Thanks for the kind comments everyone. I really enjoyed working with this very special wood. Please humor me for a minute while I explain:
A piece of smokewood large enough to build a riser from is a rare find indeed! Somekewood is more commonly known as Chittimwood or ****timwood and it's range is very limited in the US >
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cotinus_obovatus_range_map_5.png. The tree grows extremely slowly and yields very tight growth rings of relatively high density wood. It has a beautiful yellow-orange color and moderate figure. The tree this bow was built from was about 100 years old and was harvested about 30 years ago by a friend. Even at nearly 100 years age, the trunk was only approximately 5 inches in diameter which made it very difficult to mill a large enough piece from which one could build a riser.
Aside from it's scarcity in the US, many believe this wood is related to the ****tah wood mentioned in the Old Testament (Exodus) from which the Ark of the Covenant and the Jewish Tabernacle were constructed. God instructed the Isrealites to cover the Ark and the Tabernacle with hammered gold. Finally, olives were a staple in the diets of the Isrealites before and after exhile from Egypt and Babylon. All this to say this was my inspiration for the color scheme and gold inlay design highlights of the bow.
To answer some questions:
1) I formulated the olive color from TransFast wood Dyes and applied several coats so the color is more "in the wood" than "on the wood". Notice the orange-yellow grain lines coming through the olive at growth ring surface intersections.
2) The eagle image was deep laser-etched into the wood then gold filled.
3) I've considered selling my bows but I always get attached to them after investing so much time and effort in their design and construction. Each one has it's own story. My wife doesn't share my passion so I might be forced to sell some before I can build more :-( In all seriousness, I might entertain the thought of building a few custom bows if people were interested.
Here's a couple pics of the limb and tip as requested:
Topic: Hot Off The Press - New Smokewood Bow (Read 691 times)
