short choke cherry bow tiller

[trail walker]

Hey Y'all! So i went up the the canyon like a month ago and after a lot of hiking through a maize of bushes and ponderosa pine i found a piece of choke cherry wood that was straight enough to make a short bow . After like 3 days of it just sitting there i had the vision and saw the bow just trapped inside the log. I cut it out and cut  the stave out of the wet wood, and lashed it to a piece of drill pipe, i put some reflex in it to counter some of the draw.( It did not help much) After like 3 days of a bonish dry eastern Utah wind i pulled it off and finished it out. I ended up with a bow 46" tip to tip pulling #45 at 21". I have sent like 80 arrows through it. Now I have a few questions.
#1 It is normal for these short bows to stack a little right?
#2 is my tiller ok? And did i use the right tiller for a short bow?

[trail walker]

some more pics.

[willie]

I like your plan of just finding a sapling and see what can be made. Looks good from here. what do you mean when you say
the reflex "did not help much"? I think I can see some reflex in the bottom pic.

[bjrogg]

I like your vision trailwalker. That's a nice looking shorty there. I'm not a shorty expert but I think that's a pretty good tiller. How does it feel. Does it rock in your hand when you draw it? Glad to see you on here again. Ever finish that cowhide? That shorty would probably really like some sinew in that dry Utah air. Is that your first bow?
Bjrogg

[Floridabowyer]

I'm with Bj on the sinew. You could pull it into a bit of reflex on a jig and then sinew it.
Nice little shorty! I'm looking for a suitable piece of choke cherry myself to make a sinew backed NA style bow.

[trail walker]

Willie, i might of sort of kinda bent 2-3 inches of string fallow out of it before i took the picture. I’ll post a pic that shows its real colors. When guys on this forum said that choke cherry follows the string they were not kidding, i have had the thing strung backwards at like 4 inches for like 3 weeks to try counter sting fallow i did help a tiny bit but not much.
Bgrogg yes it pulls nice intell it hits 20” then it feels like you have hit a brick wall. No I have not finished That cowhide yet but I just finished my college classes and my regular school Is almost over, so that is The next big project to tackle.We had to finish our Corral's so we could get cattle branded and out to pasture.I better get it done fairly soon though or I might hear about how much room It's taking up in the shop. And yes I was thinking about sinew backing it,The limb has a Growth ring Deformity in it And I would hate to see my first working bow turn into a pile of matchsticks.I think currently I have Enough elk sinew To give it 1.5-2 Layers Of backing.Would that help with String follow any?

Floridabowyer Most people argue that The short bow came around To be used mainly on Horseback. But I'm pretty sure that At least in my Area, They used short bows because they could not  find any staves Longer than 55 inches and even that might be a bit of a stretch. More like 50in.

[bjrogg]

Oh yes I to know the takeing up to much room in the shop problem. You could probably nail it on a wall now till you get time to finish it. From my limited experience when they feel like their hitting a brick wall I don't pull them any further. Next thing they pull real easy.lol. Hope college is going good for you. Glad to hear from you again.
Bjrogg

[bradsmith2010]

you didn say how long it is,, ??
yes it will stack like any bow, when you pull it half the bows length,,
just want to get it bending even ,,, there is room or interpretation on how stiff the handle might be,
short bows will start to have prettry good power stroke at 21 inches, ,better at 24
 you can make up for any loss of cast with a shorter lighter arrow,,
that bow will hunt,, congrats,, B

[bjrogg]

Brad I think he said it was 46" t-t 45 lbs @21" draw
Bjrogg of

[Spotted Dog]

Nice bow. Looks good to me. I like short bows.

[trail walker]

Brad it's 46 inches Tiptop. I tillerd it so that it would Draw a little less than It could really pull for a little bit of an insurance policy. And the thought of lighter arrows sounds like the way to go, i have been using a arrow i made of black greasewood that stuff is hard and heavy,i think it was used typically as forshafts for cane arrows. But that stuff is indestructible! (almost) i mortally wounded a squirrel with that arrow the other day. 

[trail walker]

Also, would 1.5 to 2 Layers of Elk sinew help correct string follow or would I need more layers?

Thank you spotted dog. I'm rather partial to the shorties myself. 

[bradsmith2010]

sounds like a nice bow for sure, ,
yes the elk sinew would work nice,
it more about how much sinew is on the bow than the layers,,,, cause everyone layers a bit different,,
I would say 500 to 900 grains of sinew would hold reflex for you,, thats just a rough estimate,, but that amount of sinew would not hurt the bow either way,,
when you shred it just weigh it to get a rough idea how much you want to put on,,
when you put the sinew on you can draw it to,,23 inches and it gonna shoot a bit harder too,,