Haida Gwaii style bow with belly ridge (HHB high quality stave)

[penderbender]

Nice looking Bend! I'm with Bryce, pull that thing back! It's kinda like a double hollow limb design. Didn't Weylin make one a while ago? With a ridge down the belly.  Someone posted one a while ago. Cheers- Brendan

[Pappy]

That's pretty cool, never seen one like that.
 Pappy

[Philipp A]

Thanks Penderbender and Pappy.
@Penderbender, do you remember when Weylin posted a similar bow? I would very much be interested to see it.

[leonwood]

That's a really nice replica! I like the tool you made for the belly ridge. And no offence but I have the same feeling as a few others, pull it back! It wil let your arrow scream at that draw weight! ( Just kidding, I can't draw more than 75 either;-) )

[Philipp A]

Thanks @leonwood. I am slowly getting there in terms of pulling the bow. I can now get it back to the corner of my mouth where I normally have my anchor point (24-25" draw length depending on how straight I hold my arm). The maximum arrow speed I have obtained now is 158 fps and I have now more shots in the low 150s. Hopefully I get it over 160 fps soon... I am however more interested in how accurate I can shoot the bow than speed and I have better arrow groupings with this bow than with my other bows. It shoots really flat.

[Marc St Louis]

I was in there today and it is very hard to tell but from a certain angle it does seem to have those ridges, my cell phone camera is just not up to the task.  From the way the string sits in the nocks I'm just not sure if they are on the belly or back.  I have taken pics with a digital camera of all that exhibit several years ago and there were a lot more bows than what is now shown.  I just don't know where those pics are right now

There was another Haida bow in another section that looked very nice.

[Philipp A]

Hi Marc,

Glad you had a chance to look at the Museum bows again. Besides the close up side view (some glass glare) which shows that at least for the two bows to the left the side with the belly ridge is the one that has a slope to both sides of the handle into each limb and it appears from what I can see the back is flat.

I am including another somewhat darker picture again from the side view that show that the two bows to the left show clearly some set bent towards the observer when standing in front. I can always post in a photo link a higher resolution of the picture if you have trouble seeing it. The bow on the right is a much heavier draw weight bow and also longer with the widest point in each limb in the middle of those limbs. I am still somewhat confused on that one which side is which. I have written to the Museum to see whether they have front and back pictures of the bows which would of course would be very helpful to get the complete picture on those bows.

On page 168 of the Traditional Bowyers Bible Volume One, Steve Allely describes some of the bows he has seen from British Columbia and some cross sections of those profiles are shown as well besides their description.

The profiles form those museum bows look a lot like profile "D" (Nootka) except that it doesn't have the concave ridge but a rounded ridge instead with double concave sides. Steve actually states that some of the bows he has seen had  ridges running down the middle both the back and on the belly others had it only on the back like in profile "E" depicted on the same page 168. But that one is more like flat triangle.

Again hopefully someone will write back to me from the Museum so we can clear up the mystery.

If Steve still frequents these pages, it would be cool to hear from him on the subject, maybe he has some pictures of some of the bows he has seen that had the ridges.

[Weylin]

Penderbender, you are thinking of Carson's double hollow limb bow. 
http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,58266.0.html

[penderbender]

Thanks Weylin! I was beginning to think I was dreaming. Stinks to photos are gone. Cheers- Brendan

[DC]

Do this Brendan, works a treat.
http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,61563.0.html

[Coonst]

Thank you Phil for sharing this inspiring bow!

Coonst

[Philipp A]

Thanks to Coonst and all the others that have commented. And thanks Weylin for pointing out that Carson Brown has made a double HLD bow last year. I have reached out to Carson, so I could compare his bow to mine. It would be interesting to see the differences and how deep his concave sides are verses mine.

I still have a long way to go to reach the skill level of most of you. Carson, Simon's and Weylin's work are all an inspiration to me and all the others on this forum whose work I have seen and that I continue to admire!

[sleek]

If the ridges are on the back, id say its a spine to attatch a line of sinew to. If the belly, id say its for chrysals to show up for over stress indicator. Probably left in place to show the integrity of the bow isnt compromised. i can see it as a display of skill as well, maybe add value to the bow if traded ?

My mind went on a hypothetical rant. Pardon me.

[Carson (CMB)]

Nice to see this bow here Philipp.

I feel the ridge adds strength without adding much mass.  I think it might also benefit from heat-treating more than a flat belly as the ridge can be heated quite thoroughly and evenly in less time.

It is also interesting to consider how this might allow the back to curl up under tension pull while still giving the bow the benefit of a deeper cross section.

[Philipp A]

Thanks Carson for your input it is much appreciated! I would be interested on whether anyone has experience with heat treating HHB. I would very much appreciate some advice on that. Right now the bow shoots really really nice. Zero hand shock and smooth draw and I can finally draw it back to my normal anchor point. Would there be an increased chance of chrysals if I would heat treat the belly?

Cheers,

Phil