This is my first shot with White Oak, other than making a small re curve for my oldest son about a month ago, then started on this one. I pretty much had it complete, just needed the finish, final sanding that sort of thing, but didn't like its sluggish performance and parked it in a corner. Wasn't till I read a post the other day with White Oak that I regained a little interest in working with the bow again. I heat treated the snuffin's out of it and got a pulse back. It actually has good cast now and I am pretty happy with with it.
The one thing really hard to ignore about this wood is its primitive beauty on a bow. I tried my best to stay with its natural color using a clear finish with no stain. Not one of my best tillering jobs but it was a tough one to work with, I've never seen one piece of wood with the bend characteristics so different between limbs. It shoots good and hard, that's about all I can ask for, thou. And it is getting a work out, I have been known to put a pretty steep bend in one.
The bow is 62''ntn with a 7 inch nonbending handle section with a mass 19.1 pulling 56 lbs. at 29''. The limbs are a lazy pyramid design with a little more aggressive taper towards midpoint to half inch, 1 7/8 off the fades. The thickness is a little better than a 1/2 inch, slight tapper in thickness to the end. The bow is sealed with clear shellac, natural color. The string is linen, the handle is linen sealed with clear shellac.
Here's more than a few shots of the bow:
