First Swap - Entry-level build
To be fair, I gave fair warning that I was building a board bow & that I should be paired with another entry-level builder out there. I attempted three different experimental builds before getting this one to work out. But with precious little time to get this thing done now, I can honestly say that I've done better finish work. But aesthetics aside, this bow is shooting better than I expected. My 20-yard gap is right around 7" with 600 grain arrows, which is better than I usually get with my homemade stuff. Arrows that were about 500 grains sounded much nicer coming off the bow & flew much faster. If I were to set this thing up, I'd drop to 4" fletching on a 500 grain arrow.
This is a simple hickory-backed maple. My son helped with the roughing out stage. I taught him a little about using a block plane. He often comes to hang out and chat when I work on archery gear.
I put in a couple inches of backset (perry reflex?) at the glue-up stage. After shooting in, the bow holds no set. It's 65" NTN. It's asymmetrical -- bottom limb is about 1.25" shorter. 1.5" at the fades, parallel for the first half and tapering to 1/2" nocks. There's a small knot in the belly in the upper third of the top limb so I left that part a little stiff, as well as the last 6" or so of each limb.
My wife ran over the scale I use on the tillering tree while I was scraping so I'm guessing it pulls about 45# at 28" but I wrote 40# expecting it to drop a little after a few hundred more arrows run through it. We'll call it 40+#. Hopefully, my victim can find a use for it or, if not, give it away to a newer archer out there. I'd be absolutely tickled if somebody were able to use this successfully on a hunt.
I'm pretty well humbled by the bows I'm seeing made on here. I'm not in the league of craftsmanship of most of you but I'll take this as an opportunity to learn what I can & appreciate the opportunity to participate. All constructive feedback is appreciated.