What's up primitive archers, Let me share some of my recent work; a bamboo backed black locust bow.
This specific one was made for a customer who mainly does target archery. I couldn't be happier when he told me his very first shot was a straight ten!
After much experimentation with bamboo backed locust I finally came to this design I call 'The Kronos'. When I was designing the bow I really wanted to push what I could do. Needless to say I wanted the bow to perform well (high arrow speed, smooth draw, little shock in the hand), but I also wanted to put a lot of effort in the aesthetics. Clean fluent lines, sanded to perfection and a nice natural finish. Fiberglass mentality? Maybe! I wanted to make a primitive bow that doesn't look primitive.
Now the black locust - bamboo combo is perhaps not the most obvious choice for such a design. And as many here know, black locust is relatively low in compression elasticity. Many ''experiments'' ended as firewood because the locust began to fret. Although that caused some headache, the locust told me exactly how to tiller this design and what the limits were. For example 8'' of reflex was just too much for the locust and it showed light fretting over the entire length of the limbs somewhere halfway through tillering. I could've designed the whole bow wider, but I didn't want to sacrifice the looks.
Anyways, here is the result!
- NTN length: 67''
- Draw weight: 46lbs
- Draw length: 28'' from the belly of the grip (about 29,5'' from the back)
- String(s): 12 strand B55 & 10 strand Spectra 652
- Max width: 42mm
- Stain: Osage/ammonia
- Finish: Tung oil & beeswax/carnauba wax
- Arrows: 5/16 pine shafts, 100gn points, 4'' feathers.
Cheers,
Jaap
