Home built bow press.

[87TT]

Has anyone built a bow press. I have and have seen the portable ones and the do it yourself ratchet strap ones. I was thinking about building one at home. I have two Hoyt bows. One parallel and one past parallel. It says not to use regular press. Need something like an Xpress I guess. Trying to learn how to tune and work on my bows but need a press that will be safe and work on my bows. Nearest shop is over 2 hours away. Any plans or good pictures would be great. Thanks.

 

[jparker]

Has anyone built a bow press. I have and have seen the portable ones and the do it yourself ratchet strap ones. I was thinking about building one at home. I have two Hoyt bows. One parallel and one past parallel. It says not to use regular press. Need something like an Xpress I guess. Trying to learn how to tune and work on my bows but need a press that will be safe and work on my bows. Nearest shop is over 2 hours away. Any plans or good pictures would be great. Thanks.

I built my own using a bar clamp, and some home made limb forks. Worked awesome on my old Hoyt vector turbo, and works great for my newer prime rival. No it's not perfect, but it allows me to tie in peeps, arrow rests, and adjust strings and cables when needed.

 

[87TT]

Have any pictures? Just wonder if it would work on the Pro Defiant with the past parallel limbs. I used the Ratchet strap method just to loosen it enough to tie in a peep and rest string but just was cumbersome and slow. Didn't want to attempt a tuning where I had to do it a lot of times in a row.

 

[jparker]

Have any pictures? Just wonder if it would work on the Pro Defiant with the past parallel limbs. I used the Ratchet strap method just to loosen it enough to tie in a peep and rest string but just was cumbersome and slow. Didn't want to attempt a tuning where I had to do it a lot of times in a row.[/QUOTE]


It's nothing special, just a bar clamp from harbor freight with some.... maybe 1/4" steel plate cut into a fork and bent. I put some rubber tape on the forks and some clear hose for a "stop". It's functional.

 

[87TT]

Does the bar clamp go over the bow while it is in a stand with the string up?

 

[Billy Goat]

I'd be scared to use a homemade job on a defiant. Those limbs have some steep inward angles. Have you seen what happens when a bow squeezes out of one? The cost in damages would make a good dent in the cost of a press. Plus the chance of injury.

The pictured setup above would not work on a defiant. I don't like how Hoyt changed their limbs.

 

[jparker]

Does the bar clamp go over the bow while it is in a stand with the string up?

No, i place the bow in it upside down and use the press as the base. You could do it either way though im sure, i just don't have a vise to mount the bow into.

 

[Kahuna]

These Apple presses are a steal at the moment at $180. I was looking to DIY a press for my Pro Defiant but this does the trick nicely.

 

[87TT]

I was thinking about building something along that line. Interesting ideas though. Thanks

 

[Felix40]

I use a pipe clamp style as well. No issues so far

 

[Brendan]

I had issues with a press not designed for a defiant. As in - the bow came out while pressed. And, it was a commercial press that many people would say "Works great" without ever having tried it. Fortunately, no damage other than some scratches to the limbs, but could have been bad... I know of at least one other story where a tuner had one come out in his face and cause injury.

My advice would be to use a Hoyt approved press, and pay the money.

If you're not going to do that, make sure the riser is secured to the press itself and can't move out forward.

 

[Bbell12]

These Apple presses are a steal at the moment at $180. I was looking to DIY a press for my Pro Defiant but this does the trick nicely.

I have one of these that I press my Vector 32 with, it works great. I don’t understand all of the negative reviews that it gets because it seems pretty full-proof.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Muley15]

Bite the bullet and buy a real press. I finally did this a few years ago and it’s the single best investment I have ever done. Should of done it years ago

 

[87TT]

Thanks for all the comments. Like I said, I live over two hours from the nearest bow shop and when ever I take it in for whatever, they want me to leave it for days or weeks. I can't see spending more for the press than I did for the bow. I am fairly handy, have tools and a welder. I think I can make one that would serve my needs at home. I have pressed my bows with the ratchet straps before but it is not ideal for tuning. I saw where they say Hoyt should be secured on both sides of the riser before pressing. I am retired and have time so I think I may give it a try. The main thing that I have concerns about is the past parallel limbs on the Pro Defiant. The Powermax and another old bow I have are no problem as they are just parallel. I intend to be cautious in the design.

 

[Billy Goat]

As said before the defiant is a bit different than others. The past parallel limbs on it create a pretty steep angle. Make sure you research how the bow should be pressed. Hoyt has information in the bow manual.

 

[87TT]

I think I have a good basic design figured out that will be able to adjust for both kinds of limbs. I will post up pictures and results when I have a chance to work on it. I need to gather some parts and metal. As luck would have it, turkey season starts tomorrow so...…………...put on hold for a bit. Thanks again for the ideas.

 

[ndbwhunter]

There is a good thread in the DIY section on Archerytalk called Let's build a slimline inline. 92safari manufactures and sells the finger assembly. I'm in the process of building one as we speak. Hoping to find time to get it finished this week.

 

[87TT]

OK, I saw a press on Ebay that was sold from China. I basically knocked it off. (turnabout is fairplay right? Besides they probably stole the idea too.) It is heavy duty and awesome. I think when I was all in with the parts and metal, it was around $60.00. As promised here are some pictures.

 

[87TT]

For my other bow that is just parallel and not beyond parallel, you can move the one side piece in to the other holes to change the angle of the arms.

 

[Billy Goat]

Looks like you could put a hand crank on it with a block and tackle. Might make it a little smoother. Don't know how smooth that turn buckle is with a decent amount of pressure. And trying to stabilize the chain.