elm flatbow

[tpoof]

Hey folks,  I am in the middle of working on this Elm Flatbow and was thinking of possibly heat treating the belly and bending shallow recurves in it, then backing it with deer leg sinew and covering it with Garter snake skins.
Its 67" long 65" nock to nock,,draw length @ 27 1/2"
I posted this on Paleoplanet but for some dang reason can't get pics to load!
Anyone have any input here?
All will be appreciated!
Thanks for looking
             

[tpoof]

It was originally going to be an unbacked self bow,thats why its so long,,, I started this project prolly 3 years ago, now I look over my supplies and have lots of deer sinew sitting there as well as snake skins so I thought, why not,,
What you folks think?

Anyone do any heat treating?
It would be my first shot at it, as well as sinew, as well as snake skin, only made self bows till now and am ready to tackle something different!
What say you?

[Art B]

That's a little long if'n you're going to sinew it. Probably 60-62" for your draw length would be max. IMO. And "think" width also when you're sinewing. Sinew and glue is quite heavy so try to reach a happy medium both ways. Heat treating will certainly help reduce your width and sinewing even more. What poundage are you after?-ART B

[tpoof]

Thanks Art!, The poundage really doesn't matter too much, something over 40lbs to about 60lbs, in that range. Its what I usually shoot and it gives me alot of freedom  
Its at 1 3/4" at the fades right now tapering in straightlines to 1/2" at the tips. If I cut her down I might put pin nocks on and keep some of the width at the tips? yes, no?
Anymore thoughts on the heat treat, heat belly only?
or both back and belly? I'm thinkin just belly.
Input,,,, comeon guys don't be shy....    

[Frenchymanny]

Nice work!

Can I see a picture of the profile of the handle?

Thanks,
F-Manny

[tpoof]

Here's the handle, grip. A few different snaps!

         

Still waiting on comments.....

[Art B]

You just want to heat treat the belly of the bow. You got a cull made up for this? You're probably going to want to set you limbs back several inches at least. Keep your retangular limb shape until you treat the limbs (helps prevent lateral movement also). Keep a slight radius on the belly of your limb as well. You can flatten them latter if you want but for now this will help prevent cupping. Keep your tips light, say a 1/2", always a good place to start you know. I assume your bow is floor tillered, so after you heat treat your bow (going to be stiffer) check your limb bending again and reduce your limb from the sides this time to reduce it's width somewhat. Good luck.-ART B

[Frenchymanny]

Thanks Tpoof, I like it.

F-Manny

[John Scifres]

Sinew is way too much work even on a bow that is designed for it.  To add it to a long bow like this would be wasteful and probably make you never want to do it again.  Now if you cut it to 62", heat treat the belly and add 2-3" of reflex, you may be in business.  If it were me, I'd finish this one like it is.  It looks really good.

[tpoof]

Well, here it is a few days later and some major changes in the Elm bow!
The 69" flatbow is now a 58" semi recurve!
Chopped the tips off (that hurt for abit) and that threw the tiller right out the window!
Retiller,to 28" and biuld this caul and heat gun heat treat the belly till she just wrapped around the form. ( it was way easier than I thought it would be) I let it cool and took it off, even put it on the tiller tree and pulled it, it gained quite a bit of weight, and I only pulled it a short ways.
Still thinkin on the sinew, see what happens,,,
Thanks to all those who gave input!    
         

[Osagetree]

That's a good looking piece!!! Let's see more with some string on it!

[tpoof]

Here's a couple of pics, they didn't turn out too good as there is not enough room to take a pic in the narrow hallway where I tiller.
Those big curves sure open up but they seem to come back right where they were.
I think I'm going to try to sinew this bow and see what thats all about! This bow is ending up to be kind of a teacher to me the way its changing. lol
flatbow, semi-recurve, sinew,
hopefully not firewood!   :D      

[John Scifres]

You did a nice job but unless you sinew it, I suspect the recurves are going to straighten themselves out and then likely follow the string some.  It is now a perfect candidate for sinew.

[tpoof]

Well, here's an update on the Elm bow.
Wanted to do something a little special with those pin nocks, found a broken pool cue and glued on a couple chunks, doesn't look too bad! ebony I think

Started on the sinew backing as well, hard to believe it took as much as it did, I got three good layers on now. That sinew is amazing stuff, from a white slimy bumpy mess to a hard amber covering, its really something else!
I was wondering though on if I should wrap some of the recurve, where the bend is the greatest, don't want it to pull free.
It may stiffen the curves I'm thinkin but after all this I would hate to have it fail when it would be so easy to fix now.
Wondering if any of you's have wrapped the tips or have thoughts about it
             

[buck-tamer00]

awsome, u shoo it yet???

[tpoof]

Here's the latest! Glueing on the Garter snake skin.
Had these frozen in the freezer for about 8 years, thought they would be spoiled but 2 out of 3 are fine.
This project is comin along nicely.    
Thats for the interest and input!              

[Dale Hajas]

Man yer applying sinew AND snakeskins in your KITCHEN on the TABLE!!! THAT'S IT!!


Now it's MAN LAW!    My HERO!  

[JEFF B]

hey man that is an awesome bow you made there. i hope it shoots good for you      

[tpoof]

Well folks, she's done!
Ol Manyfaces is complete!
I'd like to thanks all those who veiwed this thread for their interest as well as those who gave suggestions,ie: John Scifres, F Manny,Art B, Osage tree. !( thanks guys for giving so freely! a rarity in todays world, much appreciated)
This bow was a new venture for me and I'm happy to add that the road was a smooth one and the finished product is just beautiful and a real joy to hold and shoot!
I put her on the scales yesterday and she pulled 44lbs @27", a bit lighter than I hoped for but she pulls smooth and seems quite snappy in shooting.
Put on some Bobcat paw limb silencers as it was a bit loud on the loose but now she hardly makes a sound!The colors of the paw match the dark of the skins and the tan match the wood just awesome!
Tied up a new B50 Dacron 3 ply 15 strand string in black, brown and yellow along with mink tail silencers, they match the color of the skin and wood almost perfect.
The finish is polyurethane, 4coats of gloss followed by a satin coat to cut the shine some.
The grip is from calf lacing that I used after I put a solid piece of leather on then took off as it just looked too plain!, the lace looks much better with the scales from the snake skins.

Now if I can just get some decent weather!!! lol
Thanks again all!
tpoof          

[tpoof]

A few more              

Thanks once again!
tpoof