NewWood Longbows StringFollow, Opinions Please

[New Wood]

Hello All,

I have been experimenting with a string follow design for the last couple of months and thought it was time to get some opinions and input.

Seems like a lot of bowyers are coming out with SF bows but I was a selfbow guy long before I started building laminates and always liked the asthetics of a simple D-bow, along with the smooth draw and gentle "thump" that comes with a bit of string follow.

There are a lot of bowyers out there that have forgotten more about Hill styles that I will ever know.  

That being the case I was not interested in trying to copy any of the more well known Hill style bowyers, I just farted around with the design until I found something that drew smoothly, had reasonable cast and retained that classic look.

Please take a look at the photos and let me know what you think.

 

Unstrung profile, 66" bow on left, 68" on right. 68" has 3/8" follow, 66" a touch less.

Handle dimensions are: 4" long, 1 7/8" deep, 1 1/8" wide before leather.

 

Black or Brown glass with a single overlay.


 

Risers, bow on left is Bubinga, right is Black Locust.

Risers are 16" long, shelf cut 1/8" short of center.

Limbs 1 1/4" wide with 4 lams of White Elm, one taper and three parallels.

 

And finally the strung profile.

Had a good time coming up with this design. I think what suprised me the most was the the "feel" of the smooth draw.  It just does not feel like you are drawing the weight you actually are.  I handed the 66" Bubinga bow to my kid and asked him to guess the poundage. he gave it a pull and said, "42-43 pounds", the bow is actually 47# @ 28".

In any event I am looking forward to any opinions or input.

I think I have found the bow design I will be hunting with this fall.

Take Care,

Chris H
NewWood Longbows

[Wannabe1]

Ok, I just flat out like those bows! Congrats on a great looking design and functional shooting stick. If I could afford one, I'd have you build me one of the 68" in a 45# weight.   :D    

[mjh]

dang!   something else to spend money on, you need to make a matching set of the vanguard and the string follow....the best of both ends of the longbow spectrum...

[awbowman]

You selling them or just going to torture us.  lol

Awesome looking to my eye

[LimbLover]

I like it! Want some guinea pigs?  

[Todd Cook]

Very, very nice. I love the clean lines. That is my favorite style of bow. I love that locust one.

[darin putman]

I really like the black locust bow, Love the native woods as much as fancier ones. 68 with a little string follow, hope to try one some day. Looks like some great craftsmanship on the both of them, Congrats!!!!

[Brianlocal3]

Fantastic looking bow. Looks to me that you nailed the look, and my buddy Bob said they were great shooters.  Great job.

[threeunder]

Both look great, but, I agree, that Black Locust bow  looks awesome.....got any lefties?

[ripforce56]

I have a bow with a Black Locust riser! Great looking bows!

[SELFBOW19953]

The black locust is definitely a looker!!!  I'd be happy to give you a review after shooting them.  Are you going to be offering this style on your website?

[AlanF]

Very nice.  Chris can you share a picture of the limb tips?  Did you go with wedges or overlays?  Thank you for sharing and well done.

[ron w]

With out shooting one I can't say.....but looking at the photos I would say you did a fine job. I would love to try one out.  

[ROSSBOWHUNTER]

beautiful.

[suburbanirma]

Great looking bows, Chris! Bring them to LCSC some Thursday evening this summer. I'm sure you'll get a couple of takers to try them out. Tom

[New Wood]

Thanks for all the comments/compliments fellas. I really appreciate the feedback.

I will be making this model for sale but it is not on the website yet.  It will be offered it black or brown glass a one wood riser. There will be no upgrades available in this model. The price will be $450.00.

The tips don't have wedges. I will be using a 1/8" piece of black phenolic for the tip overlay.  You can barely see it on brown glass and it pretty much disappears on the black glass.  

Tom, I don't have a left-hander done (yet) but I will bring one along to a Thursday night shoot. When are you guys starting?

Thanks again guys,

Chris

[suburbanirma]

Hi Chris! Dale Klug and I will probably start next Thursday. Would have today, except the weather s**ked. See ya later. Tom

[oldtimerbow]

Great looking bows. I would be interested for sure.

[doubleo]

Sweet looking bows Chris!  

[Bob B.]

Oh man wouldn't ya know it ... I have been away a while a Chris posts a thread on his new string follow!  :eek:

 Ok, I do not know how many have had the opportunity but I have shot his proto-type this year at the WTA.  I did write a post about that a while ago.  That said, I remeber I was impressed with a few things about this bow.  First, I loved the grip!  Chris thought it might be a tad large, but I love it man.  He has refined it some since then, but it still looks to be pretty nice.  Also, I was real impressed at how quiet and dead in the hand his bow is.  The bow I shot had no silencers.  Also, it was not tuned for me.  The brace was not really dialed in etc.  However, I was grouping arrows so tight I had to make sure to shoot at different spots to make sure I did not destroy his arrows!  Like all SF bows, the draw starts real easy and this bow is still crisp on release.  I think the bow I shot had boo cores ... kinda hard to remember that far back ... but the bow was very light in the hand.

So a quick review, great grip, dead in the hand, real quiet, smooth on draw and release as well as having a very low mass weight ... plus his incredibly low price - What's not to like?      

Bob.