# DIYish Bow Press...and NO WELDING



## BlameTheTwang (Jul 31, 2012)

So I have been thinking of making a press to get into learning how to tune and make adjustments myself and then it hit me. I already had a press and it has been in front of me the whole time, my Rockwell JawHorse. Now it may not work on past parallel limb bows but it works on my Assassin. Thought I would pass this along since the JawHorse can obviously be used for something other than just pressing a bow and it costs around $160 and NO WELDING OR FABRICATION.


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## Goldfinger (Feb 7, 2004)

Looks like it works great for that bow! When you release the pressure, on the Jawhorse, does it release gradually or all at once? Either way, since it is in the horizontal position, you will want to make sure all the cables and string are in their tracks. Good thinking, I hope it does a good job for you,


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## BlameTheTwang (Jul 31, 2012)

Goldfinger said:


> Looks like it works great for that bow! When you release the pressure, on the Jawhorse, does it release gradually or all at once? Either way, since it is in the horizontal position, you will want to make sure all the cables and string are in their tracks. Good thinking, I hope it does a good job for you,


The pressure can be released gradually and it is operated with the foot lever just like the clamping is. With a simple spacer for the slide side of the jaws I could flip the bow to a vertical position.


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## handirifle (Jun 9, 2005)

Cool idea. If it were ME, I would put some sort of strap around the table and riser, just in case something went awry, it would keep the bow from flying out wildly.

I would like to see vertical pics also.


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## Msokol13 (Jul 24, 2005)

Looks good, but I think I would have to strap the riser to it with a strap just to make sure it wouldn't move


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## Tunaboy (Oct 3, 2004)

Hmmm..interesting. It looks like it has potential for bows with similar limb angles. I would carefully do some testing. Gotta admit I have seen that clamp many times and never considered it for this application. Interesting perspective.


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## MikeUSNRet (May 26, 2014)

I'm thinking you should have enough travel in there to make a mod or some adapters to enable compressing string up


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## buckeyboy (Feb 6, 2007)

I ve been using my jawhorse as a bow vise never occurred to me either great Idea ,, why did I not see this...


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## xtreme76 (Sep 9, 2013)

Wow that got my wheels turning. Fab some removeable fingers and that could be a nifty linear press with a build in stand. Probably would not do real long ATA, or full tear down but would be portable and handy, while maintaining it ability to do "other" things.


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## buckeyboy (Feb 6, 2007)

xtreme76 said:


> Wow that got my wheels turning. Fab some removeable fingers and that could be a nifty linear press with a build in stand. Probably would not do real long ATA, or full tear down but would be portable and handy, while maintaining it ability to do "other" things.


yep me too !!!!I'm all over this...


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## buckeyboy (Feb 6, 2007)

Well the bad news is the clamp stroke is not long enough to press a parrall bow. But I have an idea stay tuned


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## Pittstate23 (Dec 27, 2010)

creative, looks like it could def be modded with some fingers to press past paralell bows


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## SILVERWOLF_73 (Apr 8, 2007)

thanks to all who are replying to my thread I have been toying with this idea for a while and I wondered if anybody else ever had this idea. if anyone makes fingers please post them I have a good friend who works in a steal mill where he could make them.


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## Bowtie diamond (Dec 30, 2011)

Looks like a good idea i might have to give it a try.


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## ThomVis (Feb 21, 2012)

BlameTheTwang said:


> Now it may not work on past parallel limb bows but it works on my Assassin.


I think it'll work just fine on a past parallel limb bow, it's these types of bow I see a "problem" with:









You'll need to make a finger type solution so the cams clear the jaws. A wooden block with a slit in it and some indentations so the tips don't fly out will probably do.


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## Drjoe (Aug 8, 2005)

Can you angle the jaws of the jaw horse? if not you can fabricate angled pieces with fingers and press any bow. clamp the fabricated pieces to the jaws. adjustability may be infinite for any bow! Great idea brother!


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## Marc da hunter (Jan 18, 2013)

Agree


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## GWFH (Jan 22, 2006)

First, very resourceful....and might work fine in a major pinch

But honestly, this and many other dyi topics keep me scared as spit to buy a bow off the classifieds.
There are just too many things that can go wrong, and absolutely zero way to insure you are pressing evenly on the limb.....even if you had adapters, Im sure the sled has plenty of play.

Great thinking, but youre asking for trouble.


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## Castiron (Sep 18, 2012)

SILVERWOLF_73 said:


> thanks to all who are replying to my thread I have been toying with this idea for a while and I wondered if anybody else ever had this idea. if anyone makes fingers please post them I have a good friend who works in a steal mill where he could make them.


Just make some wood blocks.


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## Castiron (Sep 18, 2012)

GWFH said:


> First, very resourceful....and might work fine in a major pinch
> 
> But honestly, this and many other dyi topics keep me scared as spit to buy a bow off the classifieds.
> There are just too many things that can go wrong, and absolutely zero way to insure you are pressing evenly on the limb.....even if you had adapters, Im sure the sled has plenty of play.
> ...


Im no bow tech but i think you are way over thinking this.


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## b0w_bender (Apr 30, 2006)

GWFH said:


> First, very resourceful....and might work fine in a major pinch
> 
> But honestly, this and many other dyi topics keep me scared as spit to buy a bow off the classifieds.
> There are just too many things that can go wrong, and absolutely zero way to insure you are pressing evenly on the limb.....even if you had adapters, Im sure the sled has plenty of play.
> ...


This comment above is the perfect way to avoid innovation. "It looks scary", We've tried that before", "It'll never work", "Can't you just buy one", "You are asking for trouble" the list goes on... 

The spirit of DIY is to start out with "Gee, I don't know let's try it!"

In this particular case I see no reason why it wouldn't work for doing general maintenance on the parallel bow designs. I do think that to break a bow completely down and for non parallel limbs you will probably need some fingers but it's a great start and a great idea. Is there enough travel to completely break down a bow?


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