How's it look?

[BEN]

This is the hickory bow i'm making for my wife.
 

The bow is 59# @ 28" but she is only drawing 25".
I still have to finish the handle and do the sanding so it will drop a little more.
THe bottom limb doesn't quite bend as nice but I think it's  because I was trying to protect the area right below the fades where I got a little careless with the drawknife. It seems to shoot OK though for not having a finished riser. Any thoughts or tips to smooth the bend out without loosing alot of poundage?

thanks
ben

[Dano]

She looks a little short      (your wife)

Seriously if you get a little bend in the mid limb on the lower one, you could take some pressure off of that hindgy area. The bow looks plenty long enough for her draw to be able to pike (shorten)it and gain a few pounds back.

[BEN]

OK....my wife says she doesn't want it  any shorter (bow that is)    

I finished carving handle and sanding and it is now 47# @ 25".  Still 54# @28". She shot it today and really likes the way it feels; and I think she's afraid I'll mess it up if I try shortening and re-tillering. I guess if she's happy with it, i'll just leave it that way. Now I got to stain it and lay on the snake skin.

ben

[bigcountry]

Top limb looks awesome.  I think I would fix that bottom limb.  Wife won't be happy if it broke.  I know mine wouldn't.  

She's a strong wife to be able to handle a 47lb draw.  My wife complains at 34lbs.

[Dano]

Yep, if she's happy, I'd pretty it up and call it good.

[shamus]

the angle of the picture makes a little hard to tell.

The top limb looks good, except the last third seems very slightly stiff.

the last half of the bottom limb looks just a bit stiff, but that could be the angle of the picture.

More thoughts of mine in tiller profiles:  http://analogperiphery.blogspot.com/2009/04/tiller-profiles.html

hope it helps

[BEN]

Very good and simple explanations on your site, "shamus". Thank you.
She was canting bow towards me as she drew it back. Straight up and down, the bow doesn't look quite as bad, but it is still a little uneven. However, she is definitely not letting me try and fix it. It has been stressed past 28" over 100x so I'm hoping at her 25" draw length that it'll last a long time.

Another question, before applying the snakeskin, do I apply Tru-oil after the stain, or wait until the skin is on and then do the whole thing?

Thanks guys, you are a wealth of info!!  

Ben

[Dano]

Wait till the skins are on and had a few days to dry, you will induce a lot of moisture into the bow from skinning the limbs.