Well, I finally decided to get my feet wet so to speak. I’ve wanted to build a bow for some time and wanted a long bow. However since I’ve not shot anything but recurve bows for the last.4 decades figured it would be best to go a hybrid route for my first foray into the long bow world. For just one bow I didn’t want to build a form, hotbox, and so forth so instead of building from scratch I figured it would be cost effective to get a glue up. I also wanted something between the 35 lbs and 55 lbs of my two recurves, with 45 lbs as my goal..
Contacted Dryad earlier this summer and order a standard 66 inch fiberglass bow blank with black fiberglass and gray action wood riser. There was some delay in getting it but considering the time of year with all the traditional shows around the country that wasn’t surprising.
The bow finally arrived and true to their statements, in a few hours I had me a bow. The grip area was nearly perfect already, just had to narrow the grip a bit for a perfect fit to my hand. The grip feels almost like my Hatfield. I also had to put a slight radius on the shelf and site window.
The end tips were a bit of a challenge. No nocks had been cut and they had to be shaped. All work was done with hand tools except for the limb tips. To shape the back side of the tips I used a drum sander attachment for my drill press. This gave a nice concave profile. I also had a problem getting the nocks exactly the same on the back side. I've since figured out how I should have done that. The belly side are even though and from the centering of the string I guess that is what counts.
After sanding I finished with three coats of rub on polyurethane. Did the lettering with a calligraphy pen and white Indian ink and then applied three more coats.
The finished bow isn’t quite perfect but it turned out a lot better than expected and I am very happy with the results. I guess I put the nocks a bit too far apart because a string for a 66 inch bow was a tad short. I had to make a 68 inch string and put a few extra twists in it. My draw weight also ended up a bit light, 40 lbs instead of my hoped for 45 but that is fine as it casts arrows quite nicely and due to the difference in the center cut I can use the same arrows I use with my 35 lb Martin Hunter.
Here are some pictures.
The braced profile
Right side of riser. (I am shooting south paw!)The arrow rest and strike plate is the rug side of some velcro tape. Plan on changing the strike plate to leather when I get a chance.
Left side of riser.
back of a limb tip. Looked smother until I put the finish on it.
Belly side of limb tip
Lettering. I didn't mention Dryad. Hope that is pretty much standard. After I had finished the lettering I thought about changing it to Grey Smoke and adding some smoke coming out of the y since they do look a bit like a pipe. Decided to stay with Grey Ghost since that better describes my deer hunting. Like a ghost, I scare the deer but don't hurt them.
I do plan on building one next summer. This will be a classic Hill style so will do my own glue up, or maybe a bamboo backed bow since I really like the looks of those bows. Decisions, decisions.
Topic: First Bow - From a glue up (Read 333 times)
