Elm Flatbow

[Marc St Louis]

I got an e-mail just before Christmas from a Southern Ontario resident who has several of my bows.  The recurve bow I had made his son a few years ago had broken and he wanted to know if I had one on hand as a replacement.  Now I don't usually keep hunting bows with a 32" draw on hand but I was working on a bow using some new Elm I had cut 2 Winters ago, I usually do a test of the wood by making a highly stressed bow.  I had the bow floor tillered and it was 68" long but I had planned on cutting it down to 64" for a 28" draw.  I figured 68" long on a 32" draw would be a good test and if it didn't survive, for any reason, I would at least have a good idea of the quality of the wood.  Well it did survive.  The bow is 68" long overall with fairly wide limbs that keep a fair bit of that width for most of their length.  I did a bit of heat-treating and added some 3" of reflex then decided to flip the tips after tillering the bow to brace.  Draw weight ended up at just over 50# at its full draw of 32".  The only arrow I had that was long enough for the full draw pic was for a Warbow, it's 32" long to the base of the point.  Here's a couple of pictures

[bradsmith2010]

whew, thats a nice one,, 

[TimPotter]

Your bow have always been a big inspiration to me. I like how you made the handle area on this bow. Beautiful work.

[Stixnstones]

that looks smooth as butter 

[dragonman]

Cool Bow, well done , thats an acheivement, I have never made a 68" bow that draws so far, I broke a 68" elm bow of similar design pulling it to 30" a few months ago

[Hans H]

very nice, looks perfect in all details.  Hans

[jandersson]

Real nice! I like how the handle is done to a center shot.

[sieddy]

Beautiful bow Marc. I imagine your customer will be blown away when he sees that! 

[Del the cat]

Sweet, real pretty curve.
Del

[Marc St Louis]

Thanks guys. 

This was a good test for the wood.  It's strong in tension, as Elm usually is, but also elastic enough to tolerate the high stress from this bow's long draw.  I would have preferred a couple more inches in length but it was what I had to work with

[BowEd]

Nice work on that elm.That 32" draw is long yank even for this long drink of water.Do you happen to know the kind of elm you got up there.The red elm here I've been disappointed with.Darn near have to make the limbs 2" wide.

[wizardgoat]

Beauty bend Marc

[riverrat]

awesome bow. Tony

[George Tsoukalas]

Beautiful bow, Marc! Jawge

[helmet]

 I really like your bows. That one turned out great.