Eastern Red Cedar Longbow Progress

[DesM8]

I like the full grid idea guys, I just added the horizontal lines recently and that alone has already helped a ton.

The small size of the pic combined with the wavy grain along the profile creates a bit of an optical illusion... It looks a lot better in fullscreen/in person.  I went for a bit of an elliptical tiller.  If anything, I think I could take a little more off the tips.  Still have a couple pounds to play with, some will come off during the final sanding as well.

[DesM8]

I did end up taking a little more off the right side tip since the last post.  Put 2 coats of Tru Oil on it just to seal it a bit.  I figure if I have to rework the tiller a little during/after shoot-in I can touch up the finish easily enough since its oil.  This wood really is beautiful to look at, I'm still just shocked I got this far without it breaking.  I'll add more coats and a leather wrap handle after I shoot it a bit more! 

It's taken about an inch of set, mostly in the two spots it was already naturally bent in deflex.  I think I made a mistake in leaving these areas a little thicker during tillering to make the bend look perfect... which caused them more stress and subsequent set.  Lessons learned.

Also finally made a string jig out of some really rough sawn oak I was given.  Pretty old stuff, it looks like it was possibly the ends cut off some lumber before it left a mill.  This came from a very wide board that had a ton of twist to it.  I took that out with a hand plane on one side before running it through the planer.  Turned out looking really nice with a quick coat of linseed oil... kinda overkill considering I just used finishing nails lol.  Call me crazy, but I think that kind of thing is fun 

[Mad Max]

Nice

[rainman]

Nice, the one ERC I built was to short and narrow for the wood.  Backed with Hickory I shot it for an hour.  Took a break and came back to shoot more and the first pull it blew in a spectacular fashion I may try another after seeing this post.  But I have  a lot of Osage so I may not.  lol

[DesM8]

Well its my first ERC and second ever bow... so I'm half expecting it to explode ever time I pull it    The wood is really easy to work compared to hickory that's for sure.  You can really tell how brittle it is during the early roughing out with the draw knife... I can see why it's known for exploding spectacularly.

I'll update again when its in a more finished state and has actually had more than a handful of arrows through it.  Don't be surprised if the updated pic is a pile of splinters though. 

[Pat B]

Cool ERC longbow. I think ELB style bows might be a good choice for ERC. 

[DesM8]

7 or 8 coats of TruOil.  I got the handle wrap done today.  Still need to serve the string and a few more little things, but here it is.

[DesM8]

Some better shots of the coffee-stained rawhide backing and the handle wrap 

[Mad Max]

Nice Job

[DesM8]

Shoots really nice even without a nocking point    Not much handshock at all, big thanks to Kyle for the tips on that!

[Mo_coon-catcher]

That turned out awesome! Sweet that it shoots nice and smooth.

Kyle

[onetone]

Nice clean work there!

[Mo_coon-catcher]

If you decide to do some horn knocks I can send you a sketch of my drill bit and you can use blocks of solid wood, horn of any kind and deer antler. But for bows under 80# I use a 3/8” paddle bit ground to a cone shape to drill out the horn and then fit with a rasp. But after grilling the hole in the horn you want to pre taper the edge of the horn to the hole before flying it in so you can get a nice smooth transition.

Kyle

[DesM8]

Thanks guys.  Yea Kyle I'd love to take a look at the pattern and get some more info on your process.  I haven't tried tip overlays of any kind yet, but I'd like to.  I've got an elk shed that's already been gnawed on by some critter, I wouldn't mind experimenting with that to start.

[Mad Max]

Antlers will suck up all the glue and pop off.
So you need to fill the grain until it is full.

[Mo_coon-catcher]

When I get home after work I’ll try to get some pictures of the bow tips and the bit I use to drill out the horn. Like Marc said, antler will soak up some serious glue. But the way I glue in the horn tips solves that issue. On antler I essentially fill the horn with superglue so it squished out when pressed into place. So if you fill the horn with glue and slosh it around a little you’ll be sure to fill the pores.

That shed should work prefect. Especially if there are still a couple tine tips on it.

Kyle

[Paul/KS]

ERC needs to be wide and long, 1-3/4" to 2" wide and 68"/70" long or so.
Wide and long will spread out the tension and compression.
Backing it would be smart.
When they brake it will be explosive 

About 15 years ago I had one break at full draw on the practice range at MOJAM. 
Definitely got people's attention...

[Mad Max]

About 15 years ago I had one break at full draw on the practice range at MOJAM. 
Definitely got people's attention...

 
I missed MoJam last year, I have been going for about 10 years

[Mo_coon-catcher]

Here’s the drill bits I use for the horn nicks and the nocks of my Yew Mary rose bow. I have a 1/2” bit for the heavier bows and the 3/8” for the lighter bows.

Kyle

[Pat B]

Kyle, I reshaped a spade bit just like that for a 95# yew war bow and an osage ELB I made a few years back. For me, the horn nocks were the hardest part of building either bow. It wasn't easy to make them look right but that could have been just me.