Ever since my experience with "Lemonade", the super narrow lightweight bow I made about two years back, I've wanted to do another experiment with narrow core/limb width ratio. Having sold Lemonade, which was 17#, I felt the need for another real light bow, so I decided to build a 20# bow with narrow limbs, but an overall more normal appearance than Lemonade had. I wanted to keep it simple, too. I recently decided that the time had come for this project.
The plan came together as a 66" longbow, narrower than my normal but not as narrow as Lemonade. Structure would be .040 glass, what I generally use, and two core laminations of lamboo. I planned on lams of .140, but ended up more like .133. So, here's what went together:
.040 brown glass
.133 lamboo core, parallel
.127 lamboo core, parallel
.040 brown glass
wood stack = .280
total stack = .360
riser is walnut and 18" long, with pretty gradual long fades.
Shoulder width on my usual bows is + - .124. This one I ground down to 1.000
I ground the limbs pretty slim right to the tips, and kept the riser width constant... no shoulders at all. Since I already have two hinge take downs of hunting weight (for me), I thought it would be handy to have a light take down and decided to put the hinge on this one. With the hinged bows, I like to keep the riser width full, to provide as much bearing surface as possible.
The project came out really well, close to target. Final weight is 22#@my draw, 27@28, length 66". It's a very sweet shooting bow with, like Lemonade, exceptional cast for its weight. A Hill style is supposed to be able to get about 115 fps plus its draw weght with a 10 gr. pp arrow at 28". I chrono'ed this one, from hand release, 25" draw, at 133 fps. with an 11.8 gr. pp arrow, or very close to right on target. Certainly it would have made expectation if properly tested rather than hand released.
I just got back from an afternoon at the range. I normally do not try shots over 30 yards. I just don't think it's a good idea to get yourself thinking that way. However, this bow was doing so well, I played at some longer distances and found I could deliberately hit kill zones out to 50 yds.... not every time or anything, but once I had the feel of the bow and distance, I could do it, or, more accurately, the bow could do it.
Actually, Lemonade was out at the range with me today. I met up with friends there, including Charlie, the lady who got Lemonade. This is the first time that two OPA bows have been out on a course in one group! Both of us shot the round from standard positions, out to 50 yards and in a couple of cases a bit further. Lemonade was shooting at 17# and SGB at 22#. i don't normally take shots over 30 yards, I just don't like to get that image in my head. However, today I did, and this bow will take them. The first time i tried an elk target at 50 I hit low, but immediately knew the bow had the range and four arrows later saw two of them in the kill zone.
I will probably be going for a deeper core/limb width relationship on most or all future bows.
On top of really great performance, this is a pretty girl, I hope you enjoy meeting her.
With that background, here's Sweet Georgia Brown. The name will be self explanatory:
Unstrung… just a bit of string follow
Unlike many of my bows, this one has a shelf.
The brown glass and the white lamboo set each other off very well.
“Sweet Georgia Brown”
I’m very pleased with the tips on this one. This is the upper. Very easy stringing.
Full draw. Tips are a little straight, undoubtedly do to no tapering, a deliberate decision
Hinge action broken.
(Please note: I do not take orders for bows.)
Topic: Meet "Sweet Georgia Brown" (Read 536 times)
