I will post pictures in a frame by frame instructional on how I craft an epoxy rest on a bow. This is aimed toward beginners or someone that has never seen or made one. This is ONLY how I do it, I am sure others would have ideas or better methods.
Here is the main supplies needed, plumbers epoxy, two part, a little sand paper, and of course a bow and one arrow.
Start with sand paper and remove some of the paint from your shelf of the bow. Obviously this is not something just everyone would do to just ANY bow. I am using a hand me down Onieda Screaming Eagle for this demonstration.
Next cut off enough of the epoxy mix to craft a rest. About 1″ of the putty will be sufficient in most instances. In the pictures I have cut and kneeded the epoxy into a nice round ball about the size of a quarter.
Next press the kneeded ball directly onto the sanded shelf of the bow, press it until it is in a rounded “hill” on the shelf and risor. This needs to be done fairly quickly as the epoxy will start to set up fast. Once you have a “hill”, press an arrow shaft down into it, careful to try to get the center shot located correctly. By pressing the shaft down into the epoxy you are merely making the channel the arrow will slide through at the shot. You want to be fairly presice with the left and right location. If you dont have a centershot tool, you will have to do some “repairs” after it sets up and you can add more epoxy or sand it away. These pictures will show the “hill, and the groove with the arrow. The epoxy is still soft in these pictures.
As the epoxy sets up, make sure it is pressed and formed down onto the shelf with no jagged edges or spots for your line to hang on when shooting. Once the epoxy has dried, (several hours) I like to wrap a piece of sand paper around the arrow shaft to smooth out the channel of the rest. In this picture it shows how I have the paper around the arrow. I then will slide the wrapped arrow back and forth through the channel and smooth it out well.
Now with the putty completely hardened you can sand it smooth in all directions. The whole I dea is to make it round and smooth so the line cannot hang up on it any where, yet it will guide the arrow accurately, and also be durable to withstand abuse. Adjust your centershot by sanding the groove in the direction your arrow needs to go at impact, then adding a little new epoxy on the other side of the channel meanwhile maintaining the smooth shape and appearance. With it sanded and your centershot adjusted I like to paint the rest to match the bow and give it a slick appearance.
Finally, your end result should be a slick looking rest that has the appearance of factory instalation. The whole process other than the set up time should take less than a half an hour. The last two pictures I am posting are MY finished product. Hopefully I helped someone with this instructional.
