Gambels Oak Character Bow

[Jmilbrandt]

I made this one for a guy who was really admiring my character bows. I gave his son one that i made a few years back from mountain maple and then I surprised him with this one one day. This was the first time I've used gambels oak I really liked it, beautiful wood. I pulls 40# at 28" and is 64" ntn and 1" wide at the fades.

[Jmilbrandt]

And the full Draw!!!!!

[Jmilbrandt]

Yup, Figures.

[hedgeapple]

oh man sorry about that.  You had me going. I was checking the post as you were posting pics.

[Jmilbrandt]

Haha sorry to dissapoint you. The funny thing is this bow has been shot many times over the past four months and the first time i draw it for a picture.....

[rossfactor]

oooouuch that stings. After all the beautiful finish work.  I bet that was a kick in the gut,  Sorry man. 

Any thoughts on the issue? 1" wide at the fades is pretty narrow..

Gabe

[Badly Bent]

Was looking good and it's obvious you put alot of work into that beauty. That's to bad she blew on ya, looked to be a real nice bow too.

Greg

[Jmilbrandt]

I was planning on doing 1 1/4" at the fades but the billets developed a bad check and I had to narrow it a little. I don't think the narrowness was the issue on this one though. I've never used gambels oak before but I have used sonoran oak alot which is very similar. Personally I think it would benifit from a rounded belly to take some of the stress off the back. Every bow I have made from my local oaks has broken in tension at some point. All of my rounded bellies are still shooting. Its very dense stuff, I measured gambels oak at about .85 sg and Sonoran oak at .92 sg. Any ideas?

[twisted hickory]

Ouch I haven't made but 5 bows but how about the wood being too dry? Sw Utah is really dry. Here in pa it's too wet so we get set not breakage. I guess build a fire outta the pieces and brew a cup of coffee and lay out the next one. Maybe backing w raw hide?

[Jmilbrandt]

That is what I was thinking. I think this wood is much stronger in compression than tension and it gets even drier here it the winter. My thought is the belly overpowers the back when it gets that dry. These local oaks are the only ones I've had an issue with though.

[4est Trekker]

Sorry for the broken bow. I'd have to agree...it definitely looks like the wood was just too dry given it's design and environment.  It failed at three distinct places along the back.  That's usually a tell-tale sign.  Here's a picture of one I did several years ago that got a little too dry in the winter, just to make you feel better 

[hedgeapple]

That is what I was thinking. I think this wood is much stronger in compression than tension and it gets even drier here it the winter. My thought is the belly overpowers the back when it gets that dry. These local oaks are the only ones I've had an issue with though.

Hmm thinking out loud here.  Very dry enviroment and compress strong wood--what to do?  Make a sinew backed bow.

[Jmilbrandt]

Thanks trekker, that sucks though I know the feeling.

Hedgeapple, Believe it or not I've never made a sinewed bow. I have been told by local boywers that the native used to sinew back this stuff. Guess now I know why.

[hedgeapple]

Well, there you go.  I think it would be worth a try, then.  Sinew backing isn't rocket science but it does take time to process the sinew, make hide glue, apply it to the bow then wait while it cures enough to apply another layer.  Except for the waiting part, it's pretty fun, actually.  I've only made 3 1/2 sinew backed bow.  The 1/2 one I failed to degrease the osage, so it popped off when I applied the second layer.  Good thing about sinew and hide glue, you can soak them off and try again.

My first looked like I had dropped spaghetti on the back of the bow.  haha.  But, it's still shooting after 3 years of abuse.

[Jmilbrandt]

I have a couple that I'm backing with bamboo hopefully that will solve the tension weakness. But after that I think I'm inspired to make a short sinew backed recurve from some of the sonoran oak.