7 lakes longbows

[gobbler10ga]

Can anyone tell me bout them

[Eric B.]

My son got one of the blanks 2-3 yrs. ago.It shoots real nice.He shot off and on for a couple of years and went back to a compound - oh well. He might sell his. If your interested let me know.

[Jeff Strubberg]

Own one, wouldn't mind owning another.  Good blanks, darn good bows with a little work.

[yleecoyote23]

Great shooting longbows! I have had mine for 2 1/2 yrs.
 

[Legolas]

Mike Ballinger,owner made mine when he sold completed bows.
I will say this-every year I hunted with the 7 Lakes (57lb. 66 inch) I got a whitetail, i.e. 3 8pts and one doe stalked on the ground.

Paul

[R.W.]

Had one kit made up for me, by Mike. Very nice bow, quick, very little "shock" and not hard to finish up.
Mike supplies a very comprehensive set of directions for finishing off the blank kit, so you ain;t left in the dark, AND he is very good at answering your questions, should you have any.
I would not hesitate to purchase another bow blank from Mike.

[Shawn Leonard]

Sweet bows, pretty quick for a mild R/D and very stable. I have owned two of Mikes bows and I am sorry I parted with either one. I may get a blank one day and see how I do. Ya cannot go wrong with one of his bows. Shawn

[Nala]

I too am interested in these bow blanks because you can get them for a whole lot less than almost all of the longbows out there.
I would like to see some Before and After pics of them if anyone has any.

Are thet really not that hard to complete?  What is the hardest part of finishing one of his kits?

Nala

[R.W.]

SANDING is the hardest part of completeing the "kit"
It isn't really hard, just tedious, and the quality of the sanding you do reflects on the finish you get.

I did have a bit of bother with the string grooves, but this was only the second bow I had worked on.

On a personal opinion, I though the tip overlays on mine should have been thicker. If I do this again, I will use some red, or black phenolic under the wood to build my overlays up a bit.

For a finish, I used ten coats of "Minwax" spray on poly, (gloss) and five coats of "Minwax" spray on poly, satin. These are THIN coats, too, and I sanded after each coat had FULLY dried. (600 grit)

A thin strip of leather was glued to the arrow shelf, and a another to the side of the arrow pass, just to keep things quiet.

If you are uncomfortable wtih putting on tip and grip overlays, Mike will do that, too, for a nominal fee, but it isn't really difficult.

[Shawn Leonard]

To address R.W.s concerns if ya order a blank tell Mike how far ya want it completed. He will do quite a bit like cut in the shelf, almost finish the string grooves and such. It will cost ya a tad more but he will help ya out a lot. Shawn