Hey guys. Long time, no post. I made a left handed bow for a friend. Its a Bamboo backed Ipe bow with an osage handle and power lam. He lives a ways off so I had to find a left hander to shoot it in for him, but I don't think he minded much.
40#@28" 68ntn
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With this bow, I started with a .360" Ipe slat and took the bamboo about as thin as I could go on the edges. I was wondering what dimensions you all usually start with for you belly and backing material. I added about 2" of backset on the glue up, but it pulled a good bit out during the tillering phase which makes me think I was too thick on the belly to start.
Bamboo is 1/16" thick at the tips and 1/8" thick at the riser.
Ipe is 1/4" at the tips and 3/8" at the fades.
(https://i.imgur.com/yxMIe5g.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/2B29mAC.jpg)
Thanks for the info Max. How do you keep the handle on without a power lam?
Ope just saw it. Nevermind. What dimensions do you use on your power lam Max? I've been doing 11"x5/16"
Nice one sir!
power lam is 4" longer than riser
Mine is 1/8" thick, 2" from each end is tapered to zero.
Thanks, I'll give that a try.
Thanks Kenny.
It works the same on glass bow, I typically make my fades 1/16" thick at 1" from the end of the riser and 1/8" thick at 2", then you ramp up thicker, faster. Black bow.
(https://i.imgur.com/mPhh1wx.jpg)
Sam helped alot of folks out over the years with his build-alonges.
https://bowaddicted.com/bamboo-backed-ipe-bow-build-along/
Poor folks bows was a treasure trove!
I've made a bunch of bamboo backed bows of various sorts and never used a powerlam once. Some of my bows have been short and/or with draw weights up to 70# and never had a handle delaminate. No 'pedastals' either.
What I do different than most is use a toothing plane blade dragged by hand like a scraper on both gluing surfaces, parallel with the bow's length until the grooves are the full depth of the teeth. Then just use Smooth On epoxy and set a shop light near it for warmth. The grooves ensure, in spite of clamping pressure, there's plenty of glue equally dispersed through the entire joint.
Also, I suspect my bow's cross section in that area might have a little something to do with it. The bellies of the limbs are radiused, and the handle is bulbous, so the fadeouts don't fade or end straight across the width of the limb like a flatter bellied limb and flatter fades do. Instead they fade out in thickness and width simultaneously over some length and the shape blends the parts in such a way that its about impossible to distinguish them, especially if they're of the same wood, or dyed or aged. But the point is, structurally, I think perhaps the stresses are dissipated differently, in more directions, so, more gradually, less chance of popping... if that makes any sense.