Building a bow shop at home

[amp713]

So the only bow shop I ever really liked was 30 minutes away, they closed down and now the nearest is 2+ hours...


As such I usually do my own bow set up and tuning but I've always rednecked it... holding the bow in a door frame with ork hand while setting the sight level with the other, eyeballing knock height, etc...

My goal was always being able to connect in the vitals, so far it's worked and I've always taken the time to have the shop I like go through it pre season to check it over.

This year I felt like they weren't really giving it the attention I wanted even though I mentioned some specific concerns. They shot it and said shoots bullet holes dont know what you are worried about.

So now I want to put together something at home where I can be a little more precise. My questions are what can I get by DIYing and what should I buy? What's the most important pieces in your opinion?

I was thinking bench mount for the bow and build a draw board for it as first 2 big steps. I have a handy press and a blitz for fletching but that's about all. I do plan to get an arrow saw but I've seen some DIY set ups I'm torn about trying. I don't know if I can get the precision out of diy or not

 

[quackaddict]

Spewing Jason bow vice off of ArcheryTalk, $35-40 draw board, Bow Master press. I still need a fletching jig and a Hamskea 3rd axis level, but I can get a lot done with my little setup.

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[Brendan]

Tuning Pieces I use a lot, other than the press and draw board:

100 Pack of Disposable Razor Blades in a handy plastic dispenser
12" Steel Ruler
6" Steel Ruler
Tape Measure
Bic Lighters
Nice set of allen keys and Torx bits (Trust me - buy a good set and always use the correct size, first time you round out a screw using cheap crap, you'll get it... I use Wiha)
Vice. Mine mounts to the stabilizer location and has two knobs I can use to "Micro Adjust" bow for/aft and horizontal cant.
Hamskea Level.
4' Carpenter Level.
12" Level.
Clip on Arrow Level.
BCY 3D Serving Thread for Nocking Points and Peep Tie in.
BCY #24 D Loop Material.
Serving jig if you want to be able to re-serve. The Nock On Store has a good one for only $20. Need matching center serving to re-serve - I'm playing around with Halo and Powergrip right now, and having trouble getting the right size.

Arrow building and other if you want to get into it: Jig, Clamp, Saw, Arrow Squaring Device / Spinner, .1 grain accuracy digital scale, Chrono, Software for Archers/Ontarget 2 for sight tapes...

That's all I got right now.

 

[Blockcaver]

Brendan, good list.

I'd add a dental (or grout pick) for un-tying D-loops and for assistance in tying in peeps and silencers to the string....helps split the string and feed ends of your serving string through the bow string as necessary.

Get a set of hex head socket drives (allen wrenches) for your 3/8" ratchet. When you adjust bow weight it is so much easier to turn it with a foot long ratchet versus an allen wrench. These sets are inexpensive anymore at places like Walmart (Canadian Tire or Princess Auto in Canada).

I built a pipe bow press for about $5.00 worth of hardwood for the jaws utilizing a free 5' pipe clamp my old neighbor gave me when he was moving away. Works great on several Mathews bows, Primes and a PSE but I don't shoot a past parallel limb Hoyt. Google pipe bow press on Archery Talk if you are interested.

A draw board is cheap to build from a 2"x6"x 6', cheap boat winch and 1/2" sch 40 stand pipe. Add an electronic scale between the winch and bowstring to measure peak and holding weight, and a piece of tape measure attached to it for draw length.

Unwaxed dental floss is excellent stuff for wind detectors attached to your bow. I [prefer it to serving thread for tying in nock points above and below the nock and inside of the D-loop to prevent string pinch. I always carry it hunting for sewing thread as well as dental purposes too.

I like to keep Bohning Hot Melt glue (stick), Fletchtite Platinum, Superglue, 24-hour epoxy and Pliobond glues and adhesives around. Some leather (tanned deer hide is excellent), pliobonded to the riser around the arrows shelf if your bow doesn't come with a rubberized shelf (as well as the to the bottom of the sight ring).

I like to use a propane torch that you can dial down to a tiny flame for using the Hot Melt glue for outsert installation.

A bow square is a simple and cheap way to ensure your nock point location to the rest is measured, then recorded accurately. Get a small notebook to write down all critical measurements on your bow...Axle to axle on both sides, nock-set location, peep to nock-set, brace height, bow poundage, etc.

Good luck with your DIY bow tuning. Beats the guy in the shop doing it for you!

 

[amp713]

I guess I should highlight that I was an auto technician for 7 years before going into the oilfield and so I have about 50k in tools sitting in my shop so hand tools and similar I have plenty. It's mostly the specialty tools I need haha

I have arrow spin tester, blitz fletcher, az ez fletch somewhere in storage, and I had a squaring device for my arrows but cant find it. Possibly lent it out and never got it back.

Thanks for the feed back guys!

Quack I'm going to look into that vice, I like the price point alot!!

Brendan how much is that stabilizer mounted vice cost and can you post a pic??

 

[quackaddict]

Quack I'm going to look into that vice, I like the price point alot!!

That vice is a stab hole mount too. I use a QD on my stabilizer, so when I'm working on the bow, the QD goes on the vice and makes it quick and easy to mount up.

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[Gerard Marcaurele]

I have just under $600 in my personal shop.

Last chance EZ press
Ram bow vise
Homemade draw board ($50 in materials)
Cheapo level kit for arrows

I made a little 30”x20” table to mount the press and vise. I will be mounting the draw board as well.

I can very easily work on my bow all within the comforts of my own home. Wouldn’t have it any other way.

 

[Beendare]

The DIY section on Archery Talk has a bunch of clever ideas.

 

[doncarpenter]

I suggest buying an arrow saw if you build a lot of arrows. I have put together two diy jobs and while they did cut arrows sometimes the ends would splinter and the cuts were not very square. After getting a weston 8k rpm arrow saw its night and day. I wish I would have saved the time and money and just got an arrow saw to begin with. I will reiterate though, its really only necessary if you build a lot of arrows. If you are talking one or two dozen a year, a homemade deal will be fine.

For a biw vise, i use this vise from harbor freight, 2-1/2" Table Swivel Vise

Then I bought a 8 inch 5/16x24 bolt and two jam nuts. Just thread the bolt into the stabilizer bushing and then tighten jam nuts. Works great and only 25 bucks total cost.

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[Brendan]

Here's my vice. The vice itself is a RAM, but the stab mount may be from a PSE vice i had.

 

[amp713]

I suggest buying an arrow saw if you build a lot of arrows. I have put together two diy jobs and while they did cut arrows sometimes the ends would splinter and the cuts were not very square. After getting a weston 8k rpm arrow saw its night and day. I wish I would have saved the time and money and just got an arrow saw to begin with. I will reiterate though, its really only necessary if you build a lot of arrows. If you are talking one or two dozen a year, a homemade deal will be fine.

For a biw vise, i use this vise from harbor freight, 2-1/2" Table Swivel Vise

Then I bought a 8 inch 5/16x24 bolt and two jam nuts. Just thread the bolt into the stabilizer bushing and then tighten jam nuts. Works great and only 25 bucks total cost.

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I think I'd make alot more arrows if I had a saw available... I have multiple bench vices from my mechanic days and I never could find a good way to use them without worrying about smashing into and scratching the riser. Now that you posted this I dont know how I never thought about doing it that way....