An experimental warbow

[markinengland]

Simon,
Yes, the central lam only thickens the centre of the bow. I think the depth of the ipe belly stave is enough to not need a full length tapered lam. I'll see when I take the bow out the clamps.
Mark

[markinengland]

Well, eperimental warbow 2 is now in the tillering process.
Here are a few pics.
Here is the new bow in the clamps.



Here is a pretty bad picture showing the central tapered lam to stiffen the mid part of the bow.



Here is the bow on the tiller with a long string.


The bow seems plenty stiff enough. I think it will be fun tillering this one as the reflexed areas are stiff the handle is stiff and the bit in between isn't so much. I put on some temporary bulletwood nocks to allow me to put a tillering string on. I have done a little more wood removal and tidying up and the bow is just about ready to get to a low brace height. The bullet wood between the bamboo and ipe looks quite nice but the bulletwood nokcs look a little tarty to my eyes, like it is wearing lipstick instead of the normal conservative black horn!
Mark in England

[markinengland]

Well, I made a stringer from my old tillering string and made a mighty new tillering string. 20 strands of BCY 450plus should be strong enough for anything I will make.
At last I have been able to string the bow at a low brace height.
I can see that there is a slight weak spot around mid limb on one limb but overall the shape looks OK. Remove wood from the rest of the bow and see how it goes from there. The bow feels very strong at the moment but I haven't had a chance to put it on the tiller and see what weight it is. I feel I am building muscle just stringing it!
I think I will enjoy this.
Mark in England

[markinengland]

This is where the bow is at the moment.



The centre and outer limbs still need some wood taken off to weak areas in the mid limbs due to tapers, reflex, central lam etc.
Mark in England

[Marc St Louis]

Looking good Mark. You got your work cut out there 

[markinengland]

Marc,
I think this is the part of bow making I like best. Getting the bow to shape, getting it to bend more and seeing what can be got out of it. At the moment it is all I can do to brace the bow. I am not sure I could get a string on it if it was just an inch or so longer, my arms aren't long enough!
This is where I got it to today.



There is still more wood to come off the centre of the bow, some off the l;eft hand limb tip and more off the right from almost mid limb to tip. That limb seems to be stronger than the other.

Here it is at around 16 inches, pulling about 58lbs. The early draw weight is high, too high for me.



What I am doing at the moment is pulling 50 times to 16 inches, 25kg (58lns). Checking shape while doing so. When off the tiller post checking shape at brace height with my walky-talky stick, marking stiff areas that rock with a pencil and then using the bowyers edge to remove those pencil marks and finish with the file.



This is quite slow and good exercise but gradually the braced and drawn shape is moving to where I want it. I feel failry confident that the weak mid limb areas will be up to the draw weight of 110lbs, I just need to reduce the tips and handle more to match them.

Mark in England

[D. Tiller]

Mark, I think you need to get it bending more in the outer limbs. Personally, my belief is that if you get it bending too much in the center it will take a large set out at the tips. So, get the limbs to do the most work first and when you get the bow to the last three inches of draw do you get the center to start bending very slightly. The more set the bow takes near the handle the more exagerated it will be at the tips, slowing cast a lot!

Dont mean to criticise but it looks like a beautifull bow with a lot of patential! Have fun!

David T

[outcaste]

Hi,

I would have to agree. I tend to work from the tips in and leave the handle to last.

The main thing for me is to see at least a slight movement along all of the limb on a loose string at which point I will get some form of brace however low and start the real tillering as it were.

Cheers,

Alistair (Jeremys mate!)

[markinengland]

David,
Yes, tips need to move more. What worries me slightly is the sudden change from stiff 23 inch handle area due the the addittional tpaered lam to where it is weak mid limb. The bulletwood lam looked quite thin and tapered by itself but seems to have somehow grown in thickness once in the bow! I want to remove some wood to get the bow bending a little into the area where the lam is get the bend smoother while I reduce the tips
Hello Alistair (Jeremy's mate) I remember you from Batsford. I think this is one I will learn on. Part of me wishes I had made this a straight bow, but the rest of me looks forward to the addittional challenge and wants to see how it comes out. I hope to be able to do some more on Thursday. Won't have much time at the weekend due to other stuff 
Mark in England

[Asiertxu]

Hey Mark!

This one is gonna be REALLY interesting!.. ...
Alll the best with this one and hope it turns out well mate...

Cheers...

Asier.

[markinengland]

Might be able to do a bit more on Wednesday.
Part of me would love to see what draw weight I could get, but the aim is 110lbs so I guess I got to keep to that.
The skinny little monster is braced and stretching the tiller string right now! The power of the Ipe/Boo combination really is amazing.
Mark in England

[Bob Barnes]

How did the bow turn out?  I am working my first ELB and it's 1/4" hickory backing glued into reflex on a bulletwood slat...I was enjoying your post thoroughly...
Bob

[markinengland]

The bow turned out OK. Sorry but I didn't take any pictures.

I took it to 100lbs at 30 inches. The tips keep a slightest touch of reflex at brace height which is so slight it is more stiff tips than anything else. At full draw the tips look stiff but any reflex is worked out. By the time the bow was fully worked in the unbraced profile was slightly reflex deflex due to a small amount of set throughout which notices in mid limb to handle areas.

The friend I made it for is pleased with it and is happy shooting it as it is. It seems to perform quite well shooting a field arrow more than 280 yards.

When he is ready I plan on reducing the length some to raise the draw weight to 110lbs which is what he wants. This in itself should be inteesting. According to Ascham it seems this was the way bows used to be made. Made overlong, shot in and only then finally reduced to length, draw weight and given final tiller.

Good luck with your bow.

Mark in England

[Bob Barnes]

thank you for the reply...I enjoyed the reading of the thread.
Bob