Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: barebo on February 20, 2018, 05:27:16 pm
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This one for me at least is a short bow - generally they are 62-64". This one is 56" NTN. It weigh 17 ounces and draws 47#@27".
Feibings British Tan leather dye and a few coats of Helmsman Spar for the finish. Wrapped leather lace on the short grip with a Whitetail antler tip arrow rest.
1-5/8" max limb width and tips left beefy at 1/2" with Bacote overlays. Flipped the tips slightly. Shoots a quick arrow and is surprisingly dead in the hand on release.
Hop Hormbeam has an irregular back by nature, but this one was pretty gnarly making tillering tricky. The limbs have some twists, but string lays centered so we'll call it good.
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Bow braced.
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Grip.
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That came out great, nice full drawn profile!
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Very nice barebow. Got any more pictures? I do like the looks of a gnarly HHB back and they can make it tricky tillering. Maybe a unbraced to.
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Back of bow. Sorry about the poor quality pics - my old HP camera should be upgraded!
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Nice bend on that one! :OK
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Very nice bow. Full draw looks good.
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Hi Barebo
I like short bows - you did a very nice 1.
But...shouldn't this wood only used with a (soft) backing, e.g. linen or rawhide to prevent failure? Therefore good luck...
Cheers
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Nice job, love HHB.
Pappy
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Very nice bow. Bend looks great in full draw pic.
Mike
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Sweet little bow.
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Well done ,like the color
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Fine bow. Whats it look like unbraced?
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Here is unbraced profile. I could have thinned the tips and gained a few FPS, but having it slightly overbuilt seems to give my bows a longer life.
Simk: Hop Hornbeam (a.k.a Ironwood) is a very dense and tough whitewood that like others doesn't require a backing if you carefully remove the bark and cambium. The back of the bow is the one solid ring un-violated after doing so. HHB requires more patience than say Ash or Maple as the growth is uneven and creates hills and valleys so extra care is taken not to cut through the back ring. It's worth the effort - makes a fine bow!
Thanks to all for the nice input - much appreciated.
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"but string lays centered so we'll call it good."
If it survives to full draw, feels balanced in the hand, doesn't lean sideways, generally does what I intended it to do (like the recurves don't pull out), and shoots, I'm pretty happy.
Your bow looks great unstrung, strung, and pulled.
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Great looking bow! Short bows are hard to make, so kudos to you for a nice bow :) I am like you, I love HHB!
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Thanks Springbuck - I feel exactly the same way! - this one surprised me. I originally had this stave 65" and was planning a static. I boiled the tip for an hour and when I took it out of the caul, it was split pretty bad. It ended up a 58" stave after I cut the split off and trimmed the other end to match. It was already pretty well roughed out to shape so I decided to just put a bit of reflex in the tips and see what happens. It was holding weight like crazy and the shavings pile was growing but it finally came around.
Sometimes this bow making can drive you to cuss, but it's darn hard to stop the addiction! Thanks Philipp - I'll be cutting a few more HHB trees this spring - it's my "go to" favorite.
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Dear Barebo
I mixed up hornbeam/hop hornbeam.
So only Hornbeam (without backing) is recommended to shoot with full face helmet 8)
Yours is safe.
Cheers
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Nice job barebo I'm working on a HHB short bow right now. Been working with Osage a lot lately forgot how much harder to rasp HHB is especially when heat treated. It is a good bow wood though and I've made most of my bows from it. The one I'm working on now has a exceptionally smooth back. Not much caricature but a really nice piece of wood. It is much harder to bend than Osage to. Do you use a metal backer strip? I usually boil for at least an hour and the last 15 minutes I turn up to a very hot rolling boil. It still can make trouble though.
Bjrogg
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Great looking bow. Nice work! I love that arrow rest.
Tattoo Dave
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Very well done and way to adapt and overcome from your original plans. I would say you nailed it.
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Thanks for posting the unbraced picture, I really like that bow.
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Bjrogg - I do have a metal backer strip on my caul, and think I simply left the tips a bit too wide and maybe thick also. I made a true 90 degree static from HHB a few years ago and the hooks were just over 4" and they bent like butter. I'll thin the next one down and try it again.
Thanks guys for the feedback - this one made me crazy a few times, but I just slowed down and removed wood little by little till it came around - it taught me patience!