Firewood? Maybe,,,, maybe not! (NOT! See Finished Pics)

[JEFF B]

well that is awesome bro!! looks like ya saved it after all.                look Daddy im a Bow

[Pat B]

Joe, cut the grooves across the overlay but not down the sides of the limb. The string lays in the  groove in the overlay and along side the limb tip.
The bow I have with this set up is hickory with 1/4" tips. If I remember I'll take pics in the day light tomorrow.

[Osagetree]

Jeff,
It was really nice of you to call and wish us a happy Independence Day! Thanks as it is always nice to hear your voice coming from the other side of the world.
Don't count this one as a bow yet,,, I still aint got it to full draw!

Pat,,, yes please I need to see a pic of your tips. Thanks in advance!

[JEFF B]

     yup it was good talking with ya

[red hill]

Amen, Pat. I am definitely new at this and two things I've learned...You must be patient and power tools screw things up in a hurry!
I used hand tools on my first board bow, unfortunately it broke because I put too much backing on.  But the last five have held up. Now I'm want to try some osage orange, so keep'em comin', Joe.  I truly love your work.
Stan

ps
The overlays are great.  What do you glue them on with?

[Pat B]

Sorry it took me so long Joe but here are a few pics. This is a hickory narrow pyramid. The tips are 5/16" wide at the string groove and 1/2" deep. These 4 pics are of the same tip(top) just different backgrounds hoping for a clearer pic.
 
 
 
 

[Pat B]

Well, 2 didn't come up. I'll post them too if you want.

[Osagetree]

Thanks Pat. I see 4 pics and they tell me what I need to know! Thank so much again!!!

[walkabout]

looks good so far, great save on this piece when it was obviously being stubborn.overlays look really cool. i may have to do some on my hickory selfbow thats in progress.

[red hill]

Pat, on those tips, would you have to make your string loop(s) larger than usual? It would appear that the loop would have to be a little larger to ride along the limb beneath the nock.
Stan

[Pat B]

Not really Stan. Actually I think it could be smaller. Some of the Asiatic horn bows had a similar string nock but the sayah(sp) were thick back to belly but very narrow. Their strong loops are very long.

[Tony Chinn]

Hey Joe
That's a sweet looking bow.
Tony

[red hill]

Thanks, Pat.  Joe, I cut the bases off a 5 pt rack I took off of a head that had been dumped on our lease.  Now I'm thinking of using them as tip overlays after seeing this thread.  Keep up the good work.
Stan

[Osagetree]

Looks like I've worked all day and one step closer to the fire pit. I have really had some bad luck lately.

I had finished of the string nocks this morning and had it on the long string doing a little tillering. I was satisfied at about 6" so I went to the sort string. Since the bow was so thin I had to cut in a nock for a stringer. I was using the stringer to string the bow and POP!

 

What the heck,,, so lets take it down a ring on the back and see if it'll still be a bow,,, at this point I'll be happy with a kids bow.

 

Went I got to the tip overlays I left the damaged ring under the overlay. It don't bend there anyway.

Here are the finished tips.
 
 

I strung it up after removing the damaged ring and tillered it out. I had about 36# at 26".

Thought I'd reset the profile and heat treat the belly to see if I could get a little more poundage. I'll try and tiller it out to finish in the morning. If that don't work, it'll be in the fire pit by noon!

 

Here it is on top of the next try!

 

[walkabout]

still looks great, even if it does end up firewood. 30 lbs isnt too bad, would make someone a great target bow, help them learn form before they head up to higher draw weights.

[Pat B]

Joe, give it a few days to rehydrate before you stress it. The heat treating really dries out the wood and can cause a big bang it you rush it. At this point, what's another few days! d;^)

[Osagetree]

Good advice Pat! Yes, Richard this will go to a youth if'n I ever get her finished.

The last few try's is exactly the reason I call myself a wood hack!

[walkabout]

if building bows werent a challenge i probably wouldnt find it so enjoyable. my sisters bow gave me more trouble than any other bow i ever built, and it finished at 30#@27". very light for even me, however it was such a good shooter i ended up shooting it for about 3 hours one day.lol

[razorback]

Joe,
You will probably learn more from this piece of firewood than you will from a "good bow". Way to persevere with this one. Some kid is going to be very lucky and may even appreciate all the work that has gone into it.

[red hill]

Still an impressive piece of work, Joe. I really enjoy your posts.
Stan