My Second Bow-Maple Board Bow

[wkominos]

I finished this bow a month ago but just now got the chance to take photos of it, which could have been better except my sister stole my camera and I have to use my roommates. Also I broke my collarbone playing rugby so I can't draw the damn bow back, but since I know how you guys love your full draw pics I got my roommate to do it-he's a beast. The bow is a maple board I got from home depot, it is 66 inches long, 55lb at 28in, and has osage orange overlays and handle.

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[wkominos]

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[Pappy]

Very nice,you are turning them out.
   Pappy

[DanaM]

Looks great to me, hope the collar bone heals, ya gotta keep yer head up eh

[Canoe]

Howdy Wkominos,

The tiller is very nice!!  Overall, I'd say you got yourself a real shooter - a hunter.
 
And, I am a big fan of those board bows from the Big Box stores.  You have to pick through the whole pile to find a board with good grain, but it's worth the effort.  (And, you don't have to chase the rings.)  Also, the price is usually pretty cheep - less that $10.00!

Again, the tiller and the rest of the bow looks terrific - Congrats!

All the best and heal well,
Canoe

[billy]

Great job!  The tiller looks perfect.  Now take that beast out and kill something with it!  As soon as your collarbone heals, of course....

[Kent D.]

Looks great.  Great job

[Justin Snyder]

Great looking bow, especially for a second.

[OldBow]

I'm impressed. Bow of the Month fun starts tomorrow so we'll look at it again

[kiltedcelt]

Wkominos,

I've looked at that Depot maple before wasn't sure it was the right kind of maple for making a bow. There's more than one species of maple and I wasn't sure if their maple was hard enough for a bow. A little bow I tried making ended up breaking during tillering so I gave up on the maple they carry. What size did you use for this bow? Was it one of the 1x2x6s they carry or a  larger  size like 1x3? The grain always looks pretty wild on those too. I've seen a few with pretty good grain lines on the edges of the bow but it's all over the place on the face making me worry about the integrity of the back. Even with a linen backing I still managed to destroy my experiment. What is the length and width of your bow?

[George Tsoukalas]

Looks great! Well done. Jawge

[NTProf]

I love maple board bows!

[Canoe]

Howdy KiltedCelt,

It's true that you can never tell which specie of maple you are buying from a BigBox store.  But remember, there's a lot of variation in quality of wood within a given specie of wood.  So, just go through the stacks (1x2s, 1x3s,..., 1x6, etc.) and you'll eventually find a board with good grain.  Or, maybe you'll find a board with marginal grain that you could back with hickory or silk (or ?).

And, don't forget to check out the stacks of Red Oak, there's a bow waiting for you in there.

All the Best,
Canoe

[wkominos]

KiltedCelt,
        The bow is 66inches long and is 2 inches at the midlimbs and tapers to half an inch at the tips. I'm sure it depends which store you are at for the type of maple you get, but i just look for one with very straight grain on what would be the back of the bow. I had looked through their entire maple section at least 4 times before I picked this one out. If I remember correctly it was one of the 1x3x6s but i could be wrong. And I agree with canoe red oak is also a good choice.