# Reflex/Deflex Bow Build Thread



## DSLeach (Feb 9, 2011)

My son (soon to be 12) wants a traditional longbow. Instead of buying one, we decided to build two; one for my son and one for me. I've never done this before but will figure it out along the way. This will also be an opportunity to teach my son some basic shop skills. This may take a while but I'll post some pictures and explanations along the way.

We are going to build a two lamination bow for my son and a tri-lamination bow for me. Rather than a simple "self" bow we decided on a reflex/deflex design to get a bit more efficiency and speed. The two-lam bow will use an Ash core with a hickory backing. The tri-lam will use a Hickory belly, IPE cut from a decking board for the core and a bamboo backing strip I got from a bow making supply house. 

The first step is to build the reflex/deflex form to use when gluing up the laminations. The form allows you to clamp the bow for gluing and to get the reflex/deflex curvature in the limbs. 

I used two 2x4s to make the form. There are lots of plans and photos on the web to use as a guide. I chose to make the form 72" long with 3 grooves about 1" apart on each end so that I can build different length bows using the same form. I should be able to build 72" down to 60" bows on the same form. The grooves hold the limb end blocks. The form is pretty simple to build with a couple short legs to hold the form high enough to get clamps underneath, a 10" center piece to clamp the riser block to and the limb end blocks. I cut the bottom of the limb end blocks at a 25 degree angle at the bottom to better mate up with the limbs.

The pics of the the form did not come out well so I'll post those tomorrow. For now, I'll just post a couple pics of my son cutting the grooves in the ends of the form on the mill (I don't have a router).


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## Martin_Shooter1 (Jan 25, 2012)

:thumbs_up


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## DSLeach (Feb 9, 2011)

I reshot the pics of the completed form and took a shot of the wood laminations for the two bows. The riser block in the middle of the form will be used if I decided to glue up the bow laminations and put the riser handle wood on after. If I decide to glue up the whole thing at once, I can take the riser block off.

Not much progress today; getting ready for Christmas. I still need to draw and cut a couple of archs to use for the deflex clamps. That should more evenly distribute the force from the deflex clamp to the limb.























Below is a shot of the wood laminations for the two bows. Doesn't look like much. Actually looks a little intimidating; those strips are going to end up as two bows????


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## Gopherman (Aug 13, 2008)




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## DSLeach (Feb 9, 2011)

We decided to glue up the handle on my son's bow first. I had a piece of Cocobolo, some Red Oak and a piece of Redwood Burl laying around so that is what will make up the handle. The bow taper will end about 1/2" before the first glue line on the handle lamination so I'm not too worried about bending stress in the handle laminations. The Redwood Burl is a bit soft so I used it as the last lamination (outside) piece. It should make a nice looking handle.

First thing is to mark the core for centerline.









These are the pieces of wood for the handle laminations. 









Cocobolo is a hard and oily wood so I used a rasp to score the wood on both sides. This will give the epoxy more surface area on which to adhere.









Shot of the Cocobolo lamination scored. 









The epoxy I used is Maxbond which is a high strength industrial grade epoxy. It is very strong but requires 72 hours to fully cure. It will be sufficiently cured to continue to work on the bow after 24 hours but full strength takes up to 72 hours.









While I was mixing up the epoxy, my son is warming the wood with a heat gun.









Spread the epoxy on both sides of the wood to be glued so there are no gaps or dry spots. I used a lot of clamps to get even pressure but you don't want to overtighten the clamps because you don't want to squeeze out all the epoxy. Just snug the clamps up. This will give a stronger bond.


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## Squirrel (Aug 6, 2008)

Looks good so far!

I have built dozens of BBO's, you should watch Dean Torges' DVD on building bamboo backed bows if you ever have an interest in trying a bamboo backed bow. He's an expert.


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## DSLeach (Feb 9, 2011)

Squirrel said:


> Looks good so far!
> 
> I have built dozens of BBO's, you should watch Dean Torges' DVD on building bamboo backed bows if you ever have an interest in trying a bamboo backed bow. He's an expert.


That is the next project.


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## B.Hunter (May 4, 2009)

Looks like you and your son are enjoying this project. Very well done. Will be following.


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## DSLeach (Feb 9, 2011)

Got quite a bit done today.

Took the clamps off the handle section and knocked off the excess glue on the belt sander. Next step is to draw the taper on the bow limb and cut the excess from the belly side of the bow.

This is not the greatest picture but the line on the edge of the bow board goes from 7/16" at the handle to 1/4" at the tip with the taper on the belly side of the bow leaving the back side of the bow (facing the target) flat.









The next step is to remove the excess belly wood. I chose to use a bandsaw to remove the excess. Alternatives would be to use a table saw free hand (carefully) or simple sand it off if you have a big belt sander. First pic is making a couple relief cuts across the bow limb.









Starting to cut the taper. My son is taking the pictures.









This is really slow going to make sure you get a fairly even (not wavey) cut so you don't have to sand too much. I left about 1/16" excess off the line so I can sand it down smooth and flush to the line.




































After both limbs are cut, its ready to sand the taper flat. Next post.


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## DSLeach (Feb 9, 2011)

To make sure I could get a smooth, even and consistent taper on both limbs off the belt sander, I marked off 2" reference lines on the back of the bow limbs. Pics below.

















Ready to start sanding.









I have a 2" x 72" belt sander with a giant motor and 10" and 12" drive wheels. It also has a flat platen and the unit can be adjusted either vertical, horizontal or any angle in between. I used a fresh 60 grit belt. As this tool will remove wood in a hurry, a light even touch works best. 









My son didn't get any pictures of measuring as I went along. I would take 1 or 2 passes on the sander and then measure the thickness of the limb on each side using a dial caliper. I was able to keep the side to side variance to under 0.010". I also used a 3' straight edge to make sure there were no humps or divets in the limb. Most of the sanding was on the flat platen but down near the handle were the fades start, I had to use the wheel surface and it would have been easy to make a divet in the wood. 









Once the first limb was smooth and flat and down to the reference line, I worked on the second limb. This required measuring both side to side thickness and also comparing the bottom limb taper to the top limb taper at each reference line. This allowed me to make the top and bottom limb tapers very consistent. I was able to keep the two limb taper dimensions to a variance of 0.010" which is pretty tight. This should help during the tillering process.

















These last two pictures show the fades on top and bottom. This was pretty easy to do with the big drive wheel on the belt sander.

















Next step is to prepare the backing.


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## DSLeach (Feb 9, 2011)

To prepare the backing, it needs to be tapered. The backing started out as a 1/8" x 1.5" x 72" strip. It needs to be tapered from 1/8" at the handle to 1/16" at the tips on both sides of the handle. The first step is to mark the back of the strip in the center for the length of the handle (9.5").









The tapering of the backing doesn't lend itself to pictures well because the thickness of the backing strip cannot be seen in the pictures. I try to describe the process in words. To get a taper on the backing I maked the portion to be tapered (handle line to tip) into 4 equal sections and made a reference line between each on the side of the backing not to be sanded.

To create the taper on the backing, I first sanded from the tip to the first of the 4 reference marks from the tip, stopped and started at the tip again sanding down to the 2nd reference mark, stopped and started at the tip again sanding down to the 3rd reference mark, stopped and started at the tip and sanding all the way down to the handle reference line. I simple repeated this process until I had a 1/16" tip thickness. The taper came out nice and even. This also required frequent measuring with the dial caliper to keep the side to side thickness consistent.

Once the first taper was complete, flip the backing and work the other end in the same fashion. It sounds complicated, but with a big belt sander, it only took about 20 minutes to complete both tapers. 

The pic below is not so great but you can see the taper on the bow core and the backing.










Time to glue it up.


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## DSLeach (Feb 9, 2011)

So now the bow handle material is glued on, the bow core taper is done, the hickory backing has been tapered and its time to glue the backing onto the back of the bow. Before getting all messy with the epoxy, I dry fit the bow and backing into the reflex-deflex form. This is just to make sure that everything fits well and you know exactly what you need to do after you get the messy epoxy onto the pieces.

I didn't like the way the bow fit in the form with my tip reflex board pieces. So, I made a quick modification and turned them upside down. This worked much better and I was able to get a full inch of deflex cranked into both limbs. I think the deflex is the amount of limb deflex in the middle of the limb in reference to the core. I got a full inch based on this reference measurement. If I include the taper in the belly of the limb, I actually got 1" + (7/16" - 1/4")/2 = 1 3/16". 

When I remove the bow from the form, some of the deflex will be lost. We'll see what I end up with.

Here are the dry fit pictures. I only used the clamps necessary to dry fit the bow. We'll use a lot of clamps when it is glued up.



























I didn't show the process of measuring out the epoxy, mixing or applying it to the wood. The important part of this process is to mix it per the manufacturer's directions and mix the two components really well. Apply the epoxy to both sides of the wood to be joined and don't be shy about using enough glue.

After the epoxy is applied, we put the backing on the bow and and used shrink wrap to wrap the entire bow. This is really helpful in two areas. The first is that it seals the epoxy in with the bow instead of dripping all over the place. It makes the process much cleaner. Secondly, it holds the backing firmly on the bow while you get it positioned on the form and clamped. It is amazing how greasy epoxy gets when you are trying to clamp the pieces together. The shrink wrap really makes the clamping a snap. I'd have pictures of this but to took the both of us to hold the bow and get the shrink wrap on it. 

We put the wrapped bow in the form, securely clamped the handle to the form, measured 14" back from the tips and placed the deflex clamps at that point. I slowly increased the clamping pressure on the deflex clamps until I got the 1" deflex desired on both limbs. Why 14"? It is a little more toward the tip (1.5") than the point exactly between the handle and the tip. The limb and backing are a bit thinner at that point and it was easy to get the desired amound of deflex in the limbs. 

Once the bow is set in the form, we used just about every clamp I had on the limbs. We took care to space the clamps equally and put the same number on both limbs. We used smaller spring clamps near the ends and bigger clamps near the handle for no other reason that I thought it might require a bit more clamping force on the thicker sections of the core and backing (near the handle). 

The bow and form are sitting in my basement bathroom curing. I put it in the bathroom because I have a fan/heater that will raise the temperature to about 100 degrees in the little bathroom. This should shorten the curing time for the epoxy a little. At 60 degrees, this epoxy takes 72 hours to fully cure but curing time is shorter for higher temperatures.

We probably won't touch the bow until Wednesday to give it plenty of time to cure. More to follow.


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## DSLeach (Feb 9, 2011)

Took the bow out of the form this morning and stripped off the shrink wrap. The bow retained quite a bit of reflex but only about 1/2" of deflex. See the two pictures below.
















We determined the center line of the bow from one end to the other. It would be nice if the centerline was the center of the laminations, but it was about 1/16" off at each tip. This means there was a slight warp side to side in the Ash core. To determine the centerline, start by using a string on the measured center of each tip. As the laminations are 1 1/2" wide, this would be 3/4". 









Check to see if the string center lies at the centerline of the handle. In this case, it was off a bit which you can see better in the close up picture of the combo square. 









The fix is pretty easy buy adjusting the string location at the tips so that the string goes directly over the centerline of the handle. You can see the offset in the tips. The long line being the true determined centerline at the tip.
















You can also see the cut line across the end of each limb. One limb ended up 1/8" longer than the other and the laminations were not perfectly lined up so we decided to cut each limb time at 35 3/4" from the center of the handle. 

In the pic below, you can see the limb template we made which is nothing more than a straight taper from the end of each fade to the limb tip. The taper is from 1 1/2" to 1/2" at the tip. We'll use the template to draw the taper on the limb so we can cut off the excess and get a limb profile the same on the top and bottom limbs.


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## rezeen6.5 (Aug 14, 2009)

HI I am just starting to get into the bow building process this is a great tread please keep it coming and this is also the kind of bows I will be making R/D bows . I will be useing a bow form and heat box just because my buddy got out of the bow building and I bought his stuff. Please keep us informed on the bow weight and length of the bow. Cant what till its done . My son will get the first bow I build . 52" 28#s at 24"s I hope. How did you come up with how much weight this bow was gonna be for your son. What I mean is how did you know how many lambs to put on the bow to make the right weight any help would be great. Mike


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## DSLeach (Feb 9, 2011)

rezeen6.5 said:


> HI I am just starting to get into the bow building process this is a great tread please keep it coming and this is also the kind of bows I will be making R/D bows . I will be useing a bow form and heat box just because my buddy got out of the bow building and I bought his stuff. Please keep us informed on the bow weight and length of the bow. Cant what till its done . My son will get the first bow I build . 52" 28#s at 24"s I hope. How did you come up with how much weight this bow was gonna be for your son. What I mean is how did you know how many lambs to put on the bow to make the right weight any help would be great. Mike


The bow I'm building is essentially a long bow with a core of Ash and a Hickory backing. I also plan a 3 lamination. The draw weight is determined by the thickness of the core and the backing but also the finished width of the limbs. The weight will be determined when I tiller the bow. If I need to take the weight down, I can thin the belly of the bow or the width of the limbs or both.


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## rezeen6.5 (Aug 14, 2009)

I sure wish you and your son would have made this a video it would have been cool


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## DSLeach (Feb 9, 2011)

rezeen6.5 said:


> I sure wish you and your son would have made this a video it would have been cool


I'm digitally challenged.


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## DSLeach (Feb 9, 2011)

Only thing we had time to do today was to draw the limb taper profile on the limbs. This was pretty easy. Position the template on the limb with the template center on the limb tip determined center and use a pencil to draw the limb taper on the limb. Repeat on the other limb.


















Next we have to cut the limb tapers on the bandsaw.


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## Lagrange (Dec 8, 2008)

*Subscribed* I'm lovin this and thinking about trying it!


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## Squirrel (Aug 6, 2008)

The advice I'll give is if you want it to hold more deflex next glue up try these block sizes

4" Center
2-7/8" Mid limb blocks 12" out from center on bottom, 12-7/8" out from center on top (I built my bows Torges style with a 1" longer top limb)
6" tip blocks

When it comes out of the form it will retain some deflex this way. I did this on all my BBO's and works well even with hickory backing.


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## aread (Dec 25, 2009)

Thanks for posting this!!! Very interesting.

You have a great shop. Looks like you been making a few knives too?

Allen


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## DSLeach (Feb 9, 2011)

Squirrel said:


> The advice I'll give is if you want it to hold more deflex next glue up try these block sizes
> 
> 4" Center
> 2-7/8" Mid limb blocks 12" out from center on bottom, 12-7/8" out from center on top (I built my bows Torges style with a 1" longer top limb)
> ...


I just glued up another tri-lam this morning. I used a different clamp arrangement and got much more deflex and reflex cranked in. This bow has a hickory belly, an IPE tapered center and a tapered bamboo backing. We'll see how it comes out.


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## DSLeach (Feb 9, 2011)

aread said:


> Thanks for posting this!!! Very interesting.
> 
> You have a great shop. Looks like you been making a few knives too?
> 
> Allen


I do make knives. I make mostly Damascus hunting style knives with a few daggers for fun. I also do the leather work for the sheaths.

I made my son a 3/4 scale muzzleloading plains rifle with two interchangeable barrels. One in 45 and one in 32. Both round ball barrels. 

In the past I operated a custom gunsmithing shop in WA state. Made custom rifles and pistols for people. Mostly USPSA/IDPA/Combat type weapons but also made a few custom sporting rifles. I also shot in Grand Master class in USPSA for several years till my eyesight and reflexes slowed me down. 

I have a linear bow press build thread on this AT DIY forum too.


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## DSLeach (Feb 9, 2011)

Today we cut the excess off the limbs using the bandsaw leaving about 1/16" to the taper line. After trimming off the excess, we sanded the limbs down to the taper line using the flat platen on the belt sander. We also sanded the entire bow to remove the excess epoxy that seems to get everywhere. Here are the pictures of the bow after sanding.









































Next I'll glue on some tip reinforcement material. My son says he wants Buffalo Horn tips so that's what it will be. Then we need to cut the string grooves and start the tillering process. I don't have a tiller tree so I'll need to make that first. Just for the heck of it, I checked how stiff the bow is by flexing it across my chest. I'd hazard a guess that it would pull 80+ lbs as is so I've got some work to do.


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## DSLeach (Feb 9, 2011)

Glued the tip overlays on last night. Just two overlays one of Brazilian Walnut and one of Buffalo Horn. Here are the pics of the overlays trimmed and me working the corners of the overlays down and cutting an initial string groove.

































I wanted to get an initial groove and a string on the bow so I can see how bad or good the tiller is. The next post shows the bow on the tiller with a long string.


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## DSLeach (Feb 9, 2011)

Initial tillering. I'm really flying by the seat of my pants now with the bow on the tiller. Any help or advise would be appreciated.

I made a tiller tree out of a 2x4 by gluing and screwing a block onto one end of the 2x4. Then I marked off 1" lines and drilled a 3/8" hole through the 2x4 so that I could slip a 3/8" bolt as I draw the bow back.

Here are the pics of the tiller.

This is the top of the tiller tree. I left an edge/shoulder on the block so the bow doesn't slip off.

















The holes and numbers are just reference points. They do represent the number of inches from the back of the riser +1" so they will give an "indication" of the draw length but not exact.


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## DSLeach (Feb 9, 2011)

Here are a few pictures of the bow on the tiller with a little bit of tension on the limbs.

This is at 11 lbs DW.









This is at 16 lbs DW.









This is at 20 lbs DW.









This is at 25 lbs DW.









Note that I've not tried to adjust the tiller on the bow by removing any wood anywhere. The tiller doesn't look too bad at this point. It might be that I don't quite have as much flex in the left side limb at the point of the reflex bend. Input from anyone who has done this before would be appreciated.


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## DSLeach (Feb 9, 2011)

I set up a reference straight edge on the tiller tree and measured the limb deflection at several points along both limbs up to 30 lbs of draw weight. The limbs are remarkably symetric w/o having to remove any material from the limbs. In order to finish tillering the bow, I think I need a fitted bow string so I ordered one today. Not sure how long it will take to be made and shipped but I won't have much to post here until I get the string for the bow.


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## handirifle (Jun 9, 2005)

Very cool build, I was really curious when you started building, I couldn't figure out how you were making a laminated bow (I was thinking fiberglass lam) from that press:darkbeer:.

Just a few thoughts, you might already know about. Don't pull it to desired weight yet, and I wouldn't keep it at a set draw length during tiller. When using the board to measure, again I wouldn't keep the bow drawn more than a few seconds. I have found it easier to have the draw board lines cover near the width of the bow, then you pull and look at the same time. I always set a pulley on the bottom of the draw board, and used a rope tied to the string to pull it as I stood back to observe. The limbs do not have to bend exactly the same and with the draw lines wide and pulling with a rope it's a cinch to see.

I'd be real careful in removing wood, especially in the recurve portion, as a hinge can set up real fast and will snap.

I am sure you are also aware that desired draw weight and length should be reached at the same time, if possible.

Interesting build, I love making board bows, especially since I lack the patience to make a true self bow.


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## nycredneck (Nov 9, 2007)

Awesome thread, me and my sons are following along this build with interest.


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## DSLeach (Feb 9, 2011)

handirifle said:


> Very cool build, I was really curious when you started building, I couldn't figure out how you were making a laminated bow (I was thinking fiberglass lam) from that press:darkbeer:.
> 
> Just a few thoughts, you might already know about. Don't pull it to desired weight yet, and I wouldn't keep it at a set draw length during tiller. When using the board to measure, again I wouldn't keep the bow drawn more than a few seconds. I have found it easier to have the draw board lines cover near the width of the bow, then you pull and look at the same time. I always set a pulley on the bottom of the draw board, and used a rope tied to the string to pull it as I stood back to observe. The limbs do not have to bend exactly the same and with the draw lines wide and pulling with a rope it's a cinch to see.
> 
> ...


Actually, I don't know poo about making bows. I'm an engineer by education and have learned how to do basic machining and welding. I've made all kinds of stuff (custom rifles, pistols, muzzleloaders, bow presses, knives, tools, etc.). My son wanted a long bow for Christmas so I decided we should make it rather than buy it. So, we're just learning how to make this kind of bow as we go along. 

Most of this stuff I view as common sense (or common engineering sense anyway). I think I also should round off and sand the edges of the limbs to prevent stress concentrated slivers from peeling off the corners.

More to come.


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## TMG76 (Apr 10, 2012)

A project he will remember forever! Sub'd:thumbup:


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## bostontom (Dec 20, 2012)

excellent post. Is there anyone out there that can teach an old bowhunter how to shoot with a recurve. i have confidence i will hit the boiler room of a deer out to 25 yards every time!
instinctive shooting forget about it, one day i am in the flow the next i cant hit a deer size target at ten yards. until i have the confidence i can hit the target every time i will not hunt with a recurve and from my experience watching other traditional shooters are not much better than i am.. IS THERE A WAY TO LEARN I TRIED EVERYTHING OUT THERE i could read, and followed all the archers instructions but nothing seems to work? not putting anyone down, but i wish i could shoot like Old Byron but i cannot


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## Squirrel (Aug 6, 2008)

I use a short block of wood about 3-4" to check tillering. Just slide it along the limbs and flat spots will quickly reveal themselves. It is also almost required to have something out at the tips (even just two cheapo wooden yard sticks work) so you can keep track of how much each limb tip is moving. It's really easy to get one side bending a lot more than the other and never know it without a frame of reference.

I also use a timber hitch long string until I have the bow flexing enough to brace it at a LOW brace height, around 4". Once It's bending nicely that can I string it at the low brace height I stop using the timber hitch and use this longer double loop string to finish tillering. I wish I knew you need strings, I twist my own flemish twist and could have made you one in no time and sent it out so you didn't have as much down time.


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## DSLeach (Feb 9, 2011)

*Completing the Bow*

This is probably going to come off as anti-climatic but there really wasn't much left to do to finish the bow.

I continued to check the tiller of the bow carefully removing material from the belly (inside) of the bow limbs until I got a nice even and continuous curve in the limbs. I did have to remove more material from the tips to about 1/3 of the way down the limb to get this region to bend/flex. I used a couple techniques to ensure I was getting approximately the same amount of flex/bend in both the top and bottom limbs. 

1. I used a long straight edge place on the center of the riser (high point) to the limb tip. I then measured the gap between the straight edge and the flexed limb at several locations and compared the measurement between the top and the bottom limbs. The top limb started out with quite a bit less flex/bend so I removed more material from the top limb to bring it into close balance with the bottom limb.

2. I also used a straight edge fixed to the tillering tree to compare the flex/bend in the two limbs.

The tillering process took some time but it wasn't very hard. Just go slowly and remember that what you are trying to achieve is a uniform curve in each limb so that the whole limb is "working" for you and a balance between the two limbs so that both are roughly the same strength. When I was done tillering, the bow ended up at 41 lb pull at roughly 25" of draw length. That is a pretty stout bow but my son insisted that is what he wanted. If I wanted to lower the draw weight, I would simply have removed more material from the belly of the bow continuing to check the tiller along the way. 

I ordered a bowstring at 67" which is 3" shorter than the nock to nock length measured along the back of the bow. This length string gave a brace height of about 6.5" which for a longbow is about right. I think the string will stretch a little but a few twists will fix any excess stretching.

To cut the arrow window in the riser, I measured up 1.25" from the centerline and drew the window by hand. I cut the window out on the band saw and used a 2" drum sander in the drill to sand the curve and files to finish the flats. 

I shaped the handle with a couple wood rasps. No magic here, just shape it till it feels right. 

I have the sanding job to my son. Since this will be a bow that is going to be used by a 12 year old, we stopped at 320 grit except the water buffalo horn tips which were sanded to 600 grit and then buffed with 2400 grit compound. 

The finish on the bow is two coats of thinned outdoor marine polyurethane. This type of poly is more flexible than the indoor floor finish and also contains UV inhibitors to prevent sun exposure darkening. One note here. IPE (Brazilian Walnut) is apparently a pretty oily wood and doesn't like poly. The only IPE on this bow is the little piece at the tip under the buffalo horn. The poly simply would not cure on the IPE but no matter as the IPE sanded and buffed up nicely. 

I haven't put any felt or cushion on the arrow shelf yet but my son has already shot the bow a few times. Can't say much other than "yes, it will shoot arrows pretty fast". 

Here are the pics of the unstrung finished bow. First 5 pics. Four more in the next post.


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## DSLeach (Feb 9, 2011)

*Completed Bow Pics*

Last 4 pics of the completed bow.


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## Hiroshi_Thomas (Jan 10, 2013)

Amazing. Cant wait to see your trilam


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## DSLeach (Feb 9, 2011)

*Son with New Bow*

My son is pretty happy with how the project turned out. Here is a pic in the back yard of son and bow after my son finished testing it on the backyard range.









I started shaping the limbs on the tri-lam bow. It will take a couple weeks to finish. I'll post a few pics when it is complete.


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## b0w_bender (Apr 30, 2006)

One of the best threads I've seen, keep up the good work!


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## budalcorn45 (Feb 20, 2008)

WOW...That is absolutely beautiful! Excellent work.


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## Dakota6gun (Nov 27, 2007)

Wow. What a great Father/Son project. Your son will never forget it. Well done.


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## 13bonatter69 (Dec 23, 2007)

That is something to be proud of right there. The older your son gets, the more he will appreciate having a father that takes the time to do things like this with him. Hats off to you sir:thumbs_up


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## Squirrel (Aug 6, 2008)

Good work, not just for your first bow either, I know guys who have made several and still didn't have that level of finish on them. If you notice any handshock it will more than likely be due to the thickness of the limb tips. I'd like to see a full draw picture. I think it's awesome you and your son got to do this together.


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## padfootcreek (Jan 6, 2013)

A labor of love. Well done.


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## DSLeach (Feb 9, 2011)

Thanks to all. I've gotten a bunch of compliments on the bow and a couple requests to make more. I've got a tri-lam bamboo backed bow glued up and rough cut sitting on the work bench. I know that boo backing is supposed to give a bow more speed but after putting it together, I decided I don't like the looks of bamboo on bows. Can't get used to the knuckles on the backing. 

I'll probably make a couple more more tri-lams using white oak for the belly, a LPe core lamination and a hickory backing. While I did get a fair amount of reflex/deflex in the 2-lamination bow pictured in this thread, I think I can get even more deflex using 3 thinner laminations and a slightly curved riser block.

We live in a rural neighborhood with mostly wooded areas surrounding the hood. My son and his buddies have been running through the wood "hunting" squirrels. They've managed to go through a few arrows but have brought back no squirrels.

The bow shoots pretty darn well and I don't notice the hand shock if there is any. I used a soft piece of redwood burl for the last lamination on the riser but red oak, hickory and cocobolo for the interior riser laminations. Maybe the soft piece of redwood dampens the handshock/vibrations?

I'll post pictures of the tri-lam bow when I get it finished.


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## cannonman (Nov 29, 2008)

Excellant Job! What a great way to spend time with your son and create something you can both enjoy for years to come.


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