Building my own recurve.

[Greywolf in Hawaii]

My radius is a large rattail worth of radius. This is where my #50 Nicholson rasp comes in
The radius (arch of on the shelf) sometime is a full radius and sometimes set on the belly 1/3 side of the riser.

Matthew, it's gonna be a great lookin bow, Congrats on the first time straight limb build.
it's your bow. But remember when ya rasp the shelf ya have ta stand on one foot and put the other foot on 3 doubled folded piece of aluminum foil, and use the left hand, so the positive Ions won't over load the top part of the riser so the bow will shoot high. Just saying.....

[bassmatt72]

......... But remember when ya rasp the shelf ya have ta stand on one foot and put the other foot on 3 doubled folded piece of aluminum foil, and use the left hand, so the positive Ions won't over load the top part of the riser so the bow will shoot high. Just saying.....

If I use four pieces of foil on top of a rubber floor mat can I still use my right hand to shape the shelf? What about the old myth of placing a nine volt battery in an empty pocket?

[Hoggslayer]

If I use four pieces of foil on top of a rubber floor mat can I still use my right hand to shape the shelf? What about the old myth of placing a nine volt battery in an empty pocket?

I don't know about all that but I do know however you do it you must stick your tongue out. I can't work on anything until I get my mouth right.

[Saltgrass Mikerr]

Following along. I love watchin these recurve and longbow buildalongs.

Me too

[bassmatt72]

I managed to get about two hours to work on the bow today. Remember the overlay I'm trying? Here it is after I removed the clamps.

Now here is the bow with what I'm thinking is the final shape of the riser? I'm going to go ahead and finish the bow the rest of the way and later if I decide I do not like the riser I can always change it some.

I lucked out and found a string in the bottom of my string building box that fit! I just had to shoot it some! So far.....I'm liking it!

Bow is a little heavy (60ish @ 28")but I still have some shaping and finish sanding to do so I'm sure I'll drop a couple of pounds then. I'll also make a string just for this bow, I'm thinking green and black with a little brown in it???

[Horn chaser]

I like her lines at full draw and the overlay looks sharp. Good colors for the string that will match the bow real good.

[Bowtech Lefty]

Looks great, can't wait to see it finshed.....great work!

[Greywolf in Hawaii]

If ya want to put it on a diet PM me. or Skype me. It's not as hard as ya might think.

Just a thought.

[TP3]

Looks pretty beefy

[bassmatt72]

Looks pretty beefy

It is a little on the heavy side right now, but like I said I still have some finishing to do. I need to round the edges of the limbs and still need to sand the glass for finish. I'll PM Greywolf and see what he has to say about dropping some pounds?

[wes122984]

Fantastic job!

[bassmatt72]

Sorry you all, I haven't been able to work on the bow much in the last few days. This is where I am so far...I followed the directions from Binghams on the final sanding and prep for finish, part of that is to round the edges just a little. So, a light touch with the rasp and some 120 grit sandpaper. It was kind of difficult sanding the fiberglass because it sure was nice looking when I pulled the tape off! The glass has some type of protective finish on it that causes issues with your finish so it has to be removed, so the glass is now all sanded and cloudy.



It still feels a little heavier than I'm wanting so I'll work on dropping the pounds, couple of ways to do that but I haven't decided which I'm going to try first. Also, I bought a better draw scale from wes122984 and waiting for it to arrive.
I have put two coats of super glue on the riser and done some sanding to it and this is what its looking like now. I'll finish sand and clear coat it later.

I'll be getting things ready today and going to and working at the little place I'm leasing tomm.
More to come!

[LeanMachine]

What is the purpose of putting super glue on the riser if you are going to clear coat? Just curious.

[Greywolf in Hawaii]

Super glue finish does a couple of things, first seals the wood completely, second it fills the pore and acts like a sanding sealer. Super glue is very clear.
If your using Thunderbird epoxy, or any other 2 part finish. then is a waste of time to do super glue.
it's is a great hand rubbed base application for a finishes like Helms, Deft or other rattle can finishes.

I either use Super glue or Tru-oil as a base for all my bows.

Just like a Gloss finish dries harder than a Satin finish. any of the finishes sanded makes the finishes look smoother and like silk.

Unless you want a dull finish, then instead of holding the can or gun 10-12 inches hold it about 16-18 inches and you'll get a splatter texture, it helps the bow limbs not be shiny.

[Loreva13]

Wow. awesome job!!! The bow is looking awesome!