Sudbury Style Oak Board Bow 57lb @ 26"

[Threy Cameron]

The fact that you made that nice a bow from red oak tells me you are going to be a fantastic bowyer. Red oak is a trial by fire wood. You try it, then its fire wood. I dont recommend it to anyone its so bad. Somehow you got this beautiful bow from it, and color me impressed. If you can get hickory, id suggest you switch to that, but if you can do that we'll with what you got, heck, stick with it. Darn nice bow from a mislabeled beginner wood.

I really appreciate the compliment! Red Oak's reputation preceded it alright, definitely wanted to try it for myself. I found there's quite a few different Red oak species but apparently their quite similar so not sure if all my tillering practice paid off or this particular specimen was very accommodating haha. Unfortunately Hickory seems out of reach at present but I might find a source for it one day, though I do have access to White Oaks and potentially Yew, Osage and Black Locust here in NZ.

[WhistlingBadger]

I love the look of a good sudburry.  Not the fastest design, but for my eyes the prettiest.  Great work.

[Pat B]

I think white oak is a better choice as a bow wood than red oak. Again, it depends on its origin and handling.

[willie]

not sure if all my tillering practice paid off

that's always on the top of the list, but chasing a ring on a board is not common either.

i have found that linseed oil darkens more than others and have always used a thick paraffin paste applied to warmed wood. the paste was tested and described by Dean Torges as more moisture resistant, simpler to apply and easy to renew to many cured or dried finishes.
BTW, hickory is tough to keep dry in a humid climate as it loves to gain moisture content.

[Threy Cameron]

I think white oak is a better choice as a bow wood than red oak. Again, it depends on its origin and handling.

I'd agree with you on that one from what I've read. I am planning on getting some White Oak soon to make some recurve board bows, should be an interesting comparison. I've also seen on Janka hardness scales that American White Oak is denser than its European counterpart so will be good to compare.

[Threy Cameron]

not sure if all my tillering practice paid off

that's always on the top of the list, but chasing a ring on a board is not common either.

i have found that linseed oil darkens more than others and have always used a thick paraffin paste applied to warmed wood. the paste was tested and described by Dean Torges as more moisture resistant, simpler to apply and easy to renew to many cured or dried finishes.
BTW, hickory is tough to keep dry in a humid climate as it loves to gain moisture content.

I do much prefer chasing a ring even on boards just for simplicity sake since the humidity here can cause delamination to bamboo or similar backings. Plus I like the idea personally of selfbows more than backed, just less things to go wrong. Though I have had success with rawhide backings the quality of the NZ natives it was applied to left a lot to be desired at times, though I haven't tested it with Black Maire yet which so far is the most promising NZ native bow wood.

Unfortunately I haven't found a source for Hickory here yet but I have heard of its sponge-like nature being one of its few flaws. I would be keen to try it out one day.

Interesting I have noticed a difference between using Linseed and Tung oil that the Linseed seems to darken the wood quite a noticeable amount more than the Tung. I've heard of that paste before but never tried it myself I will definitely put it on my "to try" list, I appreciate the advice.

[Pappy]

Beautiful bow, never made a bow from red oak but can see it is doable, simple but effective . 
 Pappy