Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Jbell on November 24, 2007, 04:07:35 pm
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Here is a bow that I started back in July. I have been pretty busy since then so I had to make time to finish it up, all it needed was tip overlays and a finish to complete. This was my first attempt at Yew and also a backed recurve and it proved to be quite a challenge. The Yew wasn't a challenge ,it is a wonderful wood to work with, the curves didn't line up very well after glue up so I had to do a little heat straightening, which was a bit scary because of the possibility of the glue joint seperating, but it worked just fine.
I built this bow with with no owner in mind, just a fun experiment. If the draw weight would come out to my liking I would probably keep it for myself but the tillering proved to be a little more challenging than I anticipated, since I lhave made several R/D BBO's with great results I had no idea the recurves would give me so much trouble tillering. I was trying to achieve a 55# draw weight but she came in at 45#, not really that big of a deal just not what I am used to. After shooting this bow for the first time I was pretty amazed by its speed, shooting my 55# spined arrows, well, as straight as an arrow. Well to make a short story even longer, our family was over for Thanksgiving the other night and my nephew, who is now 13 was wondering If I could make him another bow with more draw weight. So I let him shoot this bow and it fit like a glove! He enjoyed shooting it alot and it was a lot of fun watching him shoot it. He doesn't know it yet but it will be his X-mas present this year.
Here are the bows specs, 45#@26", 60" NTN, bamboo back Yew belly, 1 1/4" starting at fade to midlimb tapering to less than 3/8 tips, horn tip overlays. The bamboo is dyed with black aniline dye and I used my finger to give it a fiddle back look. The strike plate is turtle shell and the shelf is layered leather set with CA. Hope you enjoy the pics!
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Here are some full draw pics. Forgot to mention the handle laminations are Walnut and Hickory.
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Justin, That is a beauty!!! 8) Your nephew is a lucky young man. Pat
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Couple of Pics of my nephew and my son gooofing around the other night. ;D
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Thanks Pat, I think he appreciates the fact that his uncle makes bows. I brought him to Mojam a couple of years ago and I think he got bit by the bug! He will be making his own soon.
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Justin,That bow is gorgeous.I like the dye job on the boo.
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That's a very nice bow. Very well done. I like it
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That is totaly the bomb bow man, I am impressed.
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Thats a beauty! Just my style! Are you going to try another one to get your draw weight? Did you heat bend the recurves in to the core before glue up?
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That much recurve is challenging to tiller. Really fools you early on to take a lot of wood off. Really a gorgeous implement.
Dave
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Beautiful! Love that handle...looks like one of mine. All around good lookin'....
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Thanks guys! Oh yeah Ryan definately going try another, probably with osage though since I don't have suitable piece of yew left. I used steam to bend the core and bamboo. I was definately going for a big curve but lost some of it while tillering. I definately learned alot about tillering these type of bows. The early string weight really throws you off. I have it figured out in my head for tillering the next one, hopefully sometime this winter.
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Beautiful craftsmanship - I love the curves and tiller.
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VERY nice bow!
frank
ps: what's the stain on the back??
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very impressive! that is one gorgeous bow, very nice work. I bet it is a snappy shooter. bamboo and yew is a deadly combination, light and fast.
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WOW, Great looking bow. I've done a few recurves and highly reflexed longbows, and you are right they are hard to tiller. You did a really nice job.
Mark
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That bow is BEAUTIFUL!!
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justin! - me again! that really is a nice bow!
it's always so hard to judge the tiller from these pics: when you pull it, i'd call it PERFECT, when your nephew pulls it, it looks like a bit more bend mid-limb on the upper limb wouldn't hurt. it's probably just the way it's angled. or did you work on it some more after the pic of your nephew was taken!
the wood combo on the riser looks phantastic; very tasty!!
this for sure is one of them bows one can learn a lot just by looking at it!
thanks, frank
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Thank you all for the nice compliments! Thanks Frank, you are right very difficult to judge tiller from pics on the internet, but I can assure you that I have'nt touched up tiller, as of now anyway. :D For me the tiller looks pretty even I suppose but in reality I wish my curves did'nt open up so much, I think that is where I lost my draw weight.
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Yup gotta agree with everyone else, she sure is purty. And what a nice xmas present.
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a nice bow indeed.
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What a well-done bow. Great handle and tip work. A serious candidate for Nov backed bow of the month!!
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Very, very nice!!!
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Tips and handles often make the bow, tiller and everything else being equal. The handle on jbell's bow is a real bar raiser. Next goal: improve my handles! :P
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Wow that is quite a compliment Don. Thank you! ;D
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X-cellant !!
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did you use the yew edge grain? wondering how that works in a all wood laminated bow. I have used it in fiberglass laminates that way.
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Yes,I prefer quarter sawn slats when doing all wood laminates. I got this wood from a reputable source, when it came in the mail it was pretty warped. Needless to say I was pretty disappointed. So the guy sent me some more billets, they also were warped but atleast manageable. So I had to find out the hard way that Yew staightens easily with steam. Thank the Lord!
I have one 40" billet left, that has about 5" reflex and 2" sidesway. One of these days I am going staighten it out and maybe sinew back it.
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Love it, love it, love it!!!
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If a person were trying to find fault in a bow he'd be hard pressed on this one, excellent workmanship.
VB
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Very nice, beautiful bow.Nice to have a good Uncle. :)I have a few but they don't make bows. ;D
Pappy
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Wow, that is a beautiful piece of work, excellent craftsmanship.
Alan
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Thanks guys! I think you all are making my head bigger than it already is! :D
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JBell, That is an awesome bow. You have one lucky Nephew. I especialy like the fiddleback you did on the Bamboo. Nifty idea.
I have some Yew under the back of the house that has been curing there for about 4 years. Some of it is 2" planks cut from a 10"dia Forest fire killed tree. What you got to trade? And remember shipping from Idaho is kinda steep.
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Forgot to say that yew is 6' or longer.