busy bow building week

[Shaun]

Back from the mountains of WY and working in my shop. Got a bunch of new self bows made this week.

Vine maple 65 1/2" NTN 51# @ 28"

 

Osage 78" NTN 1 1/4" wide and 1" thick at the handle, 78# @ 29

 

Bark on bitter nut hickory sapling 70" NTN 53# @ 28"

 

Osage 62" NTN 51# @ 27" full compass tiller ELB style 1" wide X 7/8" thick at the handle

 

[D]

Geez thats a busy week, but a good week.  All of them look good.  The last one is my favorite though.  Love the tiller on it.

[Steve B.]

They all look good.  Shaun, can you tell me about the bows? Particularly the vine maple and the big osage.  I'm doing a D-vine maple right now (59") and wonder what you think of its qualities and potential as I have a bunch more staves and am thinking of what else I could do with them.
So what was your stave size and what were your thoughts on the bows dimensions?  Did you get any set?

Did you make the osage long because you wanted a heavy bow?

Thanks...steve

[psychmonky]

You Sir, are a MACHINE!!!

I can't get one bow done in a week with kids and work.

X2 on loving the tiller on that last one.

[Hoot-n-Shoot]

Nice lookin bows there Shaun.  

How did you do out in WY?  Any luck?

We just had a trad hunt on the kickapoo reserve, but no luck.  We saw a huge buck at 20 yards and lots of does.  The buck was a smart one.  he is still out there.  

Hoot

[Paul/KS]

Yep, you sure have had a busy week Shaun.
 

[SportHunter]

All the bows look great! Nice work.

[red hill]

Well done, Shaun.

[BigBucksnTrucks]

Osage 78" NTN 1 1/4" wide and 1" thick at the handle, 78# @ 29

Wow, that's a seriously heavy draw!
Very nice bows Shaun!

[Trapper Rob]

Nice bows.
Rob

[Rice Spann]

Really nice bows Shaun!  How big of a tree did the pignut come from?  How does it perform with the bark on?

[Shaun]

Steve B - VM is fine wood but 59" is pretty short for anything but a bend through the handle style. It is more like hickory, ie. likely to take a set if over stressed. Nice light wood and easy to work with spokeshave and sharp tools. I use osage for most bows, best overall wood there is for bows in my experience.

Hoot, I was cooking for Mule Creek Outfitting (sponsor) in WY but did kill a blue grouse with a rock and took a couple flying shots at sage grouse - close but no cigar.

Rice, hickory sapling 1 1/4" at the handle 2 yrs dry, performance OK, stable and consistent with moderate speed like most hickory - experimental bow, so far the bark is holding @ about 100 arrows though it.

Thanks all for the nice comments. I am "retired" and making bows to sell. Website and sponsor status sometime in the near future...

[George Tsoukalas]

Shaun, very nicely done. Those tillers are just super. Jawge