Short Black Locust Bow build-a-long

[eastcreekarchery]

Hi everyone I’m going to do a build a long for my next bow in this thread. Hopefully it will produce a 60-70# @ 22” sinew-backed bow. This will be my second bow ever so i hope it goes well! I will post pics of my progress later today.

[gutpile]

quick questions .. how long is the bow you are going to build... ?.D bow or handle bow? recurve or longbow?. why is it for a 22" draw?... what is your draw length?  how long has the wood seasoned ?...gut

[eastcreekarchery]

Im not sure about the design yet. Have to do more research on that. Probably will do a 50” d bow with flipped tips and sinew backing . I want to experiment with a short draw since ive been shooting w a 28” draw. This is basically a practice build for me and i want a bow that’s different from what ive shot in the past. As for the seasoning hahaha i have no idea. I will let it sit for a while longer then check its weight n moisture content.

[bradsmith2010]

a 22 inch draw can shoot quite well, at  50 inches you could go to 25 draw if you want,,
since its your second bow,, just consider reflexing the whole bow as you apply the sinew,, it will be easier to tiller and hit your weight, flipping the tips maybe on a later bow,, you will get all the performance you need with a bow that is slightly reflexed,,at that weight you can shoot through a buffalo,, 23 inches would give you a little more power stroke but I have made bows with 20 inch draw that would shoot well,, I just made a short bow 165fps 55#@23 with 489 grain arrow,,b55 string,,

[eastcreekarchery]

a 22 inch draw can shoot quite well, at  50 inches you could go to 25 draw if you want,,
since its your second bow,, just consider reflexing the whole bow as you apply the sinew,, it will be easier to tiller and hit your weight, flipping the tips maybe on a later bow,, you will get all the performance you need with a bow that is slightly reflexed,,at that weight you can shoot through a buffalo,, 23 inches would give you a little more power stroke but I have made bows with 20 inch draw that would shoot well,, I just made a short bow 165fps 55#@23 with 489 grain arrow,,b55 string,,

i was think of hanging some weight from the handle while suspending the tips. You think that would work?

[bradsmith2010]

yes,,,

[eastcreekarchery]

Heres the billet I'll be working with.

[Mafort]

Heres the billet I'll be working with.

That’s really clean. You doing a bend through the handle design? Could easily get 25-26 in draw at the weight youre wanting

[eastcreekarchery]

Heres the billet I'll be working with.

That’s really clean. You doing a bend through the handle design? Could easily get 25-26 in draw at the weight youre wanting

Yes ill probably do a d bow bending thru the handle with some overall reflex along the whole length of the bow.

[eastcreekarchery]

since I'm a beginner, I'm going with a longer stave than I need for a 22" inch draw. If it draws more i'll have to make some longer arrows!

[bradsmith2010]

   I just thought I would add,, the average Sioux arrow was 23 inches,, so if you are learning about some Native style bows and arrows the shorter arrow and draw was used,, experimenting with short draw bows has been fun for me,, and shooting them through the chronograph shows they can be quite effecient,, as stated by some experts, it takes more skill to become accurate with the shorter bow,, but at close range very accurate,,,  a 22 inche draw is nice to shoot and can shoot hard,,
   my draw is whatever the bow will accomodate on the shorter bows, ,on longer bows 25 26 27 is about as long as I like,, when someone ask me what my draw is, well it just depends on the bow,,  I just made a bow for a 30 inch draw and it was fun, but I prefer shorte, but when I shot that bow,, my draw was 30 inches,,,
    when drawing a heavy short bow,,for example I think it takes a bit more muscle to draw 50# at 20inches, ,than 50# at 28inches,, so pulling 70# at 22 inches would be too much for me,, but if you can pull that,, it gonna shoot hard,,I am guessing a 500 grain arrow,, 180 190 fps,, thats just a guess based on a short bow I have that will shoot a 425 grain arrow 180 fps at about 55 # 23 inch draw,,  so Im just guessing,,
     the dogwood shafts I have been making are about 500 grains at 23 inches, so I used that example,, and the maple are about the same,,
If I was hunting I like a weight in the 400 to 500 range,,

[eastcreekarchery]

   I just thought I would add,, the average Sioux arrow was 23 inches,, so if you are learning about some Native style bows and arrows the shorter arrow and draw was used,, experimenting with short draw bows has been fun for me,, and shooting them through the chronograph shows they can be quite effecient,, as stated by some experts, it takes more skill to become accurate with the shorter bow,, but at close range very accurate,,,  a 22 inche draw is nice to shoot and can shoot hard,,
   my draw is whatever the bow will accomodate on the shorter bows, ,on longer bows 25 26 27 is about as long as I like,, when someone ask me what my draw is, well it just depends on the bow,,  I just made a bow for a 30 inch draw and it was fun, but I prefer shorte, but when I shot that bow,, my draw was 30 inches,,,
    when drawing a heavy short bow,,for example I think it takes a bit more muscle to draw 50# at 20inches, ,than 50# at 28inches,, so pulling 70# at 22 inches would be too much for me,, but if you can pull that,, it gonna shoot hard,,I am guessing a 500 grain arrow,, 180 190 fps,, thats just a guess based on a short bow I have that will shoot a 425 grain arrow 180 fps at about 55 # 23 inch draw,,  so Im just guessing,,
     the dogwood shafts I have been making are about 500 grains at 23 inches, so I used that example,, and the maple are about the same,,
If I was hunting I like a weight in the 400 to 500 range,,

im hoping for a hard shooter i think making a short heavy bow would be good practice in the craft of bow making.