My Mini Bow Perch

The bow itself is made out of an Embroidery Hoop & Frame. I use the plastic ones from Wal-Mart. It is from Susan Bates and is called a HOOP-La. I use both pieces but you need to take them apart, rough up the insides of each ring with some sandpaper (I used a Dremel with a sanding disk) and glue them together with some rubber cement and to help hold them together tight I screw the larger loop tight and I also use some clothes pins around it to keep it tight too. Once it is dry you can measure how high you want it and cut off the bottom part. From the top of the baking pan to the top of the plastic bow in the center it is 5.5" for my musket. Use some masking tape on the pan and mark the center in both directions and on the ends drill a 1/2" hole using a good bit so you can easily insert the ends of the bow into it. I also made the bow long enough so that the ends are also flat against the table and then before gluing it I put two pieces of heat shrink over it and the metal ring for the leash and then I put two washers on each end, applied the glue to each washer to glue them together and then on the bottom washer against the pan. Push them down onto the pan and then push the bow down until the ends touch the table and let it dry. For all this, use the JB Weld!!! Super Glue and Rubber Cement will NOT stick to the non-stick coating of the pan! Once its all set up and is hard I flip it over, put some glue on the washers and push them over the bow ends and glue them to the pan and then I put some glue on the ends of the bow towards the pan/washer end and I used my fingers to force screw a 1/2" nut onto each bow end and let it dry. I then use 3 pieces of 5 inch long X 3/8" wide weather stripping on the top of the bow and both sides. I then use a piece of masking tape to hold down the end of the hemp rope (the thin type that looks more like thick string) and wrap it tightly around the weather stripping. I doubled mine, one layer on top of the other. I then tape down the other free end and put the heat shrink over it and heat it up so it shrinks down. I let mine sit over night to ensure the glue is thoroughly dry! Voi-la.....a nice looking portable mini-bow perch.

Baking Pan: $ 5.89
HOOP-La: $ 1.27
6 Washers & 2 nuts: $ 3.24

Total: $10.40