Primitive Archer

Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: M2A on July 25, 2023, 09:14:59 pm

Title: 50 Lb Black Locust
Post by: M2A on July 25, 2023, 09:14:59 pm
Hi folks,
Finished this one up a month or 2 ago, seems like the simple things been my bottle neck these days, like finish work and taking pictures.

Got the idea of this bow from a couple I made my boys a few years ago. Both are locust, a little light at 40 lbs but very nice cast to them. I built those bows a bit more narrow than my usual 2" out of the fade to account for the lighter draw. When finishing up the one for my younger son I kept thinking I could get 50 lbs out of that piece if i wanted. So this was my attempt at what i'd consider a narrow design at about 1 5/8  out the fades with a lenght of 65" ntn. That all sounds fine and dandy until your 5" from full draw wondering when its going to crystal. I got lucky and got away with it this time.

Nice piece of wood! Not sure the pictures show off the color and grain.  Only knot is in the handle that kinda deflexed the inner limbs. Only heated in reflex in the outers. overlays are multiflora rose over American elm. That rose is real pretty stuff but still pretty small so one side on each tip still has a sliver of inner bark left on. I could have done without the elm but it sounded so much better in my head before i did it. So got that out of my system, going to make thinner/smaller overlays from here on. Whole stave had slight bow in it but figured I could adjust handle and tips to correct. I was wrong, late in tillering string was still a bit off the handle(arrow pass side) so I steamed and was able to make the correction, you can still see how I was trying to cheat the handle over to the arrow pass side.

Now I got one to match thier bows. Hope one day they will both be home at the same time so we can go shooting. A little twang in the release but very accurate. I'd still rather have 2" width and 66 ntn to work with but nice to see it can be done with less. Was on my own for F/D pics so tried out my go pro. Angle is a bit off on the one side but its all new to me and a work in progress. I bit different design than i been use to making so critique away.
Thanks, Mike                           
Title: Re: 50 Lb Black Locust
Post by: M2A on July 25, 2023, 09:21:51 pm
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53071923935_f0b23ebb64.jpg) (https://www.flickr.com/gp/158435722@N02/2bKjgQ097y)blfd2023rs (https://www.flickr.com/gp/158435722@N02/2bKjgQ097y) by Mike Allridge (https://www.flickr.com/photos/158435722@N02/), on Flickr

(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53072026383_53e7ae04ac.jpg) (https://www.flickr.com/gp/158435722@N02/x8Bct761w5)blfd2023ls (https://www.flickr.com/gp/158435722@N02/x8Bct761w5) by Mike Allridge (https://www.flickr.com/photos/158435722@N02/), on Flickr

(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53071924210_6de1c58bdb.jpg) (https://www.flickr.com/gp/158435722@N02/4X411aH090)IMG_5573 (2) (https://www.flickr.com/gp/158435722@N02/4X411aH090) by Mike Allridge (https://www.flickr.com/photos/158435722@N02/), on Flickr

(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53072026973_efbf8bcefd.jpg) (https://www.flickr.com/gp/158435722@N02/w7DFpww2cE)IMG_5572 (https://www.flickr.com/gp/158435722@N02/w7DFpww2cE) by Mike Allridge (https://www.flickr.com/photos/158435722@N02/), on Flickr

(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53071525851_39199a167d.jpg) (https://www.flickr.com/gp/158435722@N02/41Jt6w2x8h)IMG_5574 (https://www.flickr.com/gp/158435722@N02/41Jt6w2x8h) by Mike Allridge (https://www.flickr.com/photos/158435722@N02/), on Flickr

(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53070951777_c646ac7bfe.jpg) (https://www.flickr.com/gp/158435722@N02/s87e2tE8C8)IMG_5577 (https://www.flickr.com/gp/158435722@N02/s87e2tE8C8) by Mike Allridge (https://www.flickr.com/photos/158435722@N02/), on Flickr

(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53072030623_c3f051dde5.jpg) (https://www.flickr.com/gp/158435722@N02/06xyZdo882)IMG_5575 (https://www.flickr.com/gp/158435722@N02/06xyZdo882) by Mike Allridge (https://www.flickr.com/photos/158435722@N02/), on Flickr

(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53071928220_f4be766349.jpg) (https://www.flickr.com/gp/158435722@N02/79M904RT63)IMG_5576 (https://www.flickr.com/gp/158435722@N02/79M904RT63) by Mike Allridge (https://www.flickr.com/photos/158435722@N02/), on Flickr

(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53071928805_52570fc6c4.jpg) (https://www.flickr.com/gp/158435722@N02/9E813YqcT8)IMG_5578 (https://www.flickr.com/gp/158435722@N02/9E813YqcT8) by Mike Allridge (https://www.flickr.com/photos/158435722@N02/), on Flickr

(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53072032258_9f9a216fd4.jpg) (https://www.flickr.com/gp/158435722@N02/P5w7hn9QBq)IMG_5579 (https://www.flickr.com/gp/158435722@N02/P5w7hn9QBq) by Mike Allridge (https://www.flickr.com/photos/158435722@N02/), on Flickr

(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53072031923_6ae9610720.jpg) (https://www.flickr.com/gp/158435722@N02/0RB602xT71)IMG_5581 (https://www.flickr.com/gp/158435722@N02/0RB602xT71) by Mike Allridge (https://www.flickr.com/photos/158435722@N02/), on Flickr

(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53070951897_b7583ce826.jpg) (https://www.flickr.com/gp/158435722@N02/U08w4J3B4X)IMG_5582 (https://www.flickr.com/gp/158435722@N02/U08w4J3B4X) by Mike Allridge (https://www.flickr.com/photos/158435722@N02/), on Flickr

Just having some fun with this picture :)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53071523286_70d2d9e4ca.jpg) (https://www.flickr.com/gp/158435722@N02/K3720hTz53)blfd2023ho  (2) (https://www.flickr.com/gp/158435722@N02/K3720hTz53) by Mike Allridge (https://www.flickr.com/photos/158435722@N02/), on Flickr
Title: Re: 50 Lb Black Locust
Post by: superdav95 on July 25, 2023, 11:00:45 pm
Really cool bow mike!  Love the profile on this one.  Looks well balanced and a smooth shooter.  Well done indeed
Title: Re: 50 Lb Black Locust
Post by: Pappy on July 26, 2023, 06:58:57 am
Very nice work, beautiful bow in all aspects. :)
 Pappy
Title: Re: 50 Lb Black Locust
Post by: bentstick54 on July 26, 2023, 08:30:41 am
Very nice looking bow.
Title: Re: 50 Lb Black Locust
Post by: Will B on July 26, 2023, 01:16:47 pm
Great looking bow, Mike. I really like the tips and the color and grain in a black locust selfbow. Nice!!
Title: Re: 50 Lb Black Locust
Post by: M2A on July 27, 2023, 06:39:01 am
Thank you fellas.

One thing I forgot to mention before is that the back is trapped about 1/4" total. Pretty much been doing that with locust all the time now. Was going to try to trap this one more but chickened out after drawing the lines on with a pencil. 

Mike
Title: Re: 50 Lb Black Locust
Post by: PaSteve on July 27, 2023, 09:42:50 am
Beautiful bow Mike. Looks like you have the intricacies of black locust pretty much figured out. Agree with Dave, that profile is very nice.
Title: Re: 50 Lb Black Locust
Post by: Pat B on July 27, 2023, 10:05:30 am
Really nice locust bow, Mike. Locust makes a good bow but it is susceptible to fretting. Heat treating the belly helps that some.
Title: Re: 50 Lb Black Locust
Post by: Selfbowman on July 27, 2023, 08:08:56 pm
Looks good Mike I like it.
Title: Re: 50 Lb Black Locust
Post by: bjrogg on July 27, 2023, 09:10:01 pm
Nice bow Mike.

I like the pictures with the go pro too.

I’ve made a few narrow HHB ones that turned out nice.

I think you did good with the profiles too.

Bjrogg
Title: Re: 50 Lb Black Locust
Post by: M2A on July 28, 2023, 07:33:10 am
Thanks Steve.
Thank you Pat, Pretty much heat treat every bow. Locust is nice because its much faster than any white wood to achieve the color I want.
Thanks Arvin!
BJ, bought that go pro a few years ago after seeing the kids in our Scout troop making some good videos and getting nice pictures with them on the camp outs. Made my oldest son go with me to pic out a good model and get the right stuff. Lady at the register told my son to be careful and don't do anything crazy with it. He paused and than told her it was not for him but me :) She just shook her head at me. It would be nice to get some more accessories for it-all in time i guess. But Thanks.

Mike         
Title: Re: 50 Lb Black Locust
Post by: Stixnstones on July 28, 2023, 12:02:14 pm
Real nice lookin bow, great work
Title: Re: 50 Lb Black Locust
Post by: M2A on July 31, 2023, 07:38:53 am
Thank you Stix.
Mike
Title: Re: 50 Lb Black Locust
Post by: Juan Ant. Espinosa on July 31, 2023, 02:05:48 pm
Very nice bow.
No compression checks in that kind of wood and tipe of bow talks about an acurate job. Congratulations.
I wish more people sowing works with black locust.
Title: Re: 50 Lb Black Locust
Post by: M2A on August 02, 2023, 07:21:32 am
Thanks Juan.

I have been lucky and have been able to source a good bit of locust over the years. It's been my main source of material since I started building bows. Gave me a lot of opportunity to start a new piece after screwing up until I learned to slow down and take my time. I never know when a logger will deliver more to the firewood processor that lets me have anything that comes threw(timing is usually bad but try and make the most of it), Not sure how much longer I'll have that source but I know of a enough standing trees to keep me busy when the time comes.

I loose interest in a piece if it develops frets, try to learn from my mistake and move on to the next piece. Really stinks when it happens 200 shots into shooting a bow in :) Fortunately that happens less often now.
Mike         

       
Title: Re: 50 Lb Black Locust
Post by: Juan Ant. Espinosa on August 03, 2023, 04:43:34 am
Yes.
It´s also for me the principal wood I use here in Spain. I´ve a bunch of staves I keep replacing everytime I´m in the conuntry from a big mountain torrent. I feel it makes nice bows but also became a challenge to accomplish them.
As I prefer to choose the rings from the year 10 or more because to avoid branch knots from trees first years, I usually have a quite flat back. And now I trapp it in a trapezoid way at every black locust bow I make. And also use a heat gun on the valley.
Since that, more bows get finished without compression lines.