turn out! -ted

OK Jeff, I'm ready for another build along! Lance.

Alright,after probably way to much thought :) on the riser wood combinations I come up with this. Like some of the old 50s bows where they run a strong accent wood up the middle. That should be seen after the shelf and sight window are cut in. Then I want to cap off the palm area with a alternating thickness of the two woods. This should be very strong and have a cool hour glass sides when the grip is cut in.

After the bottom half is dry and cleaned up. Ill glue up the palm.and let it dry. Birdseye, Purpleheart and and smooth-on. JF

Dry and glue cleaned up edges and mark the back side of riser using the form, cut and sand to fit tight to form. I shine alight on the back side to look for any gaps.JF

Oh man Jeff, I'm so ready for another build along. Just got some new stuff myself

I noticed the green glass. I love it. Been working on this "shorty" bow in green. No finish on it yet but it looks pretty cool.

Tripv , that shorty bow looks cool in green ! How short is that bow? Would love to see it when you finish it.

Barber it is 48". 55# at 28". Has been shot many times and is holding up well. Its my version of the super mag. shoots good but its a little loud. Might just have to mess with brace some.

Never messed with purpleheart, but I likes me some birdseye!

Mutly purpleheart heart is a pain if your cutters are the least bit dull burns rewuiring extra sanding, however it is very dense and works well, i really like it as a beam in the riser where it shows in the sight window. Just like the old Bears.

Jeff looking forward to seeing thst walnut under clear glass, excited to hear thr glass looks clear enough for it.

This thread definitely going into favorites list Jeff right next to your last build.

Well open the packages trip. That is a lot of green I know a guy that wood flip over that, nice. Right papadoc. Chemsoldger your right Purpleheart will burn quicker than some of the other hard woods. Always stay sharp and that belt. Shaping up the back of riser after I trimmed it on the band saw. 36grit on my belt sander. It needs to fit very close to the form, this will take a bit. Sand,check,sand,check. JF

Well, I got the back fitting perfect. I use a template I made from my first riser to mark and scribe the belly ramps. I cut them on the band saw and final shape on the edge grinder I use a squared backer board to support the riser, something more to hold on. JF

Both sides done, looks good. Ready to start cutting laminations, walnut on the outside and Wild Cherry core. JF

I made this from a feather board, I added a bearing stop. Once adjusted, cut move fence, cut move fence and so on. I can duplicate real do send to the same thickness. For ruff cut. My cuts will be edge grain on both woods. JF

Duplicate each cut real close. JF

When you get to close for fingers use a push tool.

Now for some edge grain southern walnut. JF

Well the Cherry is the correct width, just need to make the walnut the same back through the saw.

Awesome Jeff. Love watching your process and learning from it.

~ Steve

I want two .090 butt thickness on the .002 tapers. Using a taper sled I made from a bought taper. JF

Tapers I run one side through ad a parallel, then run through on taper sled sanding the other side. Then alternate sides until I reach my thickness. Now I will make three parallels, one walnut and two Cherry at .050 thick.

After six 36" pieces are ground to specs. They will need to be bevel sanded in this hytech jig :) JF

Outstanding Jeff! Can't wait for the next post!

This way there can be a bevel overlap joint. Glued on a straight edge wrapped in plastic and a couple clamps and this little white block. To squeeze the joint tight and flush with each other. JF

Man, I feel like I,m about ready to start coughing up saw dust for the next three days just looking at this!

I also use the same flat straight edge to sand each joint flush after super glued with medium body gorilla glue. Coat both mating surface when gluing. Sand flat with 36grit 3m stik-it on a small flat wood block. Jf

All the pieces are ready. Final measurements are right where they need to be, to mack this a 40#er.

With glass and no problem tape, 9" in from middle will be .310 that's with .040 of triple check crystal clear glass from OMC. JF

I weigh my smooth-on epoxy. 9 onces is what it will take, four laminates and glass and completed riser. Well let's glove up and start spreading some Smooth-On Epoxy. JF

Spread on back glass, then set on lower form. The form was waxed previously and covered with Saran wrap. The white blocks are to make sure nothing slides off during glue up and in the oven. JF

All my laminates, if they curl slightly they get glued together facing to the back of bow. Not always but sometimes the ends want to curve. Kinda like adding pre stress. JF

Hmm, my honey came out from making jalapeño jelly to take a couple pictures for me. Thanks Honey :)

Almost :) JF

Now to tape down the riser, then the belly's then the ends,using filament tape. Then I'll cover that with plastic before I put on my pressure metal strips. Than air hose and the top of half of form,put the four bolts in.air up to 60#. Everything stays in place. JF

Into the oven. JF

Hahahah boo, you know this is bow was conceived on Halloween :) JF

Well its refreshment time, timer is set for 4 hours. Till tomorrow. JF

I just left everything in the oven and let it cool over night. Time to remove and see how it went. JF

Wow it turned out pretty nice, sure is sharp ;) glue edges that is.JF

Now put everything and away back in the oven with the rest of my wood. Till the next bow build. Now I'll knock the glue edges of on the belt sander with 24grit. This will take it off in a big hurry. JF

Update coming.I needed sometime at the range, so off we go me and Harley boy. Shooting my 1st hybrid. Wood and carbon. JF

You build some beautiful bows, cant wait for the completed pics.

-Bones

OK,I got a 24grit belt on, at work I wood use a 6" air grinder and 24grit either one I like. Wear a mask too for Pete sake. The vacuum only picks up so much. OK here we go. JF

All I'm doing is nock the glue off to the glass edge. JF

OK, now where was I. Oh yea after grinding the edges use a block and 80grit and sand the corners. From grip out to tips. Glass to wood to keep from getting splinters in glass. Not just back and forth. JF

Now this bow blank is ready to lay out the profile. I made a layered permanent pattern after my first. This way I can clamp it down at center. And trace. Simple idea. JF

Lets make this bow a little closer to the overall ruff length. Now that limb layout is traced. JF Jf

This is how I remove the bulk off the limbs,following just barely outside the line. JF

Back to edge sander and sad to the line. And hand sand the corners again,one direction. no splinters.

I use a aluminum yardstick. Clamp and mark back side for string grooves. Mark and file above both ends. File in to a depth of the smallest chain saw file. And roll the file on the groove corners. JF

First string and weigh 40.7 this bow is gonna end up around 37- 38# @ 28" 40# @ 29"

I can't wait any longer how clear is this glass over walnut.

Yea, crystal clear. Good . JF

Now I'm getting somewhere, its looking like the first one. JF

I'm taking to work today to layout and ruff out the grip. This may scare some, but I'm trains with my grinder :) JF

Trained with a grinder and file, file ha those are to slow.

If you can control and keep grinding correctly, glass to wood you should have no problems. 24grit. But make sure you leave yourself room for finer grit later. The moment I've been waiting for, is this. JF

After some smoothing out with 80grit on a DA sander. Its looking like I hoped it wood :) JF

Till tomorrow. Its grip and tip overlays time. What colors and thickness and order. Man the choices :) Have a good one everybody. JF

that purple heart looks good! love the way this is coming together. thanks for sharing Jeff. -ted

Thanks Ted, your welcome. So I'm thinking grip overlay of thin walnut ,thin Purpleheart and than a little thicker walnut. On the tips either black or dark tan phenolic, or a mix of the two. JF

OK, so its gonna be Purpleheart. Since there is a slight curve even at the tips. I can't just glue some up flat overlays. So I've found that Purpleheart at .050 x 4 will give me the .200 thickness I'm looking for. Glue two at a time to each other,they will form to the bow tips without a ton of pressure. So has not to flex the limb, ANY.. JF

These will be the overlay combination for the grip overlay. 1 walnut .040,1 Purpleheart @ .040 and 1 walnut about .125, that one will go on top.JF

Glue to of the lamination at a time using the bow ends as a firm. And mark where they will be glued to the tips, so you get same curve. I use gorilla gel super glue. These will dry overnight. JF

Glue,Two of the laminations at a time,together using the limb as a form:)

Protection and mark where they will go. JF

Grip overlays will get gled to each other with smooth on. Also using the back of grip for the form. Here again mask for protection and to mark where it will be glued permently later. JF

The first 2 laminates dried overnight. Now I'll glue the last two on with gel super glue. And let them sit for the day. When dry I'll clean the edges up and taper the blending edges. Till Tomorrow. JF

My little bow building corner, it works :) JF

Kinda looks like my little knife building corner! Lance.

I love these build alongs ! Thanks for doing them .

Looking good.

Ditto above, thanks.

Looking good Jeff. Keep it coming.

OK guys,things are dry. Be sure and mark which end is what and which way they go. Because they were glued to fit best one way. JF

I'll measure and mark where the overlay will line up on limb. And put a piece of tape to sand up to. JF

Each end marked

Middle marked too. JF

Trace around the belly side of grip overlay, so when spreading glue later you only need to go to the line. JF

I'm gonna start by tapering the grip overlay,using the squared to the belt 2x4 as a support backer. Jf

A fresh 40grt belt would be best, so as not to burn the wood,especially the Purpleheart. But I'm using 36grt. So this will go fast. Leave yourself some room for sanding of finer grit. JF

Use what you can to support the bigger piece when block sanding with 80grt. I also use the steel edge to help keep it square right down to a knife edge. JF

After 80grt I'll step down to 220 stick it sandpaper on a special hytech hardwood block. Do all this fine sanding now,so you won't be sanding a lot close the glass later. The edge in comparison to a razor blade. This will make for a smooth transition to the glass. JF

I use the edge of the square steal to get the wood edge straight and sanded clean to a fine edge. No fuzzy edges. Fine sanding is the key.JF

Do all the same for the tip overlays too. JF

This is a fantastic build along Jeff, thanks for taking the time to post. It's going to be a beauty when your finished. -bb

OK,now that all the tapered edges are done and fit within the tape marks. I'll use 80grt again with that little block and sand the glass up to the tape. Replace tape if you hit and bunch it up to much. Sand longways, not side to side and keep the sanding block flat. When you get to the tape, shorten the strokes to little 1/8" you need to sneak up to the tape ;) JF

All sanded and blown off, wiped with acetone and blown off again. Make sure you don't have water or oil coming out of you line. Use a moister collector. If needed. Remask everything you don't want glue on. Mask right to the corners of the glass. Don't for get the file you used on the grooves comes in handy masking the grooves too. Last mask across the sanded line just barely past on to the sanded area. This will make sure the edge of overlay will have a sanded surface under it, right to the edge. JF

Here we go clamps ready Gorilla gel super glue out of the freezer, that keeps it longer. Coat all mating surfaces as you go,position and clamp. JF

Wipe any excess off after clamping. You don't need extra to sand off that close to the glass. After all we took the extra time to make a fine edge. JF

Well this hybrid, build a long is getting closer to the end. Tomorrow I'll finish shaping the overlays and filing the string grooves around. Till tomorrow. Have a good one everybody. JF

Thanks Jeff! for letting us go along on the build. -ted

OK I've started something, time to finish it up. Instead of all file work. I do mix it up with my everyday grinding tools. Here is 2" 24grt right angle air grinder. Now I'll be looking at the glass edge that you can leave taped also.to remove overlay wood down close to shape . JF

The tips before final shaping. JF

Alright I've filed the string groove to a 3/4 of the file 5/32. Back in the wood jawed rubber cushioned vise. For some shaping with 80grt stikit on a hardwood block. Good scrap ;) JF

Get the end cut off and get to a point. I use the table saw freehand,steady,cut a little long 3/16 if you chip, it can be sanded or filed back. JF

I cut the end off my file so I can use just the end. To roll over the string groove to the belly side. I will also roll the file in my fingers as I work the grooves. JF

awsome,....great stuff..thankyou.

Spinning with my fingers. Jf

I roll on some stikit sandpaper 180grt-220-320 on a bigger finish nail to also sand with. The same way a would love sent a file too.JF

Now for the other end.smooth it all down to 320. And watch all your edges, be sure to round them over. Even a sharp edges can mess with a string loop. JF

The back of the grip is getting a four finger grip. The man that getting this bow has some big hands. Your fingers when gripping a bow don't just run across straight. Your top finger angles down the other two fingers go across straight Littlefinger comes up at an angle.

Some file work for a bit and test feeling the finger grooves. JF

Switching over to a smoother file. Jf

Progressing from 80 down 180- 220-320grit. I also roll sand paper onto an ol broken arrow end, this one still has field point on it. JF

OK, now all the wood and glass edges have been finish sanded with 320. Not the flat part of glass yet. I'm going to start filling the wood grain with big Jim's Buffalo gloss epoxy. Mix a and b let sit for 30 minutes. Then reduce with reducer. So 1to1to2- 1/2. I apply a coat with a gray foam brush. Let sit at least an hour, the another. Repeat until it looks like the grain is filled up from the bottom. 5-10 coats pending how porous the different woods are. Put the epoxy and brush in a ziplock bag and put in the freezer between coats. It'll last for days in the freezer. Let dry for 3-5 days then sand with 320. Blow off real good there might be some sanding dust in a pin hole or crevice. It'll show up white. That's why I put on plenty of coats to get above the low areas. Put on 2 or 3 more coats of the Buffalo gloss epoxy. Let dry good. JF

OK its been drying for 4 days. Don't force dry with extra heat,you can make the wood blow bubbles. Not good. So steady heat 70-80° is good.jf

Now sand the entire bow down with 320-400grit. The flat parts of the glass too. Enough sanding to remove shine and smooth the last clear coats on the wood. I like to hang my bows from the bottom string groove they've all ready been sealed good. The top is what I see the most. I use a loop of serving thread around the groove and hooked to a cheep carabeiner. Spelling are. Key chain style. I like satin or semi-gloss helsman spar urethane indoor outdoor. The nozzle can be turned to change the spray fan to horizontal. Apply one wet coat from top to bottom continuous spray. Up one side down the next. 20 minutes later one more final wet coat, just like the first. I did my spraying in my shed, this stuff will overspray. Blow off real good and tack off before spraying and at least where a dust mask and good ventilation. Jf

One coat. JF

Two coats. Man this glass is clear. Good :) JF

24hrs later a new BCYx Flemish string with some beaver balls cuz the new owner wants them. Not real necessary with this string. A calf hair rest and sideplate. This baby's ready to go. It cam out 38# @ 28". 40 @ 29" he is 75yrs or so. So he should be able to shoot it a lot and easily :) I hope this was an enjoyable build a long and maybe informational. Thank you for following. Jeff Freeman.

Some closer detail pictures a coming. JF

Thethe that's all folks. I'm heading south to hunt and deliver this baby. Try building a bow its not so bad.Have a good one everybody.JF

Nicely done, like that scarf joint jig. What belts are you using on your sander to grind your lams? All those I have tried seem to have a pretty good hump where they are joined.

Nicely done, like that scarf joint jig. What belts are you using on your sander to grind your lams? All those I have tried seem to have a pretty good hump where they are joined.

Jeff , that is a great looking bow! Love the riser and the overall shape the bow takes. If you build one in that green glass please post a pic of it when you get done and thanks again for doing this build! Have a good hunt !

Wow.

Just. Wow... I've taken on a small project here and there, but this stuff is WAY outta my league...

On your point about the wood blowing bubbles when you try to force dry with heat....

IN a wooden boat magazine article, I saw an instruction to heat up the wood before you begin to apply whatever finish you're going to use (epoxy, in the case of the boat builder), and work while the wood is cooling down. Then instead of blowing bubbles, if anything, the wood will be pulling the finish into its pores.

Chemsolder I get my belts from these guys. Blue belts. Forgot what there made of. They have a huge supply of great abrasives. I really like there belts and grit choice.

Nice tip GF. Makes a lot of sense I'll try it on the next one. Thanks. JF

Last but not least, a bow is no good with out some arrows. Gold tip Blems from you know who. 1535s @ 30" with standard inserts and 125 field points seem to fly great at 39-40#s

Great job Jeff. As always

Great looking bow. I like how you taper the nock ends that feather/blend into he limbs.

Not like some that look like a blob/block of wood that to me looks awful. It takes away from the graceful lines of the limbs.

Thats one sweet looking bow!!!

Hey Jeff, That bow is a beauty for sure! Did I ever tell you that I'm your long lost cousin! ;-). I just bought some Osage at Woodworkers for some knife scales. If they don't have, they'll get it. Good company to work with. I get a lot of other supplies there too. Lance.

Nice work Jeff.......you're making great progress as a bowyer. Keep it roll'in!

That was just amazing Jeff...I learned a lot from your detailed instructions and advice...very cool!! The new owner is a lucky guy!!

WOW...Very nice, thanks for taking us along!!!

Great build, Jeff and she turned out as pretty as a new puppy! Thanks for including the tips and explanations at various steps.

Thanks guys,I'm pleased you all have enjoyed my amateur build a long. I am in waiting of a picture from my cozin and his new bow on a nice sunny day.I didn't have time when I was down in Missouri to get a picture of him and bow, and the weather did not cooperate. JF

Ttt for Dan

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