Yew longbow for my son--full draw pics finally--hurts just to look!

[radius]

Here is a pic of me and my #1 son:



here's the bow rack we made




i don't have a pic of the bow he broke after his arms grew two feet.


I've started work on a longbow for him, made with pacific yew.  It has a stiff handle, with a dished grip, and looks very cool.  The knots give it multiple curves and twists and all in all it's a huge challenge and a lot of fun. 

Here it is 50# at about 13" from the belly.



Here 50# at 14:



The goal is to be able to pull 70# at 30".  This kid is   strong, and like i said he's got some long fkn arms. 



It's amazing to work with yew.  Especially knotty yew like this stuff.  I find myself staying away from the knots as long as i can, only to wind up there eventually...sometimes a knot i dreaded to even tackle winds up completely rasped out of the final bow...ah good times, good times.

[recurve shooter]

looks like a fun one. man thats a skinny little feller to be pullin a 70 lb bow. im 6ft5, 330 lbs, and i wouldnt be comfortable with that.

[radius]

well, he can work up to it!  He's in the gym all the time, he's not even 15 and he's close to 6 feet tall...i figure if it's 70# at 30", then he can't break it if he pulls it to 29...

[radius]

some more pics of the details....











the lower limb


the upper limb


50# at 16"...

[recurve shooter]

better be a future linebacker!

[radius]

he's a rugby champion!  He actually scored a try in a mock game (6 players to 9, i think he said), kids on his team against the Canadian Men's rugby team...they lost!  But he was very proud to tell me he scored a try!

[recurve shooter]

awsome. i know absolutely nothing about rugby, but if we had it down here i would choose it over football. i think it takes a lil more........testicular fortitude.

[radius]

Chasing it down...the bow is getting very thin, compared to how it started...

[radius]

as you can see, this is a stiff-handled bow,

[Parnell]

Awesome.  You gotta re-post with pictures of him drawing it when it's there.

[radius]

oh i will, you bet i will...this bow is getting to look all weird, where i have to rasp out the belly to fit the hump in the back...

[radius]

Getting there...

This one is now drawing ~65# @ 23" from the back.







due to the knots, the bow limbs are not uniform in thickness or width ANYWHERE.  But they are started to bend pretty evenly...   

It is 72" long, which i find a pain to string (push/pull method and i'm used to shorter bows)...kid  better like it!


It needs tip overlays because it has a crack in it...i think i'll make that the next step, for both this one and the little holmie...

[mullet]

 Scott, to be on the safe side, I'd soak some Super-Glue into that knot in the fades on the right side. And don't over pull it while you are testing the Tiller. Looking good, so far, just take it slowww.

  Trey, I played Rugby a few times in a league down here, It is fun and crazy. To me it was like playing, to be politically correct, "Get the man with the ball".   A lot of running and getting smashed.

[recurve shooter]

Scott, to be on the safe side, I'd soak some Super-Glue into that knot in the fades on the right side. And don't over pull it while you are testing the Tiller. Looking good, so far, just take it slowww.

  Trey, I played Rugby a few times in a league down here, It is fun and crazy. To me it was like playing, to be politically correct, "Get the man with the ball".   A lot of running and getting smashed.

i know exactly what you mean mullet. we used to play "get the man with the ball"  alot when i was younger. southeastern has a team, hopefully in two years when i get there i will try it out. no one was ever able to hurt me with football, guess i got to find some way to get some injurys huh? (by the way i know how arrogant that sounded, just jokeing around. i got plenty of scares, and a jacked up knee and shoulder>)

[radius]

thanks Mullet...yeah, i've got superglue in there, you bet.  What happens is, i put some in, rasp it down, sometimes it gets to a void, then i drip in more superglue...never ending process.

I've got the thing drawing 65# @ 23" from the back.  Last night i put on tip overlays of zebrawood, cutting past the cracks in the sapwood and eliminating the problem altogether, i hope. More pics later.