Finally getting started on this project got my cores today from Kirk Lavender of Big Foot Bows. Posted the form last week under Shape of things to come. Have the rest of the material coming.

This started out as joke last year to see if I could ruffle some feathers on R/Ding an old Grizzly static in 2pc carbon and foam. To say the least open mouth insert foot, everyone thought that would be cool. So I bought a 1953 Grizzly. Once I got the bow I changed my direction sort of. Could not bring myself to use foam for cores on the bow. This build will still be a 2pc R/D version of the Grizzly static. The lay up will be as follows. Carbon weave backing, carbon uni, "yew" tapers, 5A curly Claro Walnut veneers, clear glass on the belly. The riser is a standard slip sleeve with 5a curly Claro Walnut. Brush nocks will be yew and walnut also.

Here is where I'm at today. Pictures don't do that walnut any justice but it is what it is. A little patience here you fellows know how long it can take to post stuff. But I started out today with just blocks of stuff. Got the veneers rough sawn and the riser ready for final shaping for the forms. This build is going to take awhile. Not going to be able to get all the detail of the old Bear but this is not going to be an easy build even to get close

Looking good…I've always glued the bow up then cut it in half to fit the handle before I cut the bow to shape. Be interested to see your process.

Sorry for the one picture jerked the trigger LMAO. This bow will be ambidextrous like the original. I'm hoping for under 45#. But it just a wet finger in the air for the stack on it. Original is at .350. I've dropped this down to .300 keeping the original tapers. But with the R/D and carbon its anyone's guess

Y'all take care, OB

This is gonna be awesome Todd. Hey you know if it comes out to HEAVY, send it up I'll shoot it. JF

I'm amazed at what bowyers can do. Thank you for explaining and posting your pics. I don't understand a lot of it, but I can admire it.

Been doing these sleeves for years JF. Its easier my way then cutting a 1pc in half and putting it back together. Just takes a straight backboard and a square rest to it to put the bow together. I'll go into detail on that one for you.

Making a bow ain't rocket science mgerad in some aspects. Right now though I'm arguing with a couple of Einstein's about the neutral plane on a limb. They have all kinds of pretty graphics, giving me a headache LMAO. You can take a nice straight piece of lumber.. Glue down some glass and wood cores. Cut the thing out put a string on and you'll have a bow. Shoot plenty of people on here building them with out the glass! LOL. Hope you enjoy the build along

OB

Can't wait to see this beauty!

Oldbowyer, sounds to me you are very knowledgeable on bow building. This is going to be interesting. Always like the older static designs. Good luck. Scott

Nice, will be watching.

Well the idea of the build is to try and hold as much of the lines as I can from the old grizzly and just see what an R/D carbon version might do. it should be a lot faster pound for pound. And I hope to take any handshock out of it. But with the brush nocks be hard telling

I too have fallen in love with this static of mine. Looks like a scorpion ready to strike when drawn LOL. But at 50# is to heavy for me to enjoy. maybe if I shot more could get my shoulders back

So are you staying rue to the original Grizzly front and side view profile or are you modifying it?

Unfortunately the sleeve is going to make her a little fat in the middle. Nothing I can do about that but will try and keep as much of the width profile as I can. its a very sleek bow. I've built the forms with idea that I can join them and build this bow as a 1pc also

Here is a few shots of the start of this. My damn computer has ate some of them. Not happy. Basically I laid out a piece of 1/4" plywood with a center line and base line and used a 6' level for a straight edge. Put the old Grizzly on that traced the limbs. Put my metal sleeve on it to reference that. Then I got my first R/D longbow I built and put that on the pattern traced that limb. Put the Grizzly back on it and married the two. The actual pattern I used was my 3rd one then another 1/2 pattern smooth out the riser/limb transition some. The limb has more sweep than what I started out with also

Off to shop

Just throwing this out there but don't you think it would have been more interesting to have built the bow with the original sideview profile? Or. does the amount of Reflex in the limb only balance out the flat midsection? Hard to tell from the picture.

Here is where we are today and its done till the rest of the material gets here. I built a back stop out of a piece of 2x4 to help me with those long damn fade outs. I contoured the bottoms to the forms and just rough sawed the rest of it. Was afraid to finish them today. Stuff happens in the shop LOL and I did not want to take the chance of breaking the fade outs shuffling stuff around. Still need to finish the forms and some other stuff. Was looking at my cores today and they are thinner than I ordered. But kirk sent me some extra cores I'll turn them into parallels to get my stack. Could do it with the belly veneers but the would be awful thick and I don't want that.

I should be able to come real close to the side profile of the Grizzly but it will be a R/D design

Walnut and yew going to make a nice contrast!

That is going to be a pretty thing.

Thanks fdp. Weather or not it does what I want, ought to be an interesting build.

I've study that old Grizzly a lot and it is really a nice piece of craftsmanship. Not figured out all the whys on it. For instance there is an added piece of wood on the top and bottom of the riser. On the top piece there is a kerf in the glass where it looks like it was cut off down into the glass. JF showed me several of his bows they all have that same kerf. In the tip of the bow the belly glass has actually been sanded off for the brush nock build up but there is a thin remnant of a veneer also. There are also very thin veneers under the glass. I was told by another bowyer that the glass with the glue used had to be under high heat to get the glass to stick. The veneers were used for this process, once that was done the rest of the bow was laid up. So I assume that remnant of veneer on the belly was part of that process and also ground off for the brush nocks. I don't plan on doing that. Also with JF's bows I noticed that some of the build ups used tapered laminations some did not. Debating that one.

Win or loose on the project its good to be out in the shop

This awesome Todd. I'll watch and learn. JF

OK Brother but ain't it about your turn to start your Grizzly?

The 59? Getting there soon. I'll do a static later. JF

Little up date to this project and I hope all of you are having a good Thanks Giving.

Was notified yesterday that my carbon weave and glass from OMC are on there way. So got my butt out into the shop today.

Put a coat of finish on the forms then turned my attention to the brush knocks. Spent the rest of my day spinning my damn wheels on that. Ole Fred ain't making this build easy! LOL. Ended up coming to the conclusion that to do what I want need a separate form for the brush nocks and its at least a two stage build on those. Thankfully Kirk from Big Foot sent me plenty of yew for this project

Y'all take care, OB

Here is where I got this evening. My mini forms LOL. They match the other forms perfectly. The radius on the brush nocks will be a little tighter than the outside radius of the limbs but it should help when it comes time to glue them down. Could have done the build up on the limbs in the other forms but just did not want to punch this big of holes in that form

Be out of the shop this wknd got some errands to run and won't have time

Makes sense oldbowyer. JF

Might need one more clamp. Seems easier to see where I might be screwing up at looking at my pictures LOL

I have a 55# was my fathers.Man that bow shot an arrow when I could handle that weight.Nice to see a come back of a great oldbow.

I'm sure that bow is quite the treasure for you. The one have I got off of e-bay and its almost mint condition. Its 50# a tad heavy for me now also but I have shot it. Bodymanbower was gracious enough to let me shoot one of his here a while back that was 45#. What I think I loved the most about the old bow was how well it pointed. Which surprised me. They are a longway from center shot but it sure would plant them!

Take care, OB

Real nice thread! Thanks for sharing

Yes Runner as I understand it needed to use a high heat to get the wood to stick to the glass.

Guess we will find out soon enough on the speed of the project. It only stands to reason that an R/D limb would be faster than the old limb. Look what R/D does to long bows. My only concern is hand shock and if that will tame. That extra weight out on the tips of the bow ain't going to help. I am planning though on using a HMPE string on the bow. Sure settled down one of my statics I was playing with last year

Excellent Todd! Best luck here comrade, b

Thank you Straitera, but we have a ways to go yet! LOL

Runner its not the reflex of the bow. The old Bear is all reflex. Coming straight off the riser. IMHO with the amount of reflex in the old Bear she lost her ability to store energy. its used up just bringing the bow to brace. On an FDC the old bear is only storing around 83%. Those tips move close to 15" just to brace the bow. Its running out of working limb just to brace it.

By deflexing the old design it brings your string closer to the limbs.. This creates more brace tension. But it also allows for more working limb and the bow should be able to store more energy. Which is what I'm hoping on it will transfer more energy to the arrow. Only way to find out is build the damn thing, see what happens LOL

I've been a r/d longbow shooter for years, Robertson and Great Northern, great shooters. Then a couple years back I got a 1952 Bear K-2. That got me started on the bear static recurves. I love the way they point, and with a no/low stretch string they are quick and quiet, with no or low thump. I now have a 1953 k-4 at 59# (shot a doe and good buck with it this season), a 1952 k-2 at 58#, a 1953 k-4 at 52# and a 1954 Grizzly at 49#, all tuned with matched home made tapered dog fir arrows. These are fine bows. Can't wait to see how your build turns out. Thanks for sharing.

What little I have gotten to shoot the originals Old School I agree. I've noticed even with Dacron mine has a sweet spot on the brace. Most of my thump is coming from not getting a good anchor because of the bows weight and I really enjoyed JF's bow when I was out in Iowa. Need to get off my lazy butt and shoot more maybe I can get back up to 50# and shoot that old grizzly some.

Runner its not that the glass on the bow can't take the stress. it's not the point of this build. its getting it to "store" more energy But what few of these old statics I have seen even mine and its almost museum quality has stress fractures in the glass. It is a testament to the quality of the old glass. But the bows are stressed out.

Anyway my glass and carbon are here for the project. Do my best get this show on the road LOL.. But I do hate this time of year after the time change. Raining today and it was dark by 5pm. My damn body clock just shuts down when the sun goes down. LOL

Thanks for letting us in on your project.

I'm not a bowyer but I think it's important for people like me to know something about the thinking and craft that goes into our bows.

Alright, alright,alright,lets get some dust flying OB ;) I'm ready:) JF

Geez JF I'm old an slow now LOL. Give an old man a break. Your starting to remind me of that old joke about the old bull and the young bull. LMAO

No pictures JF but I got some dust flying on the project. had to put my shop vac back together. stole the plug off it for a project LOL. Also made some major mods last spring to my Grizzly Baby Drum sander. So I done the wood for the brush nocks this evening to get the feel of the mods on the sander. The material is in shop now will mic everything tomorrow and run my parallels to get my butt measurement or as some of you young bulls call a stack. The original is around .350 for a butt measurement. I'm going to go between .290 and .300. The old bow is 50# I would like to have 45# or under. But with everything I'm doing its just a wet finger in the air. I have nothing to reference to.

Will dry run the first stage of the brush nocks tomorrow. "Maybe" get some bow snot on them

I remember the old bull joke,ok we'll walk :) I'm watching OB. JF

In and following. I may be from a younger era, but I was raised right,.. I know the bull joke too. Maybe it has to do with a past ag teaching job?? :-) AND I'm also walking down to the meadow.

-Bones

Obviously one of those jokes that has been handed down through the generations.

Does that make it traditional? LMAO!

Sorry fellows left the camera out in the shop. its cold and I ain't going back out! LOL

Done a dry run to check things out on the brush nocks, then put the bow snot to them. Basically just glued half of the build up. This is the base. Will do a semi feather out on that put the rest of the build up on after that. Once its on the bow I can finish it.

I'm hoping to glue the bow up Sunday just have to see how things go. If I can't glue it up this Sunday will have to be next. I work 6 days a week like it or not, so it kinda of limits my time to do anything major in the shop.

y'all take OB

Rain-shmain, go get the camera. You won't melt :) JF

great idea for a build and I'll be watching for sure... I guess I missed the old bull joke... and I taught Ag. for 36 years! thanks for the build.

OK JF got the camera and an extra shot of the lay up out of the forms. Was a little concerned last night but they came out just fine. Will taper this then glue up the rest of the brush nock. Finish them when they are on the bow.

So picture 1 is the dry run. Picture 2 is the base of the brush nock. 3 layers down 4 to go

Sheltered life BowAholic? LOL

Alright :) adding this thread to my favorites. I hope the leatherwall never crashes. JF

Yeah well Brother you've always got my e-mail! LOL

Yes I do :) JF

Been a long day at work and I just got out of the shop. Sorry fellows not going to get this laid up tomorrow. Still to much to do and I don't want to rush it. Once that bow snot goes on its game over. So it had better be right LOL.

I did get the risers faded out and ready. Took off a nice piece of hide on my little finger into that project. Fellow needs to pay close attention on where his digits are at in relationship to his sanding drum LOL. Almost have the veneers done for the bow. I'm down to .060 on the four on them. The belly veneers will be .040 and the set that will run down the center of the limb to get my stack. They will be .032. It will be slow going to finish them and I'm tired so it was time to quit. get a fresh start on them in the morning.

Here is a shot of the riser blocks and the belly veneers. The curly will show up when the bow snot goes on LOL

Night y'all OB

Nice long thin fades OB. Long and thin like the originals. JF

Yeah and nothing like a little bit of blood shed to get there. LOL

Should have just stayed in bed this morning, not a good day in the shop.

Went to finish my parallels for the project. Kept running them through the baby drum and checking my results.. Whole time I'm thinking damn these things are getting thin. Finally quit when my dial calipers read .045. Get upstairs start laying things out and looked at my calipers. *&^%$ must have slipped a tooth. Reading .020 closed. Started sliding them back and forth and the #$%&^^@ needle was all over the place. Got the digital and was at .020. So would anyone like 2prs. of book matched curly Claro Walnut veneers. Faunched over that for quite a while this morning. Was going to cut my big block of the walnut and decided to just cut a pair out of my remaining piece just make them thicker. get rid of the center lam. So my new parallels are .060 and my final stack will be .290. That's .060 thinner than the original. As long as the bow is over 20 and under 50 I'll be happy.

Got everything cut down now and ready for the forms. Decided to turn my attention to the brush nocks. Should have thought that out some more also. My idea was to save a little material and maybe some elbow grease. Saving the material alright but I think I increased my elbow grease about 3 fold. I'd been better building them the full length and thickness. Run them through the bandsaw then work them down before they went on the bow. Live and learn Dad always said we learn more from our mistakes.

So I'm nursing todays wounds with a cold beverage. here is a shot of the new parallels. Only good thing that came out of it is these have a lot more figure in them. Also a picture of the how the stack will lay up in the bow. Carbon weave, carbon uni, 2prs yew cores, curly Claro Walnut and Belchers certified crystal clear glass.

Will spend the week now on the brush nocks and the sleeve also. Both going to be a project. Right now that sleeve does anything but slip. LOL. Any of you fellows interested on how to work one of these. I can start a separate thread for them.

Anyway my friends, bottoms up I'm done for the day, OB

Great build along! I love the early static Grizz and Kodiaks. I think keeping the mass down in the brush nocks would do wonders for that bow. Can't wait to see how things progress!

Yes woodshavins it would. Friend of mine taped a penny 1" below his nock grooves for a little test. Penny was 40grs. he lost 5fps.

I've been thinking of some ways maybe to lighten those brush nocks. Right now I'm just trying to figure out how to build what started LOL

I'm trying to keep as much of the look of the old bow as I can other than R/Ding the limbs. That old gal also about as narrow as I care to take a bow.

It'll be interesting to see what the R/D and the carbon does for the poundage as well torsional stability. I've dropped .060 total thickness on this project. I know in my R/D carbon longbow that a stack at .330 will make a 50# bow in a 64". This bow is .040 under that but is 2" short with some "hooks" LOL. The longbow also has a faster taper with "a lot" of working limb. Ain't a whole lot of real estate left in this limb between the long fade outs and that static tip.

The thinner limb also is why I wanted a weave to this project

Damn its getting cold, but I guess we have a had a good run for the fall.

Put a couple more pieces on the brush nocks. Will put the last two on tomorrow. Did not feel like trying to deal with 4 little pieces of wood with the bow snot on them. Two were enough LOL

Might get this bow laid up pretty soon. Doc has taken me off of work till the 27th. I'm suppose to stay off my feet. As long as you fellows don't rat me out see if I can't get this glued up in a couple days. What the hell am I suppose to do for next 2 weeks sit on my butt. Not likely

I won't tell on ya, but don't over do it;-)

Not to go to much in detail about my job. But I carry 14# of metal in each hand in a bout an 90' circle between 8 work stations. I do that for 7.5 hours a day and I'm on a quota.

yep being in the shop is off my feet!

Well after running all over hells creation today and the BS finally got out to the shop some and here is where I'm at.

Have the last 2 pcs glued to the brush nocks. Had a bit of cupping on the outsides and had to sand them flat. Be using the centers anyway so no big deal. Just something to file for future reference if I build another one.

All the glass and carbon has been wiped down and taped. Fresh banding cut. In the morning will do a dry run see if I need to change anything. Get that done wax up the forms and glue her up. need to get it done tomorrow dropping into the teen's here Friday, can't wait :(

Will get some photos and I appreciate you fellows following along. OB

I'm ready and watching Todd. JF

Alright see if I can get this all posted before my computer crashes LOL

Form ready for the dry run,, dry run and the bow ready for the box. Had a visitor keeping an eye on me LOL

While the bow was in the box got the brush nocks out of there form cleaned them up. They have a lot more work to them. Also polished and fitted the sleeve. That ook most of my time while the bow was cooking. I can slide it in and out barely with my fingers. Will polish it some more once the bow is together. But you don't want this to get sloppy. A shot of the limbs and a shot of just how much I changed the old Grizz. Don't have the deflex that I thought I would end up with. Should have used my Intruder Longbow instead of the old prototype.

Y'all take care OB

Oh yeah,its coming together. JF

So what do you think JF start a new thread on this build. This one is getting kind of long and there is a lot more to this build before she is strung.

Staring to get hungry should have shot that squirrel for supper! LMAO

Keep this one going, I don't see a problem. JF

Well the next part of this will be getting it put together. On my normal T/D longbows this would be a simple matter of fitting the ends into the sleeves, glue it up. But the riser of the Grizzly is 3 sections glued together to get the height of the riser. The riser on this bow I've set up the same way. So it will take some figuring to get all the pcs glued and into the sleeve. After all part of this project is to copy as much of the old grizz as I can

Had another visitor to the shop today. Picture is crap but think you can make it out. Daughter mad because I did not shoot it, said she like some rabbit stew LOL

Did not get to far today. Kind of in a situation of which came first the chicken or the egg. Really spent most of the day saying "Damnit Fred".

I'm working on the lower overlay of the riser. have that roughly at .280 thick on the original Grizzly. The deep kerf in the piece I'm working matches the flat area of the metal sleeve. When I round this over will not be a rounded shoulder so the sleeves come tight to the metal handle. My chicken or egg problem is weather to glue this to the riser or the sleeve first. My joints need to be tight yet I need the play when I put the bow together. I'll sleep on it tonight but open to suggestions.

JF a side note. She's feeling stiff, guess that's what carbon can do. This bow is .060 thinner than the original! If she comes out close to 50 make a good comparison with the original. But will have to use my red neck shooting machine to shoot the damn thing. You up to shooting it if I can't?

I can shoot it buddy. Anxious to see it and or shoot it, we can work out the bugs. JF

I figured you would LOL. But maybe I need to start doing some push ups so I can shoot it also LOL.

Have my chicken or egg problem figured out get some more java in me get out to shop. Pictures to follow

Thought I'd post the pictures first so I could refer to them.

First picture is the pieces to glue down to the riser. I thinned them down where they will go under the sleeves. Ended up cutting all most of the upper piece off. Just about enough of it left to cover the metal. It's pretty big arch in the shelf of the old Grizzlly. It's going to be fun coping that!

Second shot is my solution to my chicken/egg problem. wrapped some pieces of wood with plastic and butted them up to the riser.

Last shot is the new pieces glued on. I moved the bow to a nice warm place till tomorrow. Still plenty I could do today but have decided to try and follow Doctors orders a little better so staying off my feet the rest of the day. Not use to sitting on my a$$ though. this ain't going to be easy

Hey TODD? Didn't know that THIS was Your project. I'd have been watching sooner. What's de problem with de feets? Hope that You get better and can get back up to par? STAY SAFE / WELL / WARM / COMFORTABLE & BLESSED BE! Batman

Well dog gone BATMAN thought you knew I was going to do this "someday" LOL.

People here got bigger problems than mine. OB

Well she's together sort of! LOL Pieces glued on well, time for shaping for the sleeves. This starts out just eyeballing and rounding off the wood. Once the sleeve starts I'll work down the handle some and look for compression marks on the wood where the sleeve is tight.. File that out and start over look for the next tight marks and so on till the sleeve goes on. You can get fairly rough with the steel sleeve. Once that's on start on the other. But you need to be gentle here with the brass part and look for where it is getting tight. You jamb that on and you will be back to the fitting and polishing again to get the sleeve to work. If your lucky!

So here is what its starting to look like assembled. See if I can't glue it tomorrow. Three things have to happen all at the same time. get the proper R/D, the limbs true to each other and straight! Once the glue is cured the sleeves will be pinned like a knife.

Sorry JF, got to flexing the bow after I got it put together. Feeling like something I'll be able to shoot Just guessing over 35 and under 45!

I'll do the final gluing on my centering board

Its really coming along now Todd.Very nice buildalong.Look forward to the finished piece!

Thank you bowhunt.

Starting to see my mistakes in some of it. My riser is going to end up a lot different from the original. Going to have a lot more wood on top than the original. Should have brought the top of my riser a lot closer to the handle in doing the fade outs. But what the hell, it'll come out in the laundry LOL

PS JF had a dream the other night it came out at 42. See what happens LOL

Am I thinking right. Seems to me a fellow can get reproduction stickers for these old Grizzly's. Think it would be to funny to put them on this bow

Looking Good OB. Keep going Bud. JF

Not a lot to report today. Started my squaring, getter straight process. Bow has a bad case of "up yours" LMAO It is coming along and I'll get in the shop early tomorrow and build a fire down stairs. These metal sleeves can be a pain and it's almost impossible to get every thing to come out first shot when you join the thing. So its file this off adjust that till it comes toghether

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