I recently had the urge to try a one lam bow build, just to see how it would come out. I had been thinking about it for awhile, then came across some info on a one lam bow that Rudderbows is now offering. Naturally, with that impetus, I had to try it. It came out very well and was a super easy build, leading me to consider doing another as a buildalong, combining it with information on Cherry Pie's build and including advice on how it could be done by a beginner with minimal equipment. I'm going to go ahead with that project but that's for another page at a later time. I have begun, however, and there are comments and pictures of Cherry Pie's build already posted through a link on Cherry Pie's page in the Gallery of my site at
www.oldpharttsarchery.com. You might appreciate these build pics and narrative if Cherry Pie's single lam build approach interests you. This page will be substantially expanded with the next project.
Meantime, here is Cherry Pie. The name derived from the fact that this was rather an experiment, with no certainty of how it was going to come out. For this reason, and because I had selected cherry as the wood, I found myself thinking of the old song, "Can She Bake a Cherry Pie, Billy Boy, Billy Boy?". That's too much to write on a bow limb, so she became just Cherry Pie.
The layup is:
.040 clear glass
.297 cherry wood parallel
.040 glass
Total wood stack: .297
Total stack: .377
Note: There's nothing magical about the wood stack of .297. I was shooting for .300 and missed by .002.
66" and 35@28 (30 at my 25" draw)
I'm quite pleased with this result. When I opted for .300 for the wood lam, it was purely a best guess based on previous bows. I wasn't sure if going to one lam would change the results much or not. As it turned out, it didn't.
Cherry performs well. The draw is just a hair stiffer than you might expect, I'm sure due to the one lam and no taper, but is smooth and certainly not unpleasant. She seems quite accurate and fairly flat shooting. I got an average hand release chrono reading, 9 gr. pp arrow, of 145, which is exactly at the 115 fps plus your draw weight expected of Hill bows. That figure would go up if tested in a machine with mechanical release. I'd shoot 3D with her any time.
Cherry is actually more of a flatbow than a real Hill style, having a bit wider limbs with a shallower core.
Unstrung... 1/2" of string follow.
Note the red string. I tried something new... a one color string. It looks good but I don't recommend it. I ran into a small problem... it's harder to keep track of the two bundles of strings as you twist. It sorted out of course, but if you ever decide to try it, it might help if you expected this in advance. The cherry riser is subtle, but attractive. There is a slight contrast between the limb cherry and the riser cherry, just enough to add a little interest.
Laced wrap.
Tips came out nicely shaped.
OPA #20
66"
35@28
Yep... #20... now that's kind of mile stone.
I'm real pleased with the nice square fade ends.
Full draw. That short riser resulted in the major bend coming lower on the limb than I might like, but the long stiff tips really flip the arrows out.
OK... I like this bow. From it, I learned several things:
A one lam bow, at least at reasonable weights, is very feasible. If I were building the same bow again, I'd add a little taper.
I usually use longer, more gradual fade risers. I tried a short one here, and while it works I think the action might be a bit better if I'd used longer.
You'd have to go into my building notes to get more information on this, but I also learned that it is possible to cut a good lam for a single lam bow on a table saw, without using a drum sander to fine tune multiple laminations. I'm going to try this on my next project.
I love projects where I expand my horizons.
Dick
Topic: Meet "Cherry Pie" - A Single Lam Longbow (Read 332 times)
