# Simple Bow Press



## fivejades (Nov 29, 2014)

Indeed this is quite simple. And good design too. If I may suggest, a ratchet locking rod/bar should be incorporated on top of the belt adjoining the two compressing bars for safety. Thanks for sharing and keep on posting good innovations.


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## Taco_seasoning (Apr 24, 2013)

Did you notch out the unistrut?

Nevermind, not unistrut. Good thinking


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## doyleiik (Jul 6, 2015)

That looks great! Do you have an angled bracket or something on the outside of the wood or something? I figured you would drill through the wood and use a bolt so it can rotate.


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## Tunaboy (Oct 3, 2004)

Yes a bow press but it covers so much of the cam and pulleys I think working on the bow would be difficult.


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## coyotejim (Jun 25, 2015)

fivejades said:


> Indeed this is quite simple. And good design too. If I may suggest, a ratchet locking rod/bar should be incorporated on top of the belt adjoining the two compressing bars for safety. Thanks for sharing and keep on posting good innovations.


Hmm...The strap is ratcheting, but I get your point about a safety "limit." I could use a second strap and just leave a little slack in it. I'll think about what I can do.


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## coyotejim (Jun 25, 2015)

doyleiik said:


> That looks great! Do you have an angled bracket or something on the outside of the wood or something? I figured you would drill through the wood and use a bolt so it can rotate.


There's a groove cut in the back of each piece to hold a 1/4" bolt


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## coyotejim (Jun 25, 2015)

Tunaboy said:


> Yes a bow press but it covers so much of the cam and pulleys I think working on the bow would be difficult.


The slot cut in each piece of wood is the same width as the space between the forks of the bow. It's also long enough to allow the cam to swing freely all the way around.


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## b0w_bender (Apr 30, 2006)

I like the idea but it looks a bit challenging to get your finger in there to mess with the cable and string mounting posts. For that reason I would think it would be perfectly functional for the occasional press but not for someone who uses there press a lot. I like the idea of being able to adjust the pressure angle on the limb tips. That makes it fully functional for all kinds of limb configurations


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## walks with a gi (Oct 1, 2002)

Similar to the function of mine I made several years ago. I still use mine as my only press.


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## coyotejim (Jun 25, 2015)

walks with a gi said:


> Similar to the function of mine I made several years ago. I still use mine as my only press.


Yours is neat but it doesn't look that simple -- looks like there was some welding involved. My press uses off-the-shelf parts from home depo, just have to drill and cut the slots for the cams. I have not had a problem getting to the bus loop posts because I can just rotate the cam until the post is not covered by the wood. I have been able to put twists in for cam timing, etc.


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## walks with a gi (Oct 1, 2002)

coyotejim said:


> Yours is neat but it doesn't look that simple -- looks like there was some welding involved. My press uses off-the-shelf parts from home depo, just have to drill and cut the slots for the cams. I have not had a problem getting to the bus loop posts because I can just rotate the cam until the post is not covered by the wood. I have been able to put twists in for cam timing, etc.


 Yes your press looks functional. I'd opt to set the boards more upright and longer between the ratchet strap and the bow string for better access. Maybe even laminate a couple "boomerang" shaped boards that would face away from each other like this; )_____( for even better access. Good job!


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## Pittstate23 (Dec 27, 2010)

not my style but don't see why it wouldn't work, nice job.


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## mkj766 (Aug 23, 2011)

Check out the press at www.nitehawkarchery.com I have one and love it. Portable and affordable!


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## slinger (Jul 25, 2003)

mkj766 said:


> Check out the press at www.nitehawkarchery.com I have one and love it. Portable and affordable!


This is the DIY section.


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## coyotejim (Jun 25, 2015)

mkj766 said:


> Check out the press at www.nitehawkarchery.com I have one and love it. Portable and affordable!


I could make a hell of a bow press at home for $135. I was trying to make something simple all with home depot parts for under $30.


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## teed (Apr 16, 2010)

coyotejim said:


> I could make a hell of a bow press at home for $135. I was trying to make something simple all with home depot parts for under $30.


I think you succeeded.


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## OhWell (Aug 21, 2013)

I have built a couple of presses over the years and my next one will be similar to yours in design. There are a few things I will do differently but those are just personal things. Yours is perfectly functional !!


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## Tunaboy (Oct 3, 2004)

see if can find some pics of the original Omni press. Very similar and you may get some ideas on how to improve the functionality of your press.


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## reylamb (Feb 5, 2003)

mkj766 said:


> Check out the press at www.nitehawkarchery.com I have one and love it. Portable and affordable!


Either:

A. You are Ken Johnson Spamming all over the place under a different username....

OR

B. Ken is paying you to post this drivel everywhere.

Every single post you have ever made on ArcheryTalk is spamming about the nighthawk press....every one.


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## jim p (Oct 29, 2003)

I really like this design. How does this press stand so that the bow is held up off the floor or a table? Or do you just lay the bow on its side to work on it.

I will probably make one of these. So I would like to hear everyone's ideas on how to improve it. This press looks like it has the potential to press beyond parallel limb bows.

It might be nice to have a way to ensure that the bow could not slip out the bottom of the press especially if the bow was a beyond parallel limb bow.


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## gmwilkes (Apr 14, 2010)

Tagged for later.


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## Big Papa Smurf (May 4, 2015)

if it works, thats a good idea. nice job


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## switchback7595 (Sep 10, 2010)

Great job need to build one


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## jim p (Oct 29, 2003)

I got one built. I don't know how to use a rachet strap correctly. I pressed the bow just enough to get the string slack. When I released the rachet it completely and instantly released. It would not have been pretty if the string was out of the groove.

I think that I will use a turn buckle so I don't release things too fast.

Also I think that I will glue another piece of 2x4 to the bottom so the bolt can go through the wood instead of just in the groove.

I also found that the holes in my metal strips are not perfectly aligned. Never saw this one coming. I am going to take the metal back and get two pieces where the holes match perfectly.

I may need to relieve some wood where the qcc's are located so that it will be easier to get the yoke off.

This is a good diy project.


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## ArmedBarrister (Oct 4, 2011)

reylamb said:


> Either:
> 
> A. You are Ken Johnson Spamming all over the place under a different username....
> 
> ...


Hahahahahaha!!! That is absolutely pathetic. I cannot imagine a more pathetic attempt at marketing that has gone on for so long! 

To the Nitehawk douchecanoe: that is NOT how you do social media marketing. Because when you do it like that, you get posts like this in response.


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## jim p (Oct 29, 2003)

I replaced the rachet strap with a chain and a turn buckle. 

I think that my next improvement may be to use metal bar stock where the slots are cut in the wood. I could use metal and drill holes in the metal and attach the metal to the wood at the top and bottom. This would greatly improve the access to the cams for moving strings around.

Thanks for posting this simple press design.


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