Self yew English longbow set?? [PICS ADDED] [maker has replied!]

[nineworlds9]

Well, I'm pleased to say that the maker of the bow has responded to my inquiry and I feel has laid my concerns to rest.  I'm going to get on with just enjoying "Luna" and not always being so danged scientific about everything.  I often find myself being one of those fellas who gets excited/happy about a thing only to later start picking it apart/stripping away characteristics to see if it stands up to criticism.  Guess that's a product of going to art school maybe? LOL.

Here's the scoop from the maker himself:

"Personally I'd not worry much about the set. It did take what I consider more set than usual but I still like the way it shoots so didn't try to correct it. some of it is natural deflex too..it started out with 1.5" or so of deflex...yew is so hard for me to get every piece is special so I normally don't like to do a lot of heating and reflexing on it. I can take it out with heat but the draw weight will go up drastically and it will need to be retillered . I would advise against that since there would not be a drastic performance gain. I just built one this week that's only 67"s long and pulls about 70#s....haven't scaled it yet... and it has zero set so far but I've only shot it 30-40 times. It doesn't shoot any better than your bow though.
 
I read your post on primitive archer. I don't want you to think it was just a sale. I take pride in my bows and if I didn't communicate enough I'm sorry. I just didn't really have anything more I knew to say..all I really know to say is it's made of yew, horn nocks ELB tiller and the specs..I bought the stave so don't have any history on it. I was happy with the sale price too so that's not an issue.  If you're unhappy with it I'd be happy to buy it back for what you paid...I'll pay your shipping too.

"I wanted to revise what I said about the natural deflex...I said 1.5 inches I notice you're measuring and calling it 3.75 inches. From your pic and what I remember about the stave not much of that is set really...or crushing of the belly fibers...a lot of that is natural which really does make a big difference if you have handled a bow with with that much actual set it wouldn't have as much early string tension as that bow. so by your measurement you can say 3"s of that is natural. One thing also to get a spot on accurate measurement of "set" run a string from the middle of the nock to the middle of the other nock and measure the distance the string lies from the belly. That thing has bulbous horn nocks so they're making it sit off the floor quite  a bit more than a bow with self nocks. I'm not really trying to influence your opinion of the bow or defend it I guess you'd say.... it just sounds like you're wanting to know if it's gonna perform on par with other ELBs. I know how stuff like that can be..you enjoy the bow but every time you unstring it you keep staring at it again I'd be happy to buy it back if it bothers you."

Cool beans!  He and I have talked and all is well.  "Luna" is going to get some serious use over the next year getting ready for Fall 2013!

[Pat B]

Unless Jim glued in 1.5" of set I don't know what he means by natural reflex in a laminated bow.

[Osagetree]

My cast test - take the bow out to a field and shoot it up in the air as to shoot the arrow out as far as it will go. With those specs you should get just over 185yrds with a 28" 11/32 cedar arrow using a 125grain field point.

[nineworlds9]

I wanna try that.  Only place I now of nearby where I live where I would have space like that to shoot is either one of the WMA's or this one public nature park.  Will have to try going on a weekday when there's no one there, LoL and then pace it out.  I imagine you'd want to launch the arrow at about 45 degrees, no?

[LittleBen]

First you wanna make sure that its legal. You dont wanna make a bad name for archery, bowhunting, or yourself flinging an arrow somewhere its prohibited.

Then aim at ~45degrees and let it rip. mark your spot you shot from, find the arrow, pace back to mark.

[nineworlds9]

certainly wouldn't want to do anything illegal, I know in the WMA it shouldn't be a problem, i'm licensed and it will be small game season.  that's prolly where I will go.  I will just shoot the arrow down this one logging road I know of that you can see hundreds of yards down.  I'll shoot a blunt tipped arrow.

[Osagetree]

Shoot several and use the average. There are variables such as head wind, form , etc.

Let us know how it goes.

When I stump shoot in my WMA I carry my tags and if asked,,, coyotes are always in season in Ohio... it may be the same with Boars in Florida?

Or maybe you could say invasive python hunting since your in Florida?

[nineworlds9]

Hahaha pythons!  I'll def go with that one