Black locust recurved bendy handle

[Mo_coon-catcher]

Here’s a little black locust bendy handle I just finished up. It pulls 40# at 27” and is nice and mellow in the hand. It ended up taking about 1” set all done. It’s 56” between the nocks and 1 3/8” wide from fades to midlimb then tapers to 3/8” nocks. The handle is 1 1/8” wide. I decided to keep the finish work nice and simple leaving the wood undecorated. Just Purple Heart overlays and finished with a base coat of linseed oil, then enough coats of truoil to fill the pores then buffed smooth with steel wool, and topped off with a couple light coats of satin lacquer to cut the shine. I decided to stamp the leather strip for the handle wrap and like the texture it adds.

I was shooting for around a 50# draw but it started to fret early in the tillering so I dropped the weight expectation back to 40 and was able to remove most of the fretted wood. There’s still some fretting but nothing major. As black locust does, it still shoots well with the frets. And it frets without much set or loss in performance.

Thanks for looking

Kyle

[Mo_coon-catcher]

A few more pics

[ajooter]

Snappy little thing!  I like that handle wrap.  Another nice one.  I figured you'd have made a brand by now in the shape of a coon for all the bows you've made!

[Mo_coon-catcher]

Thank you! I really need to. At very least a stencil so it’ll ink the same every time. It’s been decent enough just doodling it with the dip pen. Though I have finally about used up my first bottle of India ink.

Kyle

[superdav95]

That bow looks great and tiller looks spot on.  Very nice. 

[bassman211]

Yes black locust will test your tillering skills. Nice bow, but I have never built a bend through handle with recurve tips. Looks like it has worked quiet well for you.

[Pat B]

Very nice locust bendy handle bow with beautiful tiller. 
 Watch out you don't shoot your finger. 

[Mo_coon-catcher]

Thanks guys!

Ya the only thought running through my head when I took the video for the photo was “don’t shoot, don’t shoot, don’t shoot”. I was using my finger to hold the arrow in place for a good square shot of the bow.

You’re not kidding on BL testing your tillering skill. Little thing a you can get away with no problem with Osage with fret the hell out of a locust bow. Or it’ll be bending well and have a brittle spot and fret anyway. I’m constantly checking the belly with locust bows. You should give a recurved bendy handle a try. Every one I’ve made has been a good shooter. Low mass and mellow in the hand but generally quite snappy.

Kyle

[Hamish]

lovely work. There's a lot to like with this bow.

[Juan Ant. Espinosa]

Beautiful!
Which parameter would you increase for the 50lb you where looking for at the begining: longness or wideness?

[Aksel]

Really a very nice bow Kyle!

I made an almost identical bendy bow with recurved tips from yew only 2 inches longer and only 1.1 wide #48 pounder.
Super snappy, quiet, accurate and smooth shooter which made me think it´s strange you don´t see this design more often...

[Pappy]

Beautiful bow and very nice tiller.
 Pappy

[Mo_coon-catcher]

Thank guys!

I would do either to get a heavier pull. Probably 2” longer if I want to keep it narrow or 3/8” wider to keep it shorter. I would think either one would reach 50# no problem.

I agree. I’ve made several in this style and they all have performed comparably. Lightweight, smooth and snappy. On the chronograph all the speeds have been pretty comparable in the low to mid 160s.

Kyle

[gifford]

Really nice work Kyle. Hope to see you at MoJAM XXV, it's just over a month away.

[Selfbowman]

I like that bow! Well done! Coon catcher the craftsmanship is most excellent on that bow. I don’t have any hats but you deserve one!🤠