This is the bow bow I've taken all the way to completely finished. I've made a few red oak board bows and a few other experiments...but this one seemed to warrant taking the time to finish up.
64" NTN, hickory backed walnut. Pulls 30# at 26 inches. The riser is walnut and hickory. It started as a 70" long bow but after shooting it a few times, I saw that it was very slow for it's draw weight. So I piked it and added glue on tips to counter the set some.
I'm super happy with the look of the bow. The walnut finished beautifully. I use 6 coats of tru-oil and 2 coats of wipe-on poly.
The arrow shelf was tiny, so I added some leather under the wrap. Its the first time I've made a wrap and I really like the way it turned out. In place of a strike plate, I drilled a shallow hole and glued in a dot of leather. this isn't my idea, I got it from a bowyer here, but I'm afraid I don't remember who.
Now for the not so great. as you can see from the full draw pic, the middle of the limbs is doing most of the work. I left the tips too stiff, the outer third of the limbs aren't really bending much. Because all of the stress is being handled by the mid limbs, the belly is "fretting". I wasn't able to get a picture of it. I am bummed, but overall, I think the bow was a fine exercise.
Thanks to everyone on this site for knowledge and inspiration. On a side note, two months ago I was involved in a bicycle crash that left me with 5 broken bones and collapse lung. It took a plate and 9 screws to put my collar bone back together. The simple fact that I was able to complete this bow at all has me happy, satisfied and relieved. While I was laid up, this site helped me stay sane. Thanks again.
Gentleman Archer.
Topic: Latest Bow... Hickory backed Walnut (Read 408 times)
