Bingham hose press kit question...

[easternhunter]

Does anybody have one of Bingham's hose press kit that they'd like to part with?
Thanks to Stilllearnin', I'm prepping to make some laminated limbs for a take down and would like to have one of these kits......or do I even NEED that hose kit????maybe a simple press form with some neoprene rubber between to even out the pressure? would that work as well???

[stilllearning]

Hey all I said was that the Bear bow that I have with the broken limb might make a good worf bow if you were so inclined to try and make one. LOL

[easternhunter]

That's a WOMBOW to you......

[smj]

So, I know two bowyers who use the air tube. They have looked at doing it differently but have always come back to the air tube to get even pressure on the lams... I believe that there is a steel insert used between the air tube and the lams that you must use as well with that setup.

That said, I think I have an old copy of Traditional Archer around here somewhere (although I may have given it back to Kevin) that has a longbow build-along in it. Seems to me that they used old bicycle tubes to wrap the bow while drying. What glue are you going to use? Are you making a longbow or recurve? The tillering will almost seem like cheating after doing it on a board bow!

Are you making your own lams? One pal makes his own, he spent a bit and got a great thickness sander to make them. The other buys his lams, he bought a cheaper thickness sander and ends up with a trapizoidal cross-section. The end result being that the limbs tended to snap around on his recurves and hand him back his string... So until he can get the right equipment for making lams, he buys them. He also said that he thought one could get by with less precise lams on longbows.

I can ckeck with these guys and see if they have stuff they wish to part with - I'll let you know if I come up with anything. Try posting an add on ebay?

[easternhunter]

smj said:

So, I know two bowyers who use the air tube. They have looked at doing it differently but have always come back to the air tube to get even pressure on the lams... I believe that there is a steel insert used between the air tube and the lams that you must use as well with that setup.

That said, I think I have an old copy of Traditional Archer around here somewhere (although I may have given it back to Kevin) that has a longbow build-along in it. Seems to me that they used old bicycle tubes to wrap the bow while drying. What glue are you going to use? Are you making a longbow or recurve? The tillering will almost seem like cheating after doing it on a board bow!

Are you making your own lams? One pal makes his own, he spent a bit and got a great thickness sander to make them. The other buys his lams, he bought a cheaper thickness sander and ends up with a trapizoidal cross-section. The end result being that the limbs tended to snap around on his recurves and hand him back his string... So until he can get the right equipment for making lams, he buys them. He also said that he thought one could get by with less precise lams on longbows.

I can ckeck with these guys and see if they have stuff they wish to part with - I'll let you know if I come up with anything. Try posting an add on ebay?

SMJ, I plan on making recurve limbs for an old compound rise r that SL has....I'm thinking on about 60-62" length overall. I'll buy the lams from 3Rivers or Binghams as well as the glass. I'll likely use Smooth-on for glue....dunno why, just because. I'm not set-up to make decent lams for a glass bow, so there ya go.

I appreciate any help you can give....have you ever tried the glass limb method yourself? I figure take dowqn limbs better be made with glass instead of all wood...

Thanks
Eastern'

[smj]

I should be seeing a pal of mine who makes a lot of laminated bows and I will also pick his mind a bit and see I can pull together for you... Sounds like an interesting project!

[voodoofire1]

I make laminated T/D longbows every day, and if you plan on making more than one.. Get the air hose!.... and if more than 3 or 4 get the heat strips too, both are worth every cent and allow for a very proffesional job.

[easternhunter]

Thanks Voodoofire1....I may see about the air hose kit after Christmas..

[smj]

I spoke with my buddies about spare hose parts... Both say nope! No spare parts at all. They have both started to use the heat strips, although one of them still uses a home made oven as well - he can fit something like 5 bows in it at once.

I have made one take-down bow, the first bow I made. Of course, I was not the real bowyer on that one, Tom (http://www.heritagearchery.com) was the one who knew what he was doing! I just followed along and did what he told me to do! Here is a pic of it on the sofa -



It is the only glass lam bow I've made, and I make the grips a whole lot different now! Much more fine, comfy in the hand. This is a bit of a block to hang on to! The limbs are Osage and bamboo, the grip is Bolivian Rosewood. There is a bit of purpleheart on the front of the grip. The form that Tom had made back at the time of this bows making does not have an even curve throughout the limb. He had some idea he wanted to try out, I don't think he uses that form anymore, and his limbs have a different curve to them. He has made a whole lot of forms! With the air-hose method of making bows, every time you want to try a new bow, it requires a new form. I am still looking for the article I saw earlier that shows a glass longbow being made that is using a jig more like the one I use, with tire tubes wrapping the bow for pressure - rather than the air-hose method. I've also seen clamps used rather than the air-tube. I use clamps for the bows I make, I have one clamp every inch along the limb. Yes, a 68 inch bow takes about 68 clamps! Anyway, I am sure that there are others who can help you more with glass-lams bows than I can! Still, I'd be happy to offer what ever help I can! Good luck, and PLEASE start a posting once you start your build!!!

[smj]

Hey voodoofire1 - any chance of your doing a build-along type of thread for a glass-lam longbow?