first vine maple selfbow

[timbermoose]

got a maple stave coming my way. my first. it is 66" long and 2" wide and 1 3/4 deep. never used vine maple before and would like to hit around 50@28, also have never built a bow that short before, other than for my kids. what kind of taper you reckon i should put on the limbs? thought about doing it in a pyramid design, but not sure if it's a good candidate for that.

[lad]

hi there. wish I could help out. there should be a self bow maker here that can help with the shape. good luck.

[fujimo]

i am working on my first V.M. as well.
 i was told to treat it like other white woods.
2" wide up to half way- or a little  past on the limb, then narrow to 1/2" or 3/8" tips.
making mine to bend through the handle.
your length should be just dandy!

[coaster500]

What Wayne said....

VM is pretty tough stuff. I had a piece that was only 58"s long and made a stiff handled bow 50@26. Took a small amount of set and has a bit of string fallow but it shot very well for me. If it had been 60/61 I think it would have been better but like I said it's tough. I toasted it very well......  I will use VM again for sure ...  I like it!!!

[Steve B.]

At 66" you should be able to do whatever you want with the shape.  That's a typical whitewood length such as oak or hickory.  VM is a little better in general.  Some say alot better.  
You could trap it or heat treat it for improved results, possibly.
Personally I would not go over 1.75" width and I would gently taper or pyramid but I would not parallel.  If the wood is dry and you tiller properly it will easily hit 50 lbs.
If I got to a point in the tillering where I felt it was getting too thin I would narrow there, or the whole limb.
It could be knotty/knobby and those areas would dictate shape too.

[fujimo]

thats good advice steve- i will amend my design accordingly.
my deal is that my staves came from shoots that were only about 2" in diameter at the handle area. so are rather crowned!
but i am super excited to have them, and the opportunity to work with some V.M.

[Mark Baker]

I built and hunted with a vine maple bow last year, and was very impressed with it...plan to do a couple more this winter.   I think the following link will get you to the thread on this forum.   Also, do a search for vine maple for other threads....of particular "sparkle" is anything Gordon builds with it!


 http://tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=125;t=005848

[Steve B.]

fujimo,
A 2" wide shoot is tiny to me and I wouldn't know what to tell you on that.  I haven't dealt with it before but I would still decrown that thing and back it with something.  

When I say I would not parallel I'm thinking about the 2" wide width that timbermoose  mentioned.  At, say, 1.5" x 66" parallel would be great and I have a 56" VM D-bow that is parallel and I wouldn't change it.

[fujimo]

thanks Steve
i have two such shoots, ands they are split in halves- so that gives me 4 staves- i will resist temptation and leave the nicest one till last.
i had asked the question before, whether i should decrown and back, as i am concerned with the very crowned back- that i would get a lot of set- so am gonna try both ways and see what happens.
will document all with photos- incase there are some interesting results.
how thick was your bow at 1,5" wide
thanks

[Steve B.]

I think that's the right approach--try this, and that, then the other thing, with each stave.  Otherwise you'll really get alot of speculation from people and not real proven facts about what will happen if you do this or that.  Better to just use your gut and instincts and give it a whirl.
I'm working a VM right now from a 6"+ log.  It had this big (like a baseball) lump toward one end right in the middle of the half-log stave that I was going to get my bow from.  I was going to try to leave the lump in but when I debarked there were rot/checks.  So I rasped it down and down till it was flush with the log and still had cracks.  So now I'll decrown the whole stave in order to get below those cracks.

I'm just going to decrown by doing what I do on the belly--use the rings as a guide to centering and drawknife down into the back following the grain and contour of the rings until I have like a 2" wide back.  Then I'll cut off the excess from the sides then work the belly as usual until I have about .6" thickness midlimb.  Then I'll back it with sinew or wood or whatever.

With yours I would back one, leave another decrowned but unbacked, and another with the crown on.

[fujimo]

i will do that steve, and leave the best stave for the best results, after building the 3 as above.
thanks
wayne

[timbermoose]

well, got my maple stave. hmmm. spliced bilitts, not bad, but the when taking the bark off i noticed that one limb seemed longer. it is. from center of the splice, one is 31 1/2" and the other is 34 3/4". now what? cut the one limb down down to make a 62"ntn?

[fujimo]

As it is a non working handle, i dont think the center of the splice would have to be in the center of the bow, it could be shifted a little to accommodate the different lengths.
 AS long as it was still in the non working section of the bow.
and if you are still worried about it being a bit short, and you have a long draw length, you can always flip the tips, not only will it add some zip, but will also keep the string to bow angles good.
i used to live west of Nanton, cowboy'd out there. now live off the coast of B.C.- not too many critturs out here, but the water stays soft all year- a bit better for my sailing affliction!
take care

[Steve B.]

I agree with fujimo.  Assuming the string is near the center of the handle, or falls slightly to the side you shoot from, I would make the longer limb the upper limb.  I would make the center of the bow 1" above the splice, cut one inch off the longer limb, and leave the longer/upper limb about one inche longer than the lower.

[Brock]

John Strunk is likely the most experienced with Vine Maple...and Gordon is close behind.  I had a stave sitting around for 10+ years and sent to John Strunk couple years ago hoping he could use it for someones bow as I did not have time with retiring from military and such.

Next thing I know John contacts me and says YOUR BOW IS READY....he made me a great bow out of it....it is flatbow design....buffalow horn tip overlays...64" and pulls 55@28 with a little string follow as my long draw was a bit too much last turkey season and leaving it strung in the heat in ground blind.  Great shooting bow though...very durable.

I can send measurements if you like...just PM me and will do it when I get home.