| From: Tembo62
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| Date: 20-Jul-21 |
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Y'all point me in the right direction. I've got in mind a Hill style all wood bow 62" 40 lbs. Straight limbs. How long do they last? I think I know that HH had bows for a while that he used hunting and in shows before fiberglass came on the scene. Any links for "how to"? Instruction building books? Youtubes? Pluses? Downsides? Tools needed? Glues? Thanks!!!
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| From: Jeff Durnell
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| Date: 20-Jul-21 |
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What's your draw length?
Dean Torges made a video that's still available on his website, at 3Rivers, etc called Hunting the Bamboo Backed Bow. There's a lot of good info in it. It covers the tools, choosing material, construction methods, tillering, etc.
How long they last depends entirely on things like quality of materials, construction, tillering, etc. If done well, it could last many, many years.
I love bamboo backed bows second only to selfbows. I see no downsides to them. I've never made one exactly like you plan to, shaped more like a Hill bow, but it shouldn't be a problem.
Pluses? With a bamboo backed bow, you don't have to worry about missing draw weight like you do with a glass bow. You just keep removing wood until you get it where you want. Ipe is very strong. It won't take much wood to make a 40# bamboo backed ipe bow. Even though it's strong, you still have to choose the piece carefully so that it has good grain structure.
I use Smooth On ea40 epoxy, but folks also use Titebond and such. The best glue to use will depend largely on how the gluing surfaced will be prepped... smooth, rough, etc.
Gotta run...
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| From: PEARL DRUMS
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| Date: 20-Jul-21 |
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I agree with Jeffy 100%. I have made several boo and hickory backed ipe Hill style bows. There is way too much involved for me to type it all out. Grab a the video he mentioned and watch it 5-6 times. Then start collecting supplies needed. Use a good epoxy like EA-40. Wood glues work, but are far from equal to epoxies.
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| From: Lefty38-55
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| Date: 20-Jul-21 |
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FWIW I just had an English Longbow made up as bamboo-backed hickory. 'War Bow' style, horn nocks, no grip, shelf or rest, just an arrow pass.
Simply shoots phenomenal! Bought it for shooting my ELBs when temps are close to or below freezing ... and now you imply it won't LAST FOREVER????? LOL!
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| From: BowAholic
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| Date: 20-Jul-21 |
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Just glue in a little (2" maybe) reflex, and tiller to weight. I've made several bamboo backed ipe that were a bit more of an ELB design...less than an inch wide, 66-68", and they are 50-55#. Both the bamboo and the ipe are so strong that it takes very little of them to make a bow.
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| From: Bassmaster
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| Date: 20-Jul-21 |
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What Jeff said. I have only made one. That wood combo is hard to beat.
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| From: Phil
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| Date: 20-Jul-21 |
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Question for both jeff and pearl drums if I may .....
Guys .... when you're using EA 40 do you need to prepare the surfaces in any way, such as wiping with Acetone
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| From: PEARL DRUMS
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| Date: 20-Jul-21 |
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With EA-40 I will tooth both surfaces to be sure the epoxy adheres fully. I don't use acetone on any glue joints, some builders swear by it. I have glued a few up using wood glue. In that case the surfaces are sanded to a glassy, smooth surface.
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| From: Onehair
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| Date: 20-Jul-21 |
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The IPE/Boo bows I have made are indestructible. I have one of my first that I did a terrible job on and use it to stretch strings. Sometimes I'll leave it strung for a week and zero effect on the bow. Natures fiberglass.
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| From: Jeff Durnell
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| Date: 20-Jul-21 |
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Phil, about the only time I'll use solvents ahead of gluing is when using a piece of wood I cut and ground some time ago and I can't be 100% sure its surface is clean and free of any contaminants... I will wipe it down and allow it time to dry just to be sure.
But if the pieces are 'freshly ground', and I know for a fact they haven't been contaminated with any tool oils, waxes, fingerprints, and such I see no need to clean them and go ahead and glue them together without using solvents.
When using Smooth On, or any other gap filling epoxy, I use a toothing plane iron to prep some of the gluing surfaces, and the others are sanded with 40 to 80 grit sandpaper. I find gluing surfaces prepped with the toothing plane iron helps, and when used with gap filling glues like Smooth On make for good bonds in joints like added on handle pieces with dips/fadeouts... an area some folks have trouble with on wooden bows.
I also prep all of my bamboo backings with the toothing plane... I have faster ways of doing it, but none do it as well.
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| From: Phil
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| Date: 20-Jul-21 |
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Jeff .. Pearl Drums .... thank you both
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| From: Runner
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| Date: 20-Jul-21 |
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If you feel you must use some sort of de-greaser on Ipe, scrubbing with dish soap like dawn and rinsing with boiling water is hard to beat. It doesn't take long to dry either since the wood doesn't readily absorb water.
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