My first reflex deflex...Better pics

[jsweka]

Hey Gang,

With archery season over it was time to start a new bow.  Last summer I baught a form and some fiberglass off a fellow Trad Ganger - ghost rob.  He sold me a reflex/deflex form that was a copy of a Great Northen Critter Gitter.  This was my first attempt at a laminated reflex/deflex and also my first attempt at grinding my own laminations.  I think the bow turned out pretty good considering two new bow building "firsts" happening at the same time, but it did come in lighter than I would have liked.  

Well, here's the bow.
Brown fiberglass, hard maple laminations with two of them having 0.002 tapers, curly mapled riser that I dyed, 62" nock-to-nock, and 47 lb @ 28 inches.  This should make for a good light weight bow to shoot during the winter when I'm not shooting on a regular basis.

Thanks for looking.


Unstrung profile
 

Strung profile
 

I just love curly maple          
   

 

And my little helper that held the bow for the pics.  It will be his in a few years.
 

[karrow]

sweet bow. 47# will be a nice i weight imo. should be a joy to shoot

[Trux Turning]

Really nice looking bow- what color stain did you use on the riser it made that maple pop!

[PEARL DRUMS]

Cool! At first I thought "man he built one HUGE bow" Then I realized that wasnt your hand holding it. Great looking bow John!

[Roy from Pa]

Very nice John.

[jsweka]

Thanks guys.  I haven't shot it yet.  I hate this time of year because it's dark when I go to work and when I come home from work leaving no time for fun stuff outside.  I'll test drive it this weekend and get some better pic in natural light.

Trux - I used a water based dye on the maple.  The kind you get as a powder and mix with water.  I actually don't know what it is.  My Dad, who is an avid woodworker mixed a couple different colors to get what he wanted for one of his projects that was made out of curly maple.  I really liked it and thought it would look good on the bow.  I've got a babyfood jar of it and the bad thing is that I'll probably never be able to recreate the same color again.

The trick to getting the grain in curly maple to really pop is to apply one coat, sand it almost completely off, and then repeat.  The water based dye also raises the grain pretty bad, but after the second sanding it stops.  This bow had 3 coats of dye applied.

[jsweka]

OK - just got in from giving the bow it's first test drive and got a couple pics in natural light.

Here's my first shot with it.  It was only 10 yards, but initial results were good.
 

 

And a pic of the tips.
 

[monterey]

I like that bow and congratulate you on getting such great results first time around.  Forty seven pounds would seem like a fine weight to me, but if you are used to heavier.... well, you will just have to build another!

A photo tip for you.  When shooting a darker object like your bow, avoid white backgrounds.  Your camera automatically sets itself up for the bright light and leaves the subject very dark.  Good photo conditions are in the shade with good light so a flash is not needed and on a somewhat neutral background.

Thanks for showing it.

[Glunt]

Nice job! That maple is really nice.  47# is a great weight to hit.  I like a little heavier but lots of folks are shooting 45#-50# so you have the recipe ready to go if you need to build another for someone.

[BigErn]

John,
 Looks Great!
           Ernie

[K.S.TRAPPER]

Sweet bow John!    

You did a fine job and thats a great helper you got there.    

She looks like a shooter and that maple looks great.

Tracy

[kennym]

Nice one John!!  Love the color of the c maple too!!      

[jsweka]

Thanks again guys.  And monterey, thanks for the photo tips.  I've never been much of a photographer and I curse at my el cheapo digital camera every time I use it.

The deflex in the riser made this bow a little more challenging than the straight Hill style bows I'm use to making.  I first used a piece of scrap oak and once I got that fitting good, I used double sided tape to stick it to my piece of curly maple and used it for a pattern.  Now that I've got a decent pattern, the next one should be a breeze.

The wheels are turning thinking about my next bow off this r/d form......

[KellyG]

Well job well done, now get the helper in on building one.

[jsweka]

Originally posted by KellyG:
Well job well done, now get the helper in on building one.

His time is coming.  He's a bit more into his legos right now than bows, but he does shoot with me.

 

I had big sister working on her MadDog Pup bow blank last summer.

 

[Bodork]

Nice job! that riser is very pretty!

[Sixby]

thats a great looking bow.


God bless you and Merry Christmas, Steve