OMG WHAT HAPPENED: First Hunting Bow

[Vgo750]

Please see posts below, what the HELL happened!

Start with some specs:
-hard maple pyramid
-2.5" at fades down to 1'2" tips
-66" ttt
-just under 1&1/2" of set on both limbs
-the numbers on my scale stop at 50lbs even tho the needle keeps on going so i'm not positive but it appears like i'm coming in around 56-58lbs at 28"

     

This is number 4 for me and by far my best.  It feels like the first three all led to this one if that even makes sense.  I used the tillering gizmo for most of the tillering for the first time on this bow and my tiller is much better than previous attempts...limbs are very even at brace and full draw.  

     

This bow seems really really heavy (not draw heavy) compared to my previous bows...maybe that weight will hurt my fps but ill be happy to have the stoutness in the woods I think.  I have never taken a deer with a bow and this will be my tool this season...sooo excited.  

     

I will seal with some poly minwax but not sure about what color to stain her with first...What does maple like to be finished with?  I will update with pics when ive finished her out.  This was my first experience with maple and boy was it a joy...maple is a beautiful wood and really responds to a sharp knife well.

     

Finally, I am actually very happy with the tiller...would have liked a bit more bend in the fades..but thats ok, I might just do some extra sanding there when finishing up...I do have some weight to spare after all.  Do any of you experts have any advice on the tiller?  Thanks for looking /reading everybody.

UPDATE:
WHAT HAPPENED:
Put a new string on tonight and braced to 6"....warmed up the bow a bit by pulling to 10", 15", 20", full draw and CRACK!
 


Here is where it cracked:

 

WHAT ON EARTH HAPPENED!?!?!?  I feel devestated!

[goobersan]

Looks great. Nice job on #4. Someday I just may put away the glass and try a real bow

[JEFF B]

nice looking Bow. well done      you should try true oil for the finnish i think it would look real nice

[Roy from Pa]

It's nice, but I think it should be bending a little more in towards the ends of the riser. Not much but a little more.

[John Scifres]

That'll do  

[RedMan37]

I think it's awesome. I agree that it needs a bit more bend out of the fades..just a little. But if it pulls about 56# or so....shoot it and if a 400-500 grain arrow will penetrate about 10 inches or more into your target at 15 yards...then get ready to do some murderous stabbing on the local deer heard! Let us know how she shoots!

[Echatham]

is one limb longer than the other? or am i just drunk?

[Vgo750]

both limbs were equal length, I did see that it appeared one length was longer....but they measured out to the same length from center of riser.

[KellyG]

Sorry to see that but bow making happened! The good news you get to start another one. Any knots at the spot where it broke?

[Vgo750]

well...I guess my only choice is to get another on the table ASAP...I have a nice white oak rough cut board in the garage that looks like prime suspect number 1.  Have to get it done in a couple weeks so I can get some some arrows tuned and shooting by Sept 28th!

[John Scifres]

It was bending a lot in that area.  On the full draw pic on the tree you can see how it goes fairly abruptly from a non bending tip to a heavily bending midlimb and then a fairly stiff inner limb, particularly on the left.  That is asking a lot from a maple board.  That area is really narrow on a pyramid design also.  Any defect may be problematic there.

[John Scifres]

Another thing I just noticed is that your drawing it by hand is a lot shorter than the tree.  It looks like you are stretched out all the way.  Are you sure your draw length is 28".  Looks more like 26" to me.  Don't let that hurt your macho self image  

It is a lot easier making bows for 26" draw when you want to keep them under 70".

[Vgo750]

Thanks for posting.  As you can imagine I have been staring...and staring...and staring at pics of the bow drawn out and in hand to make sure I learn something from it.  I have definitely learned that I NEED MORE BEND IN THE FADES as was stated by several posters.  This should alleviate so much stress on that mid limb in the future.  I do see that my in hand draw looks much shorter than the 28" I have on the tree.  I'll have to measure out my draw more precisely while actually drawing one of my other bows.  That would actually be really nice to only have to tiller to 26".

[LittleBen]

I find that placing a yardstick in teh center of your chest extengin away from you, and reaching out your hand and touching the yardstick provides a very close measure of draw length.

Might try that to measure DL.

Also you can put a clothespin on the arrow shaft and draw back with the clothspin in front of the shelf, the clothespin slides down the shaft as you draw and marks the draw length. Then just measure.

Lastly, I think that you will gain some draw length by working a bit on the form. Getting your left shoulder in a bit more, and extending the bow arm fully. Disclaimer: I am not a form expert. Just my .02.

[michaelschwister]

Looks like a violated growth ring.  For pyrimid board bows I always back them with rawhide. Better yet, get a pignut stave and just take off the bark.

[Vgo750]

Ben, I did some more accurate drawlength measuring with an arrow and I'm thinking i'm more like 26.5-27" than I am 28".  Which to me is actually a good thing because i'm trying to make a shorter bow for hunting.
Michael, I found an AWESOME hickory board and started in again on another pyramid...just posted about it actually.  And I think i'm going to back this guy with something...not sure yet but cloth, linen, paper, maybe even hickory with some reflex I dunno.  This maple bow sure was a heartbreaker but I guess thats how it goes.  Thanks for the tips, guys.

[Draffish]

quick question regarding your draw length do you keep catching your inside forearm with the string if so you might have an over extending elbow common with young children and females but also seeing more with young males that i have taught. The answer was to turn the body so it faced towards the target slightly also moving the arm out of the way this also might be why the picture is showing you having less draw length than the tree picture shows.
anyway sorry about the bow hope next bow turns out ok

[Vgo750]

My first couple bows did catch my left forearm...my first bow much worse than my second but is still there on my second. I definitely consciously bowed my left elbow a bit to try to get it out of the way. Should a well made selfbow not wrist slap at all? Both my first two tillers were not close to perfect.

[SEMO_HUNTER]

Snap, that's a bad thing to hear for a bowyer. I've heard it many times and that's a sure sign of failure in the wood. I'd suggest osage or hickory for your next venture, chuck that one into the wood stove in the garage and learn from your mistakes. It was either a mistake in the wood grain (which you can't help) or a mistake in the tillering which I did not see, so we are back to a manufacturing flaw of Mother Nature, and not you. Get yourself a good osage stave, many members here on TG sell them , or cut a hickory tree down and make your own staves.
MO