Pignut backed pecan build

[Keith Wolfe]

Been procrastinating on this. Until friday it was just a backing strip glued to a board. It's for my client to give a family member so i kicked in to high gear and feel good about where I'm at. This will be the 4th bow she has gotten from me. Decent piece of pecan i already had (couple of run ups) with a very good pig nut backing strip. Worked the backing to right at an eighth and the back will be nice and crowned. 66inches, 1&7/8inch wide, 7inch handle section with 1&1/2inch fades. Nocks 1/2 inch from the end. Will try to land on 45lb for a 5'11" shooter. Floor tillered, and will be stringing tomorrow. Here are some pics and I'll do the rest of the process. Stuffing taste test and bowmaking!!! It's already a great Thanksgiving!!! Gobble Gobble!!!!

[Mad Max]

Always finish the tiller before you file in your arrow shelf.

[Pat B]

Will you post a braced and full draw pic?

[Wolftrail]

I would of built in more fade transition.   Looks a bit abrupt in the handle going into the fade.

[Keith Wolfe]

Not done but sure will Pat. I have always cut my shelf, wayyyyyy in when all the cutting is done. My handles don't give. Many bows. I don't use a tiller stick. Many things I do are self taught, then I read how others do their thing and some things i adopted, then on other things, I like to do things a certain way that works for me. I find different ways to accomplish the same end result very interesting and that's the kind of thing I day dream about as I plan future builds. More power to everyone and their particular process. I'll be cutting shelves, tillering by feel, look, contour, and measurements, I'll be testing draw weights by hanging weights on my strings and measuring the resulting draw, and many other peculiar eyebrow raising practices. If you laugh that'll make me laugh too and we all need a good chuckle sometimes!!! I do very much respect the skills and wisdom displayed here daily and very much respect and listen to those i consider elders and masters of their craft. If i need advice or have a question i will ask and will help more than i need. Just showing y'all what I'm working on. Now, with all that said, I wish you all a very happy Thanksgiving!!!!! Gobble Gobble!!!!

[Keith Wolfe]

Wolftrail, I went from 2 inch to 1 1/2 inch fades years ago, shortening my design while keeping my favorite handle design. Tried it on short hunting bows, liked it, kept it. Still plenty stiff so I can work in the transition wherever I need to. Its definitely not bending close to the handle, or that much anywhere for that matter at the moment. Right now you could just club your pray in the head without an arrow shot. I'll be working on the tiller over the next few days. Hickory dust timeout tonight!!!!!

[Forwardhandle]

Hickory/pecan is one tuff wood I made this bow in 1995 with no knowledge other then a copy of PA magazine & Hand tools didnt relies you need fades...lol It still shoots today !

[Keith Wolfe]

Awsome historical masterpiece you have there!!! I too have relics of the days of old. I'll snap a pic when I'm in my garage/ museum of archery evolution in a bit. What color of stain is that Forwardhandle? Remindz me of my bow i call Frankenstein, a 35lb 72inch bow made of maple scraps. Ive been asked to sell some of those early bows I made but I could never do it. I couldn't even replicate those bows, and if i did they would probably explode, but those relics have somehow overcome vast statistical odds and shoot today. Others aren't great, but held together, ind I'd never sell or throw them away either!!!! That is a Beautiful bow sir, especially with it's odds breaking blockiness. Bravo

[Keith Wolfe]

Guessing golden oak on the stain color?????

[Forwardhandle]

You know its been so long I really dont remember what I used , I will always keep that bow as a reminder of my bow roots ! At least I learned what a fade is 
L

[Keith Wolfe]

Here's one of my early bows, Frankenstein, being shot by 6ft4in shooter. Made of two pieces of maple glues end to end and in encased by pieces of maple on all 4 sides. Joint is right at arrow shelf. One of my early bows circa to ten years ago. This old blocky bow has sold many a bow for me and I've had many offers that go, " why don't I just go ahead and buy this bow" never!!!

[Keith Wolfe]

Left to right: first bow I ever made. 25lb red oak I gave wife while we were dating. Original arrowshelf too high
Deconstructed, reconstructed, retillered, then shot great but looks upsidedown. Still shoots. Good for kids and weak girls. 2nd bow both limbs cracked, wrapped cracks with leather shoestrings and wood glue from cvs to try a repair, and it shot many more times but its retired to my museum, 3rd, maple bellied redoak. Yes you heard right. Made my own maple strips and curved them right up the fades. Shot well last time used but is retired due to unconventional design dubbed colonel mustard. First faster bow, 4th, succesful whiteoak bow implementing previously learned leather wrapping technique, and far right is Frankenstein made of maple scraps, pictured at full draw in previous post at well above 30" draw. He's6'4" but might could have drawn another inch in that pic

The famous meple bellied red oak bow "colonel mustard which is based on early ignorance. In trying to back my first bow, i belly'd it instead. Thinking the belly was the back. Has any other rookie ever followed thru with this misunderstanding and created a succesful shooter???? Hmmmm

Frankenstein bow made of maple scraps still shoots like a dream for any righty

More early bows with a kid bow made of scraps and layers that still shoots, wife's Valentine's day bow before we got married still shoots, wide blocky white oak, then my first move towards current design on far right  with some vitage blockiness.

Wife with Valentine's bow in wedding pics. She's 6ft.

That is my collection of my early designs. They worked and I've honed and improved my skills over many years and too many bows to count.
These pictured were all made in the kitchen of my duplex, full on running a band saw and belt sander indoors, creating monsters, and a huge mess, then friends would come over at night and we'd drink beer and shoot my creations in the back yard and they would break or survive. Not as many broke as you would think. Those were some good ole days great times. Trust me on that. All the time, I was learning and knocking out bows like crazy. Unconventional??? I'd say so

[Forwardhandle]

I like the bride shooting the bow pic you should make that your avatar 

[Keith Wolfe]

Thanks, that's my wife and me when we were engaged. She grew up in Baltimore and her family had a all summer house in a community that ran day sporting camp, including archery, for the entire summer every year. She can shoot. The place is called Sherwood Forest on the Severn river of the Chesapeake, but the clincher was her maiden name, Bowyer. The Bowyer became a Wolfe and married a Bowyer.

[Forwardhandle]

I forgot about some of these bows here is another fadeless design from the same circa I think hickory is probably one of the only woods that could stand the abuse of a ridgid handle fadeless design ,I dont think I even discovered PA at the time of this one ! I had many failures at the time & I remember thinking there has got to be a trick to making these darn things bend , the indians did it....lol but there where a lot of valuable lessons learned it really taught me to be indipendent and think for my self vs what should be done or some body telling me how to there is no more better lesson then putting rubber on the road !

[Keith Wolfe]

Time to get her bending. Off to the garage!!!!

[Keith Wolfe]

Getting closer

[Keith Wolfe]

[Keith Wolfe]

Shelf is dead center. Handle section is 2.5" above and 4.5" below center so bottom limb bend a little more to get within .25" of the top limb. That's how I've always done things.

[Eric Krewson]

Top limb looks a little stiff out of the fades to almost mid limb to me.