DIY Bow Shop

[MathewsMan7]

I'm going all in on building a small bow shop in my garage. I plan on starting the actual build later this spring. The following is a list of what I've bought so far:

Lumenock (F.A.S.T.) Arrow Squaring Device
Bitzenburger Jig and Bitzenburger Right Helical Clamp
OMP Arrow Scale (Grain Scale)
Pine Ridge Arrow Spinner
Bohning Fletching Remover
Bohning Bow Square
Arrow/String Leveling Kit
Random Different Fletchings and Fletching Glues
PVC Stand for Paper Tuning
Assortment of Allen Wrenches


The following are what I plan to buy over the next couple pay days:

Bow Press
Bow Vise
Arrow Saw
Bow Scale
String Loop Nocking Pliers
Serving Thread
D-Loop Material


Any suggestions would be appreciated...especially on what brands/models I should go with on things I have not acquired yet. Thanks!

 

[shamus275]

I have a Weston arrow saw that hasn't skipped a beat in the 10years I've owned it, it's cut thousands of arrows. Be sure to order the one with the vacuum attachment...you'll thank me later. It also comes with the ball-bearing arrow spinner attachment. Last Chance Ez-Green bowpress is nice, I have the basic model and for the amount of time that you actually need to use a press swapping limbs, cams, making timing adjustments...there's really no reason to have anything fancier. I've used mine with bows as short as 28" and as long as 40" ATA. Buy a RAM bow vise...expensive but user friendly and rock solid. I fought with an Apple bow vise for years before finally getting mad enough to buy a good vise. I noticed a Draw Board isn't on the list...I use mine quite regularly.

Other good things to have on hand are small parts kits to fix bow sights, rests, replacement cam screws etc. Lancaster sells good kits. Buy quality Allen wrenches...the last thing you want to do is strip a screw/bolt in a bow or sight. I've done both and quality tool selection becomes immediately self-critiquing.

 

[Nutterbuster]

Highly recommend the ezpress ultimate. I've never came across a bow or crossbow it wouldnt press quickly and easily. They are good about making adapters for it as new tech comes out (like ultra small ravin crossbows). And it can be outfitted with a built in draw board that saves a lot of space in a small shop.

I used one almost every day for 5 years as part of my job. Now I have one in my basement.

Also strongly recommend the OMP vise. Pricey, but absolutely perfect and it will outlast you. Same for the press, really. Don't skip on the press and the vice!

Knocking pliers https://www.lancasterarchery.com/avalon-pilco-pro-nock-pliers.html

D loop pliers https://www.cabelas.com/product/VIP...ndTiSzMJI37-s-Vg3-tK4UQeJ3EhLy3BoCiJ0QAvD_BwE

Bow scale....honestly I hardly ever used one unless the customer forced me to. I seethed every time a customer brought in a bow and was adamant that it be set to 55lbs. Why? Why not just let me take a half turn off until you like what you're pulling? But the best ones I used were digital, and measured in real time and recorded peak weight. Handy when you needed to do what was, to me, a silly thing.

 

[neonomad]

Maybe I missed it, but do you have draw board on the list? In terms of bang for the $$ that would probably be my #1 and they’re very easy to make.

Edit: And unlike the esteemed gentleman above, I’m a huge fan of a bow scale. I can see just as my limb stops engage, and I can set my valley right to the exact % letoff. And why guess what weight you’re pulling. In the next couple of days I’m going to use it to plot draw force curves for the two bows I have in the stable.

 

[MathewsMan7]

I noticed a Draw Board isn't on the list...I use mine quite regularly.

Ahh, yea, forgot to add that to the list. Did you do a DIY draw board? I've seen some people use boat wenches and those seem to work fine. I am not against buying one if there's one out there that's user friendly.

 

[shamus275]

Ahh, yea, forgot to add that to the list. Did you do a DIY draw board? I've seen some people use boat wenches and those seem to work fine. I am not against buying one if there's one out there that's user friendly.

Yes and No. I "had" a DIY draw board but when I moved into my new house I wanted something nicer so I now have a commercially made draw board...can't remember the brand but picked it up from Lancaster for $150. It's easy to make a DIY draw board though.

 

[Nutterbuster]

Ahh, yea, forgot to add that to the list. Did you do a DIY draw board? I've seen some people use boat wenches and those seem to work fine. I am not against buying one if there's one out there that's user friendly.

The Ezpress one is awesome. Its built into the press. Nice and precise. Used it all the time timing cams, setting draw stops, measuring poundage and draw length, etc.

We had a bow scale that hung from a hook in the ceiling. Not my doing. Several times an assistant went to clip the d loop and pull down on the riser and torqued the string off the cams. Never once had that happen using a draw board.

Also, working on other people's stuff, I was sometimes deeply suspicious of the integrity of strings and limbs. I wanted that thing away from me when it was drawn!

 

[Nutterbuster]

 

[neonomad]

Ahh, yea, forgot to add that to the list. Did you do a DIY draw board? I've seen some people use boat wenches and those seem to work fine. I am not against buying one if there's one out there that's user friendly.

Sorry my bench is a mess right now.

 

[neonomad]

Admittedly superior to my budget tools. One thing I do like about my cheap Apple press is good containment of past parallel limbs.

 

[bloodsoakedberber]

I really like my Archery Dezign bow scale. I use it with my LCA draw board on my ez green press. I would have bought the Archery Dezign draw board to go with the press if I didn't already have the LCA.

 

[Nutterbuster]

Admittedly superior to my budget tools. One thing I do like about my cheap Apple press is good containment of past parallel limbs.

Can't quite tell in the pic, is that the one that uses the bottle jack? I almost bought one for $50 at a pawn shop. Still kicking myself. Buddy has one and loves it. I just got so accustomed to the ez design that I'm bull-headed about it.

Bow work is fiddly, and I actually genuinely hate it most of the time. I'm a hunter first and foremost. Anything that makes it less tedious and fiddly is worth it for me. Speaking of which:

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Or something like a bowplane makes centershot much easier to find. Slap the bow in a vise, monkey with your levels, slap the laser on, and wham, bam, spaghetti slam. You're there. Or at least really close, really quickly.

 

[MathewsMan7]

Or something like a bowplane makes centershot much easier to find. Slap the bow in a vise, monkey with your levels, slap the laser on, and wham, bam, spaghetti slam. You're there. Or at least really close, really quickly.

I JUST saw that those were a thing yesterday...Definitely might try that out down the road when funds become available. Not prioritizing that yet. Have you personally used it?

 

[shamus275]

I have one of these, its worth the money and its what my local shop uses to setup bows. "EZE Center Laser". Since we're going down the bow setup road, a 3rd Axis leveler is also nice to have.

 

[Nutterbuster]

Also, fair warning. This stuff can quickly turn into an utterly pointless rabbit hole and money pit if you let it. Most people shoot worse than their bow. Imagine the silliness of drilling holes in sticks to shave an ounce when you could switch to diet soda and shave 10lbs, and multiply that by 100.

It can be fun, it can be informative, and it can even be useful. But it can also lead to you being THAT GUY talking about buying shafts, floating them in a tub, cutting them evenly at both ends, weighing the fletchings, gluing them with a right helical jig, squaring the shaft, spin tearing the head, yadda...yadda...yadda....all while your hunting buddies look at you patiently over their beer cans waiting for you to shut the heck up so they can remind you about the deer you still missed.

 

[MathewsMan7]

I could not agree more...However, the way I look at it, I could have way worse hobbies. So I'm belly flopping into this rabbit hole. My drunk friends are just gonna have to grin and bear it when I start talking about floating my shafts in the tub. I have to listen to them, so they have to listen to me. At the end of the day, we're all gonna tell each other to go piss up a rope, so I'm going all in.

 

[neonomad]

Can't quite tell in the pic, is that the one that uses the bottle jack? I almost bought one for $50 at a pawn shop. Still kicking myself. Buddy has one and loves it. I just got so accustomed to the ez design that I'm bull-headed about it.

Yes this uses the bottle jack. Pretty sure it’s bottom of the bin as far as presses go, slow compared to the better ones. But I don’t press a lot, it was cheap, does secure past parallel bows well, works fine. I knew my first year or so of tuning Id be clumsy and slow but I’m getting better at it, should give me a lifetime of better flying arrows, and less handing my bow to the 19 year old at the bow shop. Some good gadgets in this thread. I saw a good tip yesterday, when checking your rest position, rubber band another arrow tight to the riser, odds are you get decent left/right flight when nocked arrow is parallel to that riser arrow, good starting point anyway.

 

[Nutterbuster]

I could not agree more...However, the way I look at it, I could have way worse hobbies. So I'm belly flopping into this rabbit hole. My drunk friends are just gonna have to grin and bear it when I start talking about floating my shafts in the tub. I have to listen to them, so they have to listen to me. At the end of the day, we're all gonna tell each other to go piss up a rope, so I'm going all in.

Roll tide.

If you get good at it, enjoy it, have the money in the tools, and are cold-blooded enough to charge for your time and knowledge, it can be a handy thing. Don't run a shop, shops are dying and deserve to die. Be the guy in a basement who is putting the shop out of business. No overhead and working for beer, bait, and gas money. Equipment is paid for, no inventory dollars tied up, and no obligation to work on anybody's stuff if you don't want to.

Charge your buddies what you're comfortable with, what they can pay, or trade for favors. Everybody else? Find out what the local shops charge and charge more. Don't compete based on price. Sell the fact that YOU will be doing the work, and that YOU will do a better job than the other guy because you have the time to do it right. Then do the work like it's your bow. Explain what you did and why. You can probably afford to talk shop for an hour without selling anything, the shop can't. You'd think you'd end up educating your customers to the point they wouldn't come back. Maybe one or two, but most will either not retain the information and still need you OR be impressed with your knowledge and keep coming back because making $50 to give you is easier than buying the equipment and doing it themselves. And even the ones you "lose" are a win because they'll refer folks to you.

 

[MattMan81]

Your buddies will hate you over it. Untill they need something done to there bow and you just saved them a couple hundred bucks. Lol.

 

[Madgrad02]

Managed to make myself an area i'm sure i'll have covered in clutter before too long, but place to work for time being.