Poplar Board Bow

[ajooter]

This is the third bow ive made but the first over 50#.  This came in about 57# @ 28.  Its 2 3/8" wides at the fades tapering to 3/4# tips. It has one strip of fibatape on the back which will be painted over soon enough.  There was one spot where the grain swirled a little and I thought it wouldnt hurt.  Im going to narrow the tips down and maybe put a small overlay on the pin nocks.  Trying to finish rightaround 55#.  I heated about 3" of reflex into the bow before final tillering and it comes bacj to just about a straight bow after being unstrung.  I was thinking about doing one more lighter heat treatment just before finishing.  Any comments/thoughts are more then welcome.  Anyway....here's some pics.

[George Tsoukalas]

Tiller is excellent.
Poplar is not the best choice but you did well.
What does the third photo from the bottom show with the nock like that?
Jawge

[mwosborn]

Tiller looks good to me.  I have never tried one with poplar.  Nice job to get 57# out of it.

[ajooter]

I left the tips thick for now George.  Gonna narrow them down quite a bit and maybe even thin them down some.  I used poplar as a means to practice before getting into some better woods.  I have a maple board bow that is almost finished.  This will be the first bow that I will actual finish and try to make look presentable.

[ajooter]

Thanks you btw :-)....I saw ryoons poplar bow and thought it would be an all right place to start.

[kleinpm]

I like your reflex setup. It looks just like mine. There is not much you can't do with a vice and some weights, and clamps for prop twist.

Patrick

[ajooter]

It was kind of an experiment.  I didnt have any water when I was heating the bow so I used the cup of black tea I had sitting there  .  I narrowed my tips down this afternoon as well.

[burchett.donald]

  I like that bend and the stiff outers...That's white wood for sure!

[Joec123able]

Awesome bow now I really want to go cut a log of poplar or cottonwood haha

[adb]

I would definitely reduce the thickness of your tips.

[ajooter]

I will do that adb...lotto meat there

[VicNova]

Great bow! Just go's to show that you can make a serviceable bow out of anything if the design is right.

[adb]

Great bow! Just go's to show that you can make a serviceable bow out of anything if the design is right.

I wouldn't quite go that far, but you've got the theory right. Design must match material.

[blackhawk]

Well that's always interesting and fun to see...don't see these everyday being posted....congrats on getting a shooter from it(for now)

[ajooter]

Lol...thanks for the vote of confidence Blackhawk! . I googled poplar bows and there aren't many (at all!).  I know there's a reason for that but what the heck...I thought id give it a try.  Im still gonna finish it.  Give me a chance to practice that aspect of bow building.