My first time posting a bow here! This bow was the result of a very long process that involved more failed attempts than I bothered to count. But I finally got one.
The limbs are bamboo with the outside of the culm facing the belly. The handle is osage, and the siyahs are jatoba. It's backed with silk.
I'm not sure how ya'll would measure a bow like this, but following the curves along belly with a flexible tape measure (but bypassing the bulge of the handle) it's 60" long ntn. Strung it's 54" in a straight line between nocks. And the string is 56" when it's in a straight line. The limbs are 1 3/4" at the widest point near the handle and taper to 1" at the siyahs. The siyahs continue tapering down to 1/4".
45# at 28 inches.
The let off during the draw is very noticeable. At the beginning of the draw it feels like you're drawing a bow of a much higher draw weight. By the time you get to full draw, it feels quite easy. So this bow must be storing a lot of energy for its poundage.
This bow is whisper quiet, and has no noticeable vibration. In fact it has less vibration than several long bows I've made (which I think weren't bad themselves). That's not what I expected and I'm not sure why it would be. I will chalk it up to luck.
Unfortunately I don't have any arrows that are spined at all well for it. They fish tail noticeably.
The string wraps are because a splinter lifted through the silk near the handle on the top limb. I glued it down, glued some flax fiber over it, wrapped that in more flax fiber, wrapped it with hemp string, then wrapped the other limb too for looks. As far as I can tell, it's holding fine after several hundred shots.
The limbs are held on the handle by some jatoba inlayed in to the sides.
The siyahs are likewise held on by some osage.
The glue joint between the limbs and the handle was tricky, as the bamboo was irregularly curved. I got the handle to fit the limb as well as I reasonably could, then I used some cloth impregnated with epoxy in the joint to take care of any imperfections.
Used some ratty bamboo, as I had broken all my good bamboo in earlier attempts. ><
String guide
Bottle cap for scale
Paper thin osage at a 90 degree angle to reinforce the nocks.
