Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Bowhunting How to build a laminated bow

So, enough waiting already. Time to glue this bow up.

I laid out everything I needed since the dry run a few days ago. Then I put both quart containers of the epoxy in a basin of hot water to warm them up a bit.




Next, I cleaned all the wood and glass surfaces and laid them in the order in which I would glue them.



1. is .050 clear glass

2. is .020 kingwood vernier

3. is .090 thick hard maple taper (two pieces glued together to make one long piece)

4 and 5. is .065 thick hard maple taper (two pieces glued together to make one long piece)

6. is a piece of hard maple .060 parallel from the piece of wood my Dad cut. (two pieces glued together to make one long piece)

7. is .020 kingwood vernier

8. is .050 clear glass

Missing from the picture is the riser.


Fast forward to a completed glue up with the warmed epoxy. Due to the mess and the fact that I was working alone, I did not slip out of my sticky rubber gloves to take pictures along the way. What a slippery mess to work with. I used a combination of spring clamps and rubber inner tube strips to compress all the layers. I had more C-clamps at the center (on the riser) but I took them off once I realized that they stuck up higher than the sides of the box and the cover would not lay flat. So much for a complete dry run. I should have tried the lid of the box also. Oh well. live and learn.



Here is a close up of all the layers and all the extra glue that oozed out. I also learned that I used too much glue. I think I could have built two bows with what came out from between the seams. Once again. Live and learn.



Here is the oven box doing it's job of keeping the bow at around 160F. I will unplug it before I go to bed and let it slowly cool down over night.