Breakdown Recurve Bow making

[Daniel]

A while back I posted that I am going to make some recurve bows with my wife and kids. 5 bows in all. Several people showed interest in seeing the process. So this thread is intended to cover or progress over the next few weeks as we make them.

First I want to start with a person thank you To Larry, (Bigbonner). Who has gone above and beyond to locate a log of Osage Orange for me to use in making the limbs. He sent me some photos and I wanted to share one of them but they are to large and I don't have my photo editing software installed in this computer. I will just say it is a wonderful log for this purpose.

Well recurve bows come in many styles from simple to ornate. Well I am not really known much for doing simple things. I love woodworking and want these bows to show off what I can do. I also like the look of what is called a breakdown recurve. The breakdown means the limbs or flexible parts can be removed from the Riser or handle. Here is a photo of what I consider is a bow worth making.


At least that gives you the general idea of what we are shooting for. The riser can be shaped to just about any way you want as long as it remains strong enough. since strong enough is down around a 1 inch diameter dowel there is a lot of room for creativity.

Yesterday my son, Oldest daughter and I went out in the shop and just glued up a block of waste wood and cut A practice riser from it. This was the result of about 2 hours work in total.

This is just the rough shape and there is still a lot of rasping, carving, sanding to get to the final form. But it does show we can get er done.

In a little while we are going to go out and dig through my "Fine" woods to select pieces for the final risers we will start for our bows.

I have another Thank You to mention. In a completely different discussion BarG ended up sending me a magnificent piece of Spalted Hackberry. We are talking some very fine wood here. I would post a picture of the piece he sent but I want to save it for once it is part of our risers. It is going to be part of the showcase. The riser for our bows is meant to also impart the WoW! factor of our bows, and this wood is perfect for Wowing. I also have walnut Burl, Spalted maple and a few other exotics like African Blackwood, and maybe some small pieces of Ebony that we will select from.

I will try to get more pictures of us gluing up our blocks and the cutting of the risers rough shape this time through.

 

[deluxestogie]

The trial riser shows some interesting cuts. I can't wait to see the fine woods.

One question. Does the spalting (fungal hyphae) weaken the wood?

Bob

 

[Daniel]

Bob, Most spalted wood has some degree of decomposition to it, but it does not always require a lot. It seems the fungus, bacteria or whatever else causes the coloring sets in well before the dinner guests arrive. In this case the wood is very solid.

The riser was cut using a resaw method on a band saw. basically you cut one profile then tape everything back together. turn the wood 90 degrees and cut the second profile. one you pull off all the waste material the 3 dimensional shape is created.

Everyone is in the process of choosing what woods they want for there bow right now so it might take a while.

Although the riser is large it is mainly for looks. the riser really only has to be large enough to make a grip so you could get away with using weaker but more visually appealing woods for most of it.

I am also going to wait until the Osage Orange arrives because I may end up using some of it in the risers as well.

 

[BarG]

Daniel, from what I have learned the dinner guests actualy are responsible for the spalting. Beetles introduce the fungus which can cause spalting On this log. I'm still trying to find my source to back this up] Everything i'm finding is pointing to fungus at the moment. Good luck with your bow, looks great so far.

Bob, The degree of spalting and the stage at which it is halted affects the integrity of the wood, allowed to go to far and the wood will become puncky and rot. This occurs most readily in the early wood as well as the most insect damage.

Edit The beetles can introduce the fungus into the wood without the fungus actualy growing on wood to cause spalting.[ www.finewoodworking.com] Which is the case in sample you recieved I believe.

 

[SmokesAhoy]

very cool project.

 

[Daniel]

I changed my mind, partially because I like it so much I just can't not show it. a partially so that those who are not familiar with what spalting is can see for themselves. At the top is the piece sent to me by BarG and is Spalted Hackberry.
Below that is one of two pieces of Spalted maple I have had for a couple of years. Below that is a more typical but obviously different form of spalting in maple. To me it seems that the coloring that is considered spalting is caused by several factors. everything from chemical reactions to fungus and bacteria. I know I have heard of people causing the black line type spalting by soaking wood in beer and then burying it.
Anyway here is the beginning of my selection of woods for making the risers.

 

[Daniel]

Please excuse my absence on this topic. It has not been forgotten, jsut moving slow. Plus much of the materials I ordered for growing tobacco this year arrived this past week. So as I am sure you all can understand. Tobacco takes priority.

Larry (Bigbonner) contacted me privately and offered to find me a log of Osage Orange. He almost apologized that this was all that he could locate.



Stripped of bark and shipped for a grand total of $45. I owe Larry a beer or three. But for the moment Larry is payable in Blossom Bags. Thank You Larry. May your kindness be repaid in a heavy harvest this year.

We took the log into my shop to try and get the initial cuts while it is still green.
In this photo is my oldest daughter Sheena and my son Joel. They help me with everything.

we started with my band saw but my 3/4 inch blade got broken a while back and the 1/2 inch blade on the saw simply would not pass through the wood straight enough. it was a long battle but we eventually got to this.


Not one to take no as an answer and there is always more than one way to skin a cat. We replanned our attack and went to work with the radial arm saw. this worked and here is how that process looked. Poor Joel is on the out feed side and eating sawdust.


It as a slow process and actually took us two evenings to get three sides of this log trimmed. the final result is a post about 5 inches by 4 and a half inches and 4 and a half feet long. It is now setting in my shop drying for a while. once it is dry enough we will cut a section 5 inches wide. 2 inches thick and the length of the log right from the center of this. this is the material that will become our bow limbs. the rest of the wood will be used in the risers of our bows as our creativity dictates.
For now it is a waiting game. We do have some of the waste material from these cuts and might start putting some of the riser material together over the next few days. I wish I had a video camera I could share a lot more of the details that way. I will try to get some photos as to how to actually use some seemingly unusable scraps though. How to make a very thin narrow band of wood without making really thin wood first etc.

 

[BarG]

If you use the osage for your limbs, do not cut across any grain It looks like you made the equivalent of one stave out of 6-8" trunk straight grain. , no knots[ bandsaw]. Keep all grain running the length of limbs continuous. Do you have a good sharp spoke shave? If pith is ronning true down center split at pith and then quarter. You'l have 3 spares.

 

[Daniel]

BarG, One of the questions I have is how thick to cut the pieces for the limbs. I am most likely to cheat a little and do some laminating so the limbs are a little more like plywood. The suggestion I have seen so far is to simply use an old pair of skis but that is a little to finished for me. I have been looking at tons of photos and videos and cannot decide if the arrow rest should be to the right or the left for a right handed shooter. Some show it to the right and some show it to the left.

I also know the growth rings need to run straight across the width of the limb also. with as many growth rings as possible. this is a good log for that. SO far the log looks like it is straight no knots and all slow growth wood.

 

[BarG]

BarG, One of the questions I have is how thick to cut the pieces for the limbs. I am most likely to cheat a little and do some laminating so the limbs are a little more like plywood. The suggestion I have seen so far is to simply use an old pair of skis but that is a little to finished for me. I have been looking at tons of photos and videos and cannot decide if the arrow rest should be to the right or the left for a right handed shooter. Some show it to the right and some show it to the left.

I also know the growth rings need to run straight across the width of the limb also. with as many growth rings as possible. this is a good log for that. SO far the log looks like it is straight no knots and all slow growth wood.

Daniel,for single piece limb a tapered thickness may work better, for laminated using wood and fiberglass it could be as little as 1/4 ". heres a pic showing grain directions for tillering of limb, it only shows side view of grain direction, I'll look for more when I have more time. I hold my bow with my left hand and that is the side my arrow rests on.[which ever hand you hold your bow]If your using the osage try to keep the grain unbroken on back of limb if you taper as that is where the most
stress will be. Will add more pics later.

.

 

[Daniel]

Thanks BarG, from that photo I am guessing we will fall in the 70lb range without doing any laminating fiberglass reinforcement etc. I have read about the unbroken grain thing you are mentioning. As I understand it that method is taking a branch from a tree and making a bow from it where the back of the bow is the surface where the bark was removed. Int eh videos I have watched they actually used lumber they bought at the hardware store. In that case none of the grain in the photo that starts to run crosswise with the limb woudl be suitable. if the growth rings are not straight through the width of the piece the limb will twist as it is drawn.

I am thinking of a limb blank that is about 1/2 inch thick at the butt end and tapers to about 1/4 inch. a thicker laminate is then placed at the tip for the string to attach. I have some craps from cutting the log that I can test for there ability to flw and bend. IF I don't like what I am seeing I will look into fiberglass reinforcement.

The log itself is starting to crack quite a bit as it dries. If this continues I will have to resort to the Osage Orange being not much more than cosmetic. making something like a plywood from it or something. Most of the charm in woodworking is the adventure in getting from here to there though.

 

[BarG]

Daniel, mix some gulf wax and mineral oil together [heat up a mixture maybe a stick of wax or to to a 1/2 or whole bottle, you can make any consistancy but warmed spreads and seals better with the cheapest 1 1/2 -2" paint brush you can find. I heat in a gallon coffe can so I can reseal., Grocery will have both, mineral oil is also used as laxitive so look in drug dept.]] and coat the whole piece, keep in cool shaded, not too much air flow cond. That should slow the splitting. I store my turning blanks from green lumber that way in an old fridge.[ johnsons paste wax works also] whatever is most economical.