Red Oak Board Bow

[OzarkMatt]

Hi everybody, this my first time posting one of my bows on Tradgang though I have been lurking here for a few years.    :rolleyes:  I decided that it's time for someone who knows what they are talking about to look over my work, so here I am. Criticism is welcome.     This is a Red Oak board bow backed with fiberglass drywall tape, weight is ~45lbs at 28" (I don't have a scale). She's really a sweet shooter with almost no hand shock. I made it for my sister, now I need to make one like it for myself   :D

   
           

Sorry I don't have any pic's of it on the tillering tree, but it is one of my better tillers. (Yes, that's me in the pic)

[khardrunner]

2 Questions:

What size board did you start with?

How did you do the riser?

[OzarkMatt]

khardrunner, I started with a 1"x2"x8' nominal board I got at Lowes. I cut it down to 72" and then cut 10" of the extra for a handle. I glued my backing on then the handle block. When it was dried, I used my tabletop belt sander to smooth the fades in. The key to having a handle is to making your limb transition into the handle so that it stops bending before it gets to the handle. If you're interested, I build my bows loosely based off of this tutorial:  http://poorfolkbows.com/oak.htm  (not my site nor am I related to it) I also stained my riser a darker color then the rest of the bow, it's a nice effect.

[OzarkMatt]

A better pic of the handle. You can see the glue line if you look closely      
 

[khardrunner]

looks really good!

[wood carver 2]

Great looking bow!    
Dave.

[mwosborn]

Nice looking bow!  Tiller looks good in your full draw pic and so does your form!  Nice work - glad you shared.

[OzarkMatt]

Thanks for the kind words, it means a lot to me. I have to kind of guess if I'm doing things correctly, so it's nice to know that others think I'm doing a good job.

[Nim-rod]

Nice job Matt...Good eye for detail and I'm sure you will have many more to share.

[Ironfist_Canada]

Very nice work , That is a good bow my friend.

[Roninrus1]

YA DONE GOOD!!

[OzarkMatt]

Thanks everyone, I've already started my next one  :D  It'll be similar but a little shorter and narrower and with a little more draw weight. Flipped my tips too so it should have a little more speed although this is pretty darn fast.

[Kevinnator11]

Nice bow.  I'm working on #4 now.  I also got started after checking out the poorfolk site.  Wonder how many people Sam is responsible for getting into this awesome addiction huh?

[red hill]

Nice lookin' bow, Matt. If you still don't have a bow scale, look in the luggage section of wally-world, or some other such store. The scale used to weigh luggage makes a decent bow scale.  

[BassBow]

Great bow! Very nice. I just finished my first using Sam's site and the Bowyer's Bible. Nice work on the tillering! What tools did you use?

[LittleBen]

Looking really nice. Really like those long board bows. Stain looks great too. My only advice is get a scale for draw weight if you are gonna give anything away. I never used one cause I figured they were all for me. Then I gave one away, guy asked for 50lbs and I sent him 65lbs. Seemed like 50 to me except woodworking and shooting all the time made me a lot stronger. It was a good thing the recipient was young and of good stock. With that said I still don't own a scale ... Most of em are for me anyway. Cheers