Speak up...

[Lee Robinson .]

First, I want to say this bow is NOT finished (in case you can't tell from the photos).

My 12 year old nephew (who is very strong for his age) has been wanting a bow to hunt with. I made this bow which is still in the "rough" for him. It is a design that I am just FIELD TESTING right now. In other words, it is NOT currently available. There are a very few minor changes I am planning on making before I offer this bow in my line up, so I thought I would go ahead and post a couple of photos to get feedback from some recurve shooters. It is a short hybrid bow that I am going to call "The Revolution Hybrid"...this particular one is only 56" in length and will finish around 42-44#@28". Here I have the bow drawn to only about 27".

Eventually, we will offer this bow in lengths from 56-60," but may also end up producing a 62" model once more field testing is done.

I am just posting these photos to get feedback before I finalize the bow. Speak up...you will NOT hurt my feelings. The bow is NOT intended to be a "recurve" or a "longbow." It is designed to be a short bow for hunting out of a treestand or groundblind, with phenolic overlays on the back and belly of the riser for "abuse" on an ATV, bowfishing, or whatever types of tight places that one tends to use a short bow.

 

 

[Night Wing]

Maybe it's just me, but the grip area is what caught my eye. Probably because I've got small hands. It looks a little bit on the chunky side.

[Lee Robinson .]

Good eye. It is a bit chunky in my opinion as well, even though the actual grip fits my hand (I have large hands) the riser IMO overall is a bit "chuncky" and will be streamlined a bit. That was one of the minor changes I have in mind. When I made this first bow on this form, which has considerable deflex off the riser, I chose to error on the large side, as I could sand the grip smaller until I figure out how much to build into the original riser for the form. I was concerned it would get too petite around as we came down the grip and approached the pinky if I made the riser much smaller...but I could certainly use less material (by 1/8 - 1/4" or so) in the riser and still have more than enough material there to work with for whatever size grip one desired, especially with riser overlays or the higher recurve like wrist position on the grip on this bow. It is still rough, so this one I will grind down some more tomorrow, but on future ones I will actually put less material into the riser. One other area of change I am planning is to taper the fadeouts more into the grip (to have more of a working fadeout WITHOUT lengthening the riser).

[magnus]

As you stated its in the ruff stage and as I know nothing of bow building yet it seems to me that the shelf needs rounded unless this bow is intended for a rest. Overall I like the concept!

[tishtail]

i like the larger handle area like you i have larger hands. i'm making a recurve style handle/longbow 72" long to see how it feels and preforms, of all wood, so what you have there intriges me if you want someone to test it for you i would love too.

[Green]

I really like the limb profile.....looks like it will be a very efficient bow.  Like Magnus and Night Wing said.....a more refined riser and radiused shelf will give it a really nice look and better shooting qualities I'd think.  Overall I think you've got a great design here for a brushbow.

[Killdeer]

For twelve years old, that boy has some WHISKERS!   :eek:  

Killdeer
(I know, I'm useless!)  

[Night Wing]

Another option. If you're going to keep the riser area large, it looks like you've got enough wood to work with to make a recurve pistol style grip.

I can't shoot a longbow style grip accurately. Sometimes I wish longbow bowyers would make a longbow, 66"-70" with a recurve style pistol grip. This way, a bowyer could take one model and make make two different bows from basically one design.

For recurve people, this might get more of us to try a longbow. I had a 68" longbow once with the longbow style riser (grip) shown in your photo and I couldn't shoot it accurately enough. I just couldn't get used to the longbow style grip. I tried for two years and ended up selling the bow.

The reason I chose the 66"-70" lengths is because I've got a 30" draw length. I hate finger pinch.

[Bud B.]

The more I shoot the more I realize I need a grip that forces the same hand/wrist angle poition every time when I draw. I have a longbow that has a "hybrid" HH/recurve grip that leans more on the HH grip style and if my hand position is slightly off from other shots my accuracy suffers.

I have large hands to but a smaller grip feels more comfortable for me and my style of shooting.

The limb bends look nicely uniform and with the energy spread throughout, but I am no bowyer. I think the shelf crown should be over the pivot point of the grip where thumb meets hand. And I like a crowned shelf and sideplate to minimize contact points of arrow bottom and side against the riser. This also allows for fletching to have more of a ramp as it passes and allows the feathers to colapse more easily if contact with the riser as it passes. (At least in my mind it does)

I'll bet it'll be a beaut when stained and finished.

Thank you for allowing input. It's good to see sponsors asking for input on their next offerings. I see that often on TG.

[JRY309]

Nice,I like the profile and lines of the bow!

[Lee Robinson .]

I should have mentioned the shelf. That hasn't been radius cut yet, but it will be done of course...most likely today. I do that with a file to work the shelf down to EXACTLY where I want it (after it is roughly cut out), and then I radius it at that point. I haven't done any filework or final sanding to this bow yet, so that still remains to be done. At this point, everything was done on a belt sander.

I will finish this bow out this week along with a few others. Thanks for the feedback. Feel free to keep the comments coming.

[Bill Carlsen]

As a recurve shooter I would like the shelf and sight window to be compatible for using an elevated rest and cut to at least center shot. I like the design of the riser and the overall profile. The two longbows that I have shot well are a forward handle Shadow Eclipse that was 58" and I now have a 3 piece take down Stalker Tracker that is 58" and has a "true" recurve riser. I shoot it very well. When all is said and done performance is the name of the game so it will be interesting to see how the new design handles and shoots.

[gobblegrunter]

Lee, I'm always watching for your posts/feedback as I've come to really respect you and your knowledge concerning all things archery. (I'm sure I'm not alone in this) I've gained even more respect in seeing this post of yours. It's very cool, (not to mention smart) of you to open up a possible new product for suggestions.  
Anyway, I tend to prefer lower wrist grips closer to those of the HH as opposed to the higher-wrist grips mentioned above. Bottom line  is though, it's all personal preference. It seems like, judging from your above reply, you've got this covered and you could fashion any grip style preferred.
I'm certain that by the time the prototype is perfected, it'll be one of the best shooters out there! Good luck!

[Lee Robinson .]

Thanks for the very kind words Derek. I too prefer a lower wrist grip. The goal of this bow of course it to cater to those who like a shorter more "recurve" like bow (who often times like a higher wrist option), but would also appreciate the durable design of the longbow that is more resistant to limb twist as it lacks the "hook" on the end. So far, it is looking very promising and while I only have a few minor changes in mind (which most of have been mentioned so far), I wanted to go ahead and ask for feedback. Of course, I realize no one is able to determine the shootability of the bow based off of pictures.

The only other change I have in mind that has yet to be mentioned is a SLIGHT (1-2 mm) modification on the back of the riser to hide a bit more of the "reverse" of the grip...which at this point can be seen slightly on the back of the bow where the riser lamination runs out. This will be smoothed out to where the reverse/forward grip is only a matter of the riser's built in deflex.

[smokin joe]

That looks great. I agree that making the grip a little more slim might help.
looking forward to seeing some pics of the finished bow.

[Lee Robinson .]

I will work on that this week. I did make an error above. I have been out of town this week and set the bow aside for a few days, as my mother was in the hospital and I recently took her back home (she is doing well now). Anyway, I forgot that when I originally weighed this bow up, I did so at 26" as currently my nephew has about a 25" draw and suspect when he is done growing he will only grow out to a 27" draw, so I weighed it at 26" to split the difference. Anyway, the 42-44# predicted final weight is for that 26" draw. Right now, (prior to the final finish work) is actually 48#@28". I will finish it out this week (along with a tradgang member's Protege Longbow that should have already been shipped out). On that note...David, thanks so much for being so patient.

[frank bullitt]

Nice bow, Lee! Might check, "abuse on atv"?

Be great bowfishing out of canoe!

[GRINCH]

If you ever make one with a recurve style grip,I'm there.

[ron w]

I like a low grip and my hands are small...that being said I really like the profile and would like to see that at 62" or 64'. I think you have good bow in the works with some real potential down the road. Can't wait to see your progress  

[Lee Robinson .]

I finished prototype#1 for my nephew. I have some completed photos of it, but I need to put them together. My nephew liked it enough and seemed to get excellent arrow flight out of it...but being right handed I couldn't really test it myself too well. So, I made myself a lefty. Here are some photos of it.

Prototype #2...