Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Josh B on September 03, 2011, 08:24:23 am
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This is a black walnut bow I made for a friend of mines son. It is 69" ntn 45# @ 28". Unfortunately it took almost 2 inches of set. It's fairly snappy even for the horrible set it took. I don't think the stave was as dry as it should have been. I'm not really into shelves on my bows, but it wasn't made for me anyway. I do like the 'thousand yard sight' in the bottom limb though. I think a self bow just isn't complete without some sort of character. Just my opinion of course. Thanks for looking, Josh
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Looks great ;) two inches of set is fine with me and normal for the wood you used. I attempted a black walnut last month that had a hole in the limb too,but mine didn't pan out and diidnt want to be a bow. Bummer cus its beautiful wood. Ill be trying another in the future.
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awesome bow our english walnut is also an amazing bow wood.
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GD,
I'm very fond of black walnut bows, all of mine were quartersawn and they are quite snappy. Your bow is very well made and my personal opinion is that "set" is highly overrated. If it's got good braced tension and it's a snappy shooter.....who cares what it looks like unstrung? Just one old mans opinion though.....very nice bow
rich
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Very nice...now I want to try walnut!! ;D
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Awesome lookin bow! Love the character knots. ;D
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Nice bow and tiller. I like that BW grain.
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Wow, that seems to be the most character I can recall seeing in a BW bow! Very nice!
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Nice job on a tough-looking knot.
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GD,
I'm very fond of black walnut bows, all of mine were quartersawn and they are quite snappy. Your bow is very well made and my personal opinion is that "set" is highly overrated. If it's got good braced tension and it's a snappy shooter.....who cares what it looks like unstrung? Just one old mans opinion though.....very nice bow
rich
Could not agree more! Both with set AND black walnut. I've got one of Half Eye's quarter sawn pieces. I think Ive put better than 200 arrows (telephone poles)through that molle....and snappy is the word for it.
Very nice bow! BTW very fond of the high tech sighting mechanism ;D ::) ;D
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Sweet bow doc!!!! If u find yourself with any more of them bw character bows i'll tell you where it would be put to good use >:D great job on a great looking bow ;)
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Thank you very much folks. I appreciate the kind words. I have a nice pile of failed attempts at a bw bow. It is definitely not as forgiving as Osage. That being said, I think I've learned enough through trial and error to start having more success with this wood. At least I hope so, I have 75 bw staves put up. A man only needs so many tomato stakes! :P Once again thanks! And here is a few more pics,
Josh
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MAN! That is a nice looking bow. I like how you worked around that knot...
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Awesome Bow! I was just thinking the other day about making a bow out of Black Walnut. you've inspired me to follow through on it. Not sure when... Anyway very nice work!
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Yes Sir,
Nice looking bow indeed.
I have a BW stave drying in the corner even now, dreaming of being a bow. ;)
-gus
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Thank you fellas. If there is anything I've learned about bw it is that it likes a wide flat limb. I tried several times to use smaller diameter staves that had just a little crown to the back. All of them exploded early in the tillering. If you're staves have much of a crown at all, I would consider decrowning them or backing them. I'm working on a bw shorty from a 4" branch right now. I decrowned it and made a wide rectangular cross sectioned pyramid style and it is holding up nicely so far. If it survives to completion I will post it next month. Good luck and hope to see what you guys do with what I consider one of the most beautiful native woods. BTW if any body figures out how to heat bend bw successfully, I would loves some pointers. I can steam bend in beautiful recurves, and as soon as I put a string on it, right back to where it started. >:( I think kerfing is the next thing I will attempt. Anyway thanks again,
Josh
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Scott, that would be no problem to make happen. I'm in KC all the time. I would be more than happy to donate some to the cause. If you would like to try it, let me know. One of my terminals is in Liberty, I'll throw some in.
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Beautiful bow - what if anything did you back the decrowned bw with?
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The decrowned bow is only backed with thin air. It has pretty wide and flat limbs to spread out the tension. It's kind of an experiment to see how far I could push the wood now that I have a better understanding of BW properties. I'll try to post it soon. I just wish I knew a way to correct some natural deflex in one limb. Every previous attempt to heat and or steam bend BW has ended in failure, sometimes explosively so. Josh
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Man, that's a biiig knot. Gives me hope for my own bow with its whale of knot. Great work!
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Good looking bow,should be a sweet shooter. :)
Pappy
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Cool - thanks for the info. I need to get some BW. Hopefully find some flat ringed enough to chase.
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I love the look of Walnut.... you did a stand up job... Very nice bow :)
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Thanx everybody, I appreciate the kind words. Pappy, I think it shoots great, but then I may have a slightly biased opinion >:D The real test will be this Christmas when the unsuspecting young man gets it and tries it out. I certainly hope he enjoys shooting it as much as I enjoyed making it. Postman, if you do get some BW, the sapwood makes a beautiful contrast to the heartwood, but for my poor vision it is twice as hard to chase a ring. I recomend leaving a couple rings of sapwood for the back, but if it is too difficult to see, take it down to the heartwood to chase a ring. Much easier to see. Also chase the ring fairly early in the curing process. Much easier to work than when fully cured IMHO. Josh