Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: silent sniper on July 24, 2018, 10:52:54 am
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Hello everyone,
Here is my latest creation, a hickory backed red cedar longbow with a mild r/d profile. 66.5 NTN, 41@28, symmetrical design, 1-5/16 wide at the fades with a 12 taper to Ό tips
I have been wanting to build a backed red cedar bow after seeing first hand several that had been built by Marc St louis. They were very light in the hand and an absolute joy to shoot.
I could not find a cedar board with a long enough section of straight grain, so I ripped a 36 board in half and used a tapered finger splice to connect the two pieces together. The splice location allowed for a beautiful mix of heartwood/sapwood through the handle and top limb. I then added the 1/8 thick hickory backing and glued in ½ of reflex and ½ of deflex. The handle section was then glued on with a mix of white oak, jatoba, and hickory strips.
I glued up this blank back in January, but decided not to continue because I was fearful that the 35% humidity was too low for red cedar. Hearing stories of them exploding at full draw did not help my confidence
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Fast forward to a couple weeks ago when I saw the stave sitting on the rack and decided it was time to finish it
Cedar is wonderfully easy to work and the smell is delightful. I did find that it is very touchy to adjustments in tiller. This bow was a bit difficult to tiller. It required re-tillering twice while shooting it in because the limbs started to fret at the fades from being too narrow/stressed. I reduced the overall draw weight and got the mid limbs working more to combat the fretting. I believe I have it fixed now but only time will tell.
I usually tiller all my 3 under bows to have an even tiller. On this bow I ended up with a 1/4 weaker top limb which showed the best full draw profile. Both limbs hold just under 1 of string follow with an additional Ό of set directly after shooting.
The bow was finished with 3 coats of Shellac and 3 coated of water based spar. I then used some 0000-steel wool to cut down the shine. A glued on brown leather grip and shelf rest with beaver tail side plate finished the bow.
The bow shoots 10 gpp arrows at 163 fps with a 27.5 draw. It is lightweight and snappy and is a pleasure to shoot. The bow turned out exactly how I had hoped it would except for the minor tillering issues.
I really like the backed cedar bow design. It makes for such a lightweight and sweet shooting longbow. I will make my next cedar bow 1-1/2 wide at the fades and taper the belly before glue up. These should result in a bow with less set and better performance.
Enjoy SS
(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/924/28714756817_ef0cb81883_c.jpg)
[url=https://flic.kr/p/MiktL9](https://farm1.staticflickr.com/934/29732235508_f41db4dffa_c.jpg)
[url=https://flic.kr/p/26Ferob](https://farm1.staticflickr.com/914/41794441570_2d2683524d_c.jpg)
[url=https://flic.kr/p/MikvHq](https://farm1.staticflickr.com/930/29732242078_05c7674e02_c.jpg)
[url=https://flic.kr/p/Mikv37](https://farm1.staticflickr.com/857/29732239798_302099ec40_c.jpg)
(https://flic.kr/p/KKqCN6)
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(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/854/29732231698_ac4bc66364_c.jpg)
[url=https://flic.kr/p/MikrQA](https://farm1.staticflickr.com/833/29732229038_82a401be6d_c.jpg)
[url=https://flic.kr/p/MiknFo](https://farm1.staticflickr.com/834/29732215048_9f6053b7f3_c.jpg)
[url=https://flic.kr/p/28kznr1](https://farm1.staticflickr.com/837/42884714134_a55a66c4f9_c.jpg)
[url=https://flic.kr/p/Mikp4o](https://farm1.staticflickr.com/926/29732219688_f43eb26e3f_c.jpg)
(https://flic.kr/p/MiksCs)
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(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/927/29732222508_93d1d48e57_c.jpg)
[url=https://flic.kr/p/Mikrah](https://farm1.staticflickr.com/916/29732226758_5efb69f09d_c.jpg)
[url=https://flic.kr/p/Mikuqq](https://farm1.staticflickr.com/923/29732237728_e61484d33c_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/MikpU1)
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That turned out very nice!brace and full draw looks spot on!
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Very nice! The sheep eating grin tells it all ;D
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Yeah I like the tiller on this one. Very nice work!
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Very nice bow! That smile is what it is all about!
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Great work, looks good on all profiles.
But can't help, I'm no friend of those cut in shelves. And I see no need for it, the handle can be narrowed without any problem.
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Sharp lookin bow dude! )P(
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Nice bow! I do like the subtle curves in the unbraced photos. Tiller looks great to me. Mike
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Very nice bow SS. Love it when makes you feel like that. :)
Bjrogg
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Great looking bow! Love red cedar but every one Ive made has exploded. Will be trying another one soon. Nice work!
Tattoo Dave
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Thanks everyone for the nice comments!
Simson, I agree with you that the cut in shelf is not the most attractive feature on an all wood bow. I have always made my bows with this design because I shoot it very well. At some point I will try a new sleek handle design that has a more primitive/traditional look.
Thanks,
SS
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I'm sure you will like it more ...
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Another very well made bow. I'm sure it shoots quite well
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Nice profile and tiller on that one, good work
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Beautiful bow
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Very inspiring. I finally glued up my red cedar / hickory board with 3" of reflex. I rounded the corners and cleaned the glue, added a handle block, but lately my shop has been too hot to work in (115°!)
Did you use inner tube wrap to glue it? What glue?