Osage Target Bow - Finished Bow Pics!

[PAHunter]

Hi, all long time!  I hope all is well.  After a fun season of hunting with my selfbow I bagged 2 groundhogs but no deer yet.  One was dead to rights but a collision with my upper limb and a tree branch proved otherwise.    I'm making plans to bring my wife and daughter to the TN classic this year and that got me jazzed enough to start another bow.  I'm currently using an awesome bow made by my buddy Bill for an indoor 300 league.  My best score to date is 219 which I'm pretty happy with but hoping to top.  I decided to make a lower pound bow (for me) for target shooting.  Maybe 45ish. 

Here are some pics of my progress thus far.  It's tillered to about 17 on it's way to 28.  I'll post some finished pics when done. 

Feels darn good to be making wood chips again!
- Rob

[DC]

You're a lot younger than I thought

[straightarrow]

Looking good, Rob!!!

[Badger]

   The bow is looking great, does the lower limb clear the floor when you shoot?

[PAHunter]

That's my baby, little helper, and worst critic.  She worked on her rasp technique on a block of wood while I worked.  That and got into everything in my workshop of course.   

[PAHunter]

Tillered her out to full draw at 46# so I still have some weight to work with. 

How does the tiller look?

Don't be shy I'd really like your honest feedback.  I have a few ideas but I'd like to hear from you guys before I finish her off.

thanks!

[bow101]

Nice bow, I really like the handle area I think you did an outstanding job.   

[ajooter]

Bottom limb seems a little hingy towards the bottom third and the top limb seems a little stiff from midlife up.  Take what I say with a grain of salt as I have yet to make a successful selfbow.  Congrats on a shooter I'm not even there yet in the selfbow world.  My best bow is made from a poplar board  !

[TimBo]

Based on that photo, I would be a bit concerned with the bottom midlimb area.  The whoopy-do or whatever that is just above the grip/fade would be tricky...The top limb seems (again from photo) to be pretty evenly bending.  Is it taking any more set in the bottom midlimb than anywhere else, or is there anything funny about that area in the unbraced profile?  Otherwise, looks good!! 

[blackhawk]

take some scrapes on the upper limb mid limb rob

[Pat B]

The tiller looks pretty good to me but it looks like both outer limbs have propeller twist unless it is just the lighting.

[PAHunter]

@bow101 thanks buddy!
@ajooter thanks for the feedback.  now go make some wood shavings! 
@Timbo Ya it's taking the most set about 2/3 of the way down the bottom limb.  I'm not leaving it braced long yet until I'm a bit more comfortable with it. 
@Chris thanks bud.  We have to let some arrows fly when it warms up a bit. 
@Pat hmm I'm not sure.  I'll get it on the tree and have a look for that.

Thanks for the input guys!

[PAHunter]

@Pat good call, there is a little twist in the top limb.  I'll see if I can't help ease that when I work on the top bit. 

[hunterbob]

Looking good rob.

[PAHunter]

@hunterbob thanks bud!

I made some adjustments based on your feedback.  there's some more bend in the upper limb now and I think it evened it out a bit.  I realized the stave has some natural contours to it as well so didn't go overboard with the propeller adjustment.  As my high school art teacher once said, "It's important for an artist to know when to stop".  I'm down to 43-44# (which is great for a target bow) now so I'm calling it good enough.  I'll finish it up in a few days and post some pics. 

Thanks again!