For some time I've wanted to show, what we actually do in the Brack Shack. I've received a lot of requests to take pictures while I build your bow. Well that's pretty hard to do, so I've put together some pictures, with the help of good friend Gino Bruno, showing some of the 78 different steps that I take in building your custom bow. All of these pictures are active, so click on them to see a larger photo.
First we start with a block of wood to shape your riser. Whether it be made of Dymondwood or an exotic. I've got to get it to a dimensional length, thickness, and width. That's all cut and grind.
Then once it's dimensional, I use a template, mark center and the start of the limb pads. Over to the band saw to cut of the excess material off of the limb pad angles.
Next the mill is used to cut the limb pads exactly square and perpendicular to each other. Then I drill and tap the holes for the hardware to be glued in later. The accuracy of this step is extremely important and the mill is the best way that I've found, because of the mills accuracy.
Over at the band saw I'll remove the majority of the material off the back of the riser. Then grind off the remaining material to the line drawn earlier.
Back at the band saw I cut out the sight window and belly of the riser.
Now comes the fun, I start shaping the Brack riser. First grinding the belly flat to my mark then sculpting the edges.
This step is also very critical, grinding the shelf and sight window. Getting the shelf radius or peak right above the pivot of the grip. Now I haven't started the grip yet so I'm grinding to a line.
Now for the grip. Starting with the fore finger groove rolling around the belly to the thumb groove which is ground lower and at a downward angle.
Hand grinding the wedge, feathering the end, until you can see through it.
The finished product, the riser ready for the hardware to be glued in, and the wedges ready for the other limb components.
If your choice was for an accent strip. I hand grind, (hand fit) the two/three pieces, then glue all the pieces together into the dimensional block.
Now for the limb components....If you order Custom cores....I cut and grind hand select boards then glue them up into a vertical laminated block. Pictured is Hickory.
Cutting and grinding the cores to an exact thickness and taper. This is done so they are match booked and one will go into your lower limb and the other in the upper limb.
Grinding Curly Bubinga veneers. Note the dial indicator on the grinder. Most woods that are used in my limbs are ground to .018 thousands of an inch. Some woods are ground to .020" because of grain structure.
Glue cores, veneers, and glass together and place into the form. I use heat tapes one on top and one on the bottom of the form. This allows the limp to be cured evenly across the entire limb. Also I only use one limb form to make your limbs. Both top and bottom limb is cured in the same form, one at a time. Coupled with the exactness I use to grind the limb components makes your limbs identical twins.
After the limbs are pulled from the forms they get cleaned up using the Perfomax grinder to square the limb from but to tip. Then over to the mill to drill the mating holes for the riser. I use carbide end mills for this process for their accuracy and clean cut.
Finally your bow comes together. I carefully layout the length measurement of your bow. It is time to find the absolute centers of your limbs in relationship to each other and the riser. I scribe your limbs with a dial height gauge.
I square the tips up with the disc grinder. I grind the excess material off the edges of the limbs to a scribed profile.
Time for the nocks to be cut. I use the mill to cut your primary nock grooves in since it is very accurate. I glue on the tip overlays and start to finish your nocks with a fill. Once the filing is complete I use a sanding cord to smooth all file cuts, so the string doesn't grab.
Time for tillering. Micro Tillering to be exact. On all of the bows I build, this is the most time consuming. Getting your limbs to open at your draw length, to get the max performance for you.
During micro tillering I shoot your bow a lot. I use a light weight arrow to get string bounce and adjust the amount of material on the limb edges to keep the string tracking in the center of the limb/bow.
Once I've gotten your bow to shoot the way I want it. It's finish sanding and hand sanding time. Rolling over all sharp edges. Then off to the finish room for several coats of high quality two part epoxy. Spray, sand, spray, sand,...........mark the bow with your poundage and name, spray......final assembly and shoot. Your bow is then boxed and shipped.
Now I know I've kind of made the building of your bow sound easy, well it's not, it's actually a lot of hard work. Also you can see that when I say I build your bow by hand and everyone has it's own personality you can see why. No CNC machines used here, simply, a lot of sweat, and attention to small details creates a one of a kind handmade works of art. Your Custom Made Bow. From the use of the simplistic materials to the most exotic.
I get a lot of requests to see the machines that I use to grind the risers out with, especially the sight window. Here she is, a custom machine built by Jim, a three headed sander with a pic of the sight window attachment.
