Kanga

Class for today’s lesson we are going to make a Take Down Long bow.

First of all you have to determine, which Take Down you want to make, as there are 2 basic designs in Take Down Long bows.

First there is the “Shallow” take down which could be also described as your straight limb long bow.


The second is the “Pronounced” take down which could also be called the Reflex/Deflex Long Bow.

Ok so for this excersise we will make a “Pronounced” Take Down.

Now the first thing we will have to do is build a form to make the limbs.

We will start off with a piece of 2” x 12” x 33” board.



Now we have to mark out the limb shape we want.




At this time we will also mark where our brackets are going to go.

Then it’s over to the old trusty Band Saw and very carefully cut out what we don’t want.



As you can see I cut close to the line on the top section of the form but left more on the bottom. The reason for doing this is the bottom has to be exact and square, where as the top is not all that important as there will be an air hose between the top of the form and the limbs.

Now take the bottom over to the “spindle” sander and very carefully sand down to the line all the time checking to make sure you are sanding it square.



Here is the bottom all ready for the next step, which is drilling the holes for the brackets.




The 2 top holes for each bracket are 3/8” and we will also need some ½” ply on either side of the holes as a spacer.

The hole in the bottom of the form is ½” and yes you guessed it some ½” ply as spacers either side of the holes.

Here is the form with brackets installed.
The only thing left to do to the form now is to install a pressure strip (formica) to the bottom section of the form, but as yet it has not arrived so I will come back to that later.



So now while we are waiting for the pressure strip and a few other parts to arrive, we will make some Riser templates.

First on a piece if 1/2 “ ply we mark out the shapes we want.



Then it’s once again over to the old trusty Band Saw to rough cut the shapes.




As you can see I have left a lot of wood on the outside of the drawn lines, so it's time for the spindle sander.



Here we are all sanded to the shape we want.




That will conclude today’s lesson,

I hope you are all taking notes as there will be an exam at the end of this course.[8D]

burniegoeasily

Looks good, I was going to ask if this was going to be a three piece or a two piece. Its obviously going to be a three piece.

bigcountry

Well, thats more like it. So where did you get the design bends for your limbs? Or did you just hand draw them.

burniegoeasily

I cant tell if you did it or not, but a bit of advice. That is if you dont mind me adding it. If you rip a 1/8" or lessstrip of hickory, oak, or some other bendy wood and grind/plane it even. then glue it tothebottom of your form with your gap filling epoxy, you will by pass a bunch of head achs. It will smooth over any unseen inperfections you might have over looked while cutting/sanding. It will also help prevent dead spots and\or limb twist by giving you a much smoother, flater, squareback surface.

burniegoeasily

I also have to ask, how much deflex will you end up with. I noticed you deflexed the limbs and the riser.

Kanga

Kent.

I am aiming for around 1.75" to 2" I knowit looks like it's gonna be more but the limbs wont be the full lenght of the form, the finished bow is going to be 66" groove to groove.

As for the bottom of the form there wil be a strip of Formica glued to it, it just has not turned up yet, I could have used hardwood but did not have a strip long enough laying around that I dont have plans for.

Mark.

I got the limbdesign from looking at other take downs on linenow whether or not it's gonna look any good or shoot well, that we will have to wait and see

bigcountry

Well, Russ, I feel obligated to help you here. Ship to MD, and I can tell you if it shoots well or not. I only do this for friends.

Kanga

Well thats sounds like a good plan ( NOT)[8D]

I will add there is some more to do with the form which I will cover when the Formica strip turns up.

burniegoeasily

Formica will work. Ive always liked hickory around 1/8 inch.. I didnt think you would over look it, just wanted to mention it..

Kanga

No worries mate

I better get to typing up some more while I am waiting for the gear to turn up[8D]