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On one of my visits to OnLine Metals, I picked up a neat scrap, a 1' length of square 1 1/2" aluminum tubing with .183 (3/32") wall thickness.. My first thought was, "Hey, I could lay up a bow on that! stuff!" I let the idea mature in my head and eventually bought a 72" length. Here are some pix of the resulting form and the first bow blank I pulled off of it.

My interest in this project was not because I needed a new form, the flat form I have (aluminum channel on a wood beam) works fine and appears as if it will last forever. What appealed to me about this idea was that it would be a fantastic way for a beginner to get a first form relatively easily and inexpensively. The piece of square tubing cost me $30. The washers and bolts were about another $12. I was due for a new pressure pad, both because my old one is showing wear and because I was using a new, shallower riser pattern. I made a new pressure pad, using 1/8" aluminum backed by 1/4" neoprene and 1/8" tempered hardboard. I used C clamps rather than my pin clamps, since I didn't want to drill that many holes in the alumimum and because from a beginning builder's standpoint, C clamps are cheaper than the 3 way edge clamps I used to make my pin clamps, and are ready to use. (Note: You need two 10" clamps, 4 six inch clamps and 24 4" clamps. I think you could use inner tube rubber bands with this form, too. You could either use circlular bands with the dowels below, or full length cuts wrapped on.)

Notice that the form is resting on pieces of 2x2. This is to raise it enough to allow the noses of the C clamps to slide in.

End view of form, showing wall thickness.	Large washers installed in the riser/fade area, smaller washers out in limb area. The small ones weren't quite as high as I would have liked and I plan to change them out for the larger size. I also plan to move the end washers in a bit and install a second set closer to the end. These doubled washers on the end will server to better keep tip wedges in line.
Closeup of washer installation. Through bolted with 10-24 bolts... The washers are positioned between the spots I marked for C clamp placement. These marks were made at 2 1/2" intervals measuring out from the mark for the riser center.	Butterfly nuts on back.
Form is marked where each C clamp will be placed and for riser center and bow center.	This is actually a staged pic taken after the blank was ground. A pic at this point with all the clamps in place and the opague plastic covering stuff woudn't have been as clear. Howevr, this shows how the C clamps work on the raised aluminum square tube, how the washers swing up to hold the lams in place and the full length pressure spreader. Obviously, only a few of the clamps are in position.
Here's a close up of the center, you can see the aluminum top , the black 1/4" neoprene. The 1/8" tempered hardboard doesn't really show; it kind of blends in with the top lam.	This close up shows the C clamps at work, with the wooden "feet" I made for them. These insure spreading of the pressure out to the edges and keep the clamp feet from depressing the center of the aluminum strip. They also help keep the round clamp foot from "walking" on the aluminum strip as you tighten it. Note that there are clamps facing in both directions. There's a tendency to put more on one side than the other . You don't want to do that or you end up with an off balance and unwieldy form when you go to lift it.
Here's the first bow off this form. This is my new slimmer arched riser. This bow will be finished as a forward riser. It somehow didn't come out as much slimmer as I intended. I'll be drawing up another one.	Little bonus picture here... This is a cut off end, showing lamboo, vertically laminated bamboo flooring, inside the bow. I thought maybe anyone who hasn't played with it might like to see what it looks like in use.

I am very pleased with the result of this project. I think it offers a nice easy and relatively low cost approach to getting started in making simple laminated longbows.