Simple "D" bows... Anybody making em"???

[gpw]

OK, we're back !!!     While constructing a Pyramid bow out of Bamboo flooring , I flashed on the idea of making a couple D bows from the leftovers...  The density and flexibility of the Boo would seem to make it a good candidate for  bows like this and with the more English D section... Thinking the usual 72" X 1.5" wide for a 45lb bow (getting old) I know it will need some backing ... I've been using 2 layers of polyester camo net on the bias , seems really strong , no failures ..  yet ...   and it's cheap , and looks invisible in the woods ... I know it's not exactly Primitive , so no growling please...  Just using "what I got" !!
    Also harvested some long crepe Myrtle branches , long and straight , about 2" dia. near the bottom ...  Thinking of some really simple D bows from this ... minimum woodworking , sorta' Caveman ...ish ...

   Never enough bows eh   hahahaha

[Parnell]

Gotta use what you've got.  I actually prefer the practicality of the d bows, but I love em all.

[El Destructo]

If I make a D Bow....its a Native American D Bow.....not European....

[gpw]

ED, what's the difference ...  Not making ELBs  , Just thinking 1.5" Wide  for most of the length and a little narrowing at the tips ... Tillered ever so slightly stiffer in the handle ... REAL Simple !!!

 Made some thin hickory backed ERC ELBs , those tapered from the handle area  to the thin  tips , whole limb narrowed as it went ... Perry Reflex, long length 72"  made them good accurate shooters ...

[NTProf]

I love long, d-tillered bows. About all I make anymore.

[Kegan]

I prefer stiff handled bows, but lately I've been having fun knocking out really simple D bows for others. May have to make one for myself too .

So... simple... must... build!

[dmassphoto]

Would the D-Bow design, since the whole piece of wood is working, transfer more energy to the arrow?  What are the effects of this?  Faster and flatter flight?

[bambule]

Would the D-Bow design, since the whole piece of wood is working, transfer more energy to the arrow?  What are the effects of this?  Faster and flatter flight?

No, I don't think so. A well tillerd flatbow with a stiff handle and bending right from the fades in a circle to stiff tips is the best angle you can set up. Maybe a flatbow with a slightly bending handle and eiffeld tips also with a circle from the handle/fades could be as fast or even faster. But you need very well spined arrows if your handle is as wide as the limbs.
The "energy-transfer-thing" is not how much of the wood is bending but rather than in which way the wood is bending. As you can see often on Compositebows, they are bending a lot from the fades to use the leftover of the limb and the siyas as a lever.
But maybe I was ill in school during the physics lessons and that is all rubbish 

Greetz
Cord

[gpw]

  Built a few backed RD (with Perry reflex too)bows that were very fast ...  about 66-68" long ...   scary to tiller due to the higher early draw weight , but safer actually ...  D bows are just FUN and feel so good in the hand...  I use Long arrows , and Big feathers... tuning the point weight seems to help ... besides an unstrung D bow makes a good walking stick and something to move the snakes away... 

[bubby]

I've been building mine 1-1/4" wide at the handles, hickory baced epe, theyseem to be real fast and stoot hard. even better if ya flip the tips a little

[Kegan]

I have a simple one in the hot box. It seems to be drying pretty quick, I might be able to go from tree to box in about a week this way. I'll have to see how it shoots. If it does well I'll see how fancy I can make .

[RyanY]

I'm in the processes of making a hickory one for target shooting. I have the stave roughed out and it has a few inches of natural reflex. Hopefully after heat treating it, it will be a sweet shooter. Going to try and get the tips to 1/4".

[Parnell]

Got a 60"ntn shooting yesterday from a hickory board.  Followed the dimensions for the Cherokee hunting bow in TBB2.  Needs some fine tuning but shot great out of the gates.  I'll try to post a picture later...

[Kegan]

I found a piece of ipe that my uncle got for me. If I can just find/trade for a piece of hickory backing I know what I'm doing with it

Oh! I took out my old 83# white Oak D bow with literally 4" of set and at 15 to 20 yards shot no worse than with my 86# white oak flatbow with 2" of set (yes, these bows are old and no I didn't really know what I was doing besides making them heavy). Hopefully at a reasonable weight where I'm not overbowed I can shoot it as accurately as a "more accurate" flatbow .

[gpw]

  Harvested some long poles (branches ) from my Crepe Myrtle tree.... look like bows, got some arrow wood too  .... going REAL Primitive on these...branch D bows  .... Drying now ... the long wait .... Grrrrr!!!!  Thinking of roughing out a few of these , just to facilitate drying ...   Pics as soon as I figure how ...