mayan bow buildalong

[LEGIONNAIRE]

In escence this bow will be a regular sinew backed 5 curve bow. i decided to call it the Mayan bow because It will have mayan decorative features in the back and belly of the bow. The bow is being made out of a 56 inch mulbery stave as you can see below



 


The stave had a propeller twist and was somewhat ctrooked. Before straightening it I debarked it chased it to one growth ring and shaped it.When chasing down a stave to one growth ring it is important not to cut through any knots, the area must remain raised as is natural to prevent weakness and fracture. This stave has about three knots on the back but I managed to not cut through any of them,

 



 




 

I then straightened the stave. Here are the tools I used . I forgot to put the vegetable oil.

 

 





just a couple of clamps and a 2x4. I then apply vegetable oil to the stave and apply heat without scorching the wood. Then I quickly place the stave on the 2x4 and clamp it down. it will easily bend into shape. Thats how I take out propeller twists, straighten staves and induce recurves

 

 

 

 

 



 

more to come in the coming weeks on the MAYAN BOW!

[LEGIONNAIRE]

oops let me get the pics

[LEGIONNAIRE]

 

 

 

 

 



 

more to come in the coming weeks on the MAYAN BOW!

[Sparrow]

Looking forward to it. ' Frank

[LEGIONNAIRE]

Thanks sparrow. Heres what I ended up after reflexing the bow. its now ready for sinew backing!

[LEGIONNAIRE]

heres more.. I sinew backed the bow sadly I ran out of battery so I could only capture myself putting on a second layer. The first pics are of me sanding the bow after removing some twine I wrapped the bow in after the first layer of sinew. Then are the pics of my setup oh the sinew for the first backing..














Since the bow is drying i will work on some arrows.

[LEGIONNAIRE]

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[LEGIONNAIRE]

After sanding and waiting about ten days to dry it was time to tiller the bow!
So far I have a defect, the bow is slightly crooked to one side which causes the string to be off center to one side. What I will do in this case is make new knocks both on the same side so that the string will be aligned and near the center of the bow.
here im shaving some wood to start the tillering of

now floor tillering the bow

More shaving with the scissors.. oops fly

strung the bow for the first time

needed to take some wood off

now it looks better!

[LEGIONNAIRE]

After tillering the bow to 24 inches, it ended up beign about 40 lbs maybe a little more. Some of its reflex disappeared however it held about 2- 2.5 inches of reflex in it. I started now on the decorative artwork on it. I drew some heiroglyphs on it from a mayan stone in Copan Yucatan Mexico, then I used my dremel to carve them out on the belly side. Here are the pics.. I also carved out the Mayan God Qutzalcoatl on one of the nocks.

[LEGIONNAIRE]

forgot the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRZVzc0csKY

[LEGIONNAIRE]

Heres the finished bow http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,20625.0.html

[Paka]

very cool Legionaire , please keep it coming

[LEGIONNAIRE]

Thanks paka. im now making a boo ash boo bow, ill put something up on that.