Author Topic: Sinew backed Black Gum bow.  (Read 2481 times)

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Offline bassman211

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Sinew backed Black Gum bow.
« on: July 01, 2021, 04:58:25 pm »
I built this bow 60 in. long; 45 lb @ 25 in. draw; bow shoots 153 ft per sec average; weighs 17 oz; stave was gifted by a friend and had to be split by chainsaw due to interlocking grains!

Offline willie

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Re: Sinew backed Black Gum bow.
« Reply #1 on: July 01, 2021, 05:01:52 pm »
nice profile. whats that over the sinew?

Offline bassman211

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Re: Sinew backed Black Gum bow.
« Reply #2 on: July 01, 2021, 05:02:17 pm »
More pics

Offline bassman211

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Re: Sinew backed Black Gum bow.
« Reply #3 on: July 01, 2021, 05:03:20 pm »
more pics

Offline bassman211

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Re: Sinew backed Black Gum bow.
« Reply #4 on: July 01, 2021, 05:09:38 pm »
Full draw

Offline bassman211

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Re: Sinew backed Black Gum bow.
« Reply #5 on: July 01, 2021, 05:32:26 pm »
First full draw pic was distorted. The backing is cloth.

Offline Stixnstones

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Re: Sinew backed Black Gum bow.
« Reply #6 on: July 01, 2021, 05:36:08 pm »
Thats a good lookin bow...
DevilsBeachSelfbows

Offline Pat B

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Re: Sinew backed Black Gum bow.
« Reply #7 on: July 01, 2021, 07:24:43 pm »
Very nice, Bassman. What is your opinion of black gum as a bow wood?
Make the most of all that comes and the least of all that goes!    Pat Brennan  Brevard, NC

Offline bradsmith2010

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Re: Sinew backed Black Gum bow.
« Reply #8 on: July 01, 2021, 07:41:18 pm »
nice one congrats,, :)

Offline boomhowzer

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Re: Sinew backed Black Gum bow.
« Reply #9 on: July 01, 2021, 10:55:57 pm »
Sweet bow, bassman. The whole thing sounds interesting. You split the stave with a chainsaw? How did that go down? Tie it up on some saw horses and let 'er rip? And how thick was the stave when you split it?

Then you said it has a "cloth" backing. What do you mean by cloth? Like an old t-shirt? Something from the fabric store?  Whatever it was, what was the cloth made out of? Cotton? Linen? Polyester? etc...

Thanks for elaborating, and yeah, sweet looking bow!
Bellaire, MI

Offline bassman211

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Re: Sinew backed Black Gum bow.
« Reply #10 on: July 02, 2021, 12:39:14 am »
boom the backing is fabric cotton cloth. Will B. cut the tree, and chain sawed the logs, and reduced them to staves. He said the wood would not split easily much like Elm.. He knows I like to play around with different wood to make bows so he gifted me with a stave. Pat B from what I can gather from making this bow Black Gum works pretty well as a bow wood.. The bow holds close to 1 inch of reflex. Takes rather nicely to heat treating, and I am pleased with it's speed. Will B., and I make bows together some times, and he has more staves. He wants to try a 68 inch recurve  for the next bow made from this wood. Then we will make more bows ,and get a better idea of what can be done with Black gum. So far not bad at all. Thanks guys for your kind words.

Offline burchett.donald

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Re: Sinew backed Black Gum bow.
« Reply #11 on: July 02, 2021, 01:26:19 am »
   Bassman, Excellent bend man, looks well balanced in your hands... :OK   When you say Black Gum are you referring to Black Tupelo?  That grows here in S.C. and I enjoy the red color in the Fall, seems to hold on to it's leaves really late...We learned early on not to try and split it or any Gum tree for fire wood because of the interlocking grain...Had my axe bounce back at me when it was green!
                                                                                                                                                                          Don
« Last Edit: July 02, 2021, 01:30:37 am by burchett.donald »
Genesis 27:3 Now therefore take, I pray thee, thy weapons, thy quiver and thy bow, and go out to the field, and take me some venison;

Offline bassman211

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Re: Sinew backed Black Gum bow.
« Reply #12 on: July 02, 2021, 06:16:00 am »
Yes Don. Black Tupelo. Thank you. To be honest Will B. introduced me to this wood,  and did all the leg work to get it to stave form. It was a straight clean stave, and the wood was nice to work with. This was the first bow of the 11 staves that he has, so we will be making more bows from it in the future. Next is self bows. Seems to have promise.

Offline airkah

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Re: Sinew backed Black Gum bow.
« Reply #13 on: July 02, 2021, 09:43:07 am »
Bow looks great and I love the experimentation on a new bow wood. I can't wait to see what else you are able to make out of it.

Offline PaSteve

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Re: Sinew backed Black Gum bow.
« Reply #14 on: July 02, 2021, 09:52:06 am »
Good to see you posting another bow, Bob. Don't know if black tupelo grows around here or not. Sounds like it would be a good candidate for fire hardening. Great job on the bow. Your tiller always looks great.
"It seems so much more obvious with bows than with other matters, that we are the guardians of the prize we seek." Dean Torges