Let's see how J. D. worked up this bow:It's been a couple months since I've been able to post a bow. Changes at work and enjoying life as a father have made discretionary time harder to come by. Anyway, all the time I've been away, I've known what I would post when I came back. I built this bow just for you guys--my dear fellow travelers of this narrow road called classical archery.
On the first day of the 2006 archery season I called in an elk which hung up about 20 feet from me on the other side of a huge Oceanspray thicket. While I waited in vain, I noticed some Oregon Crabapple growing around the Oceanspray and I made a mental note to come back with a saw. When I came back, this was the stave I found. Snarly, thorny, snaky, knotty and mysteriously beautiful. I'm not a total sucker for character bows, but they have their place and I was so confident in the integrity of Crabapple as a bow wood that I knew a serious bow could be made from that stave. I promised myself that I would build the most perfect character bow I could.
While I was tempted by wide limbs, extra length, and lower weight at first, I decided that I wouldn't stoop to overbuilding a Crabapple bow. It is 66" nock to nock and very random in width but averaging around 1 3/8-1 1/2" wide at the fades. It draws 70#s at 28".
Limbs taper to 3/8" tips with overlays of buffalo horn. The buffalo horn overlays have deep, carefully-fitted Abalone inlays. The strike plate is horn with a round fretboard-type Abalone inlay. I also strove for perfect tiller in spite of the obstacles. Crabapple is surprisingly forgiving to work so that was in my favor.
In spite of about 60 knots, the bow has held together nicely and shoots well. It has no string follow at rest due to the impressive compression strength of Crabapple. It is a sweet shooter but I'm not going to kid myself about what it is. I crafted this bow with a great investment of time and care and I can't imagine how I would feel if it blew up.
This bow is a reflection of the best work I am currently capable of. I owe so much to the people here who have helped, inspired and encouraged me along the way. This bow is dedicated to all of you. I hope you enjoy it.
This bow produced about five pages in the Bows Forum:Here are some typical comments:
-" J.D., that's one of the most impressive bows I've seen in a long time. It's easy to see that many hours of work and craftsmanship went into it. Awesome! " -Hillbilly
-"Dude, Thats about the coolest character bow ever! sweet! I'm very envious.......I'm always looking for staves like that. " Ryano
-"I would run from a stave like that! You're much braver than me and obviously a very skilled bowyer. That's one to show off for sure, great job!" -Saw Filer
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