2018 Bow Trade-Completed

[Swampman]

Since we are coming are coming g up on 30 days, I just went through and verified that everyone in this trade has posted something. Good news, everyone has been active in this trade. Some have made more progress than others but all have been posting something.  Nice work everyone.  Keep up the good work and remember, pictures are great!   

[Mo_coon-catcher]

While working on moving stuff. I came across a roughed out black locust. It’s been taken to the floor tiller stage, but still needs a good heat treat and to be strung the first time. It’s set up to be a long(for a bendy handle) marrow bow. Excluding the plethora of knots. This is the style of bow I intended for my guy this year. Maybe ezcept the funky reflex going on in the handle qrea. Would anyone be offended if I went ahead and used this one for the trade? Or would you prefer one freshly shaped out? I had roughed out this one a few years ago for an uncle but ended up going with something different for him.

Kyle

[JWMALONE]

Its been waiting to be a bow long enough, I say bring it to life. Wouldn't offend me, you made it, doesn't matter when you roughed it out.

[Morgan]

Kyle, i can’t imagine why you shouldn’t use that.

[M2A]

I agree. There’s a good bit of character in that piece. It would be cool to see it bending.

[burchett.donald]

Kyle,
        I would love to see that character stave come to full circle...

[hoosierf]

Sinew is curing nicely. I moved her outside for some fresh air. It’s spent the last few weeks in an HVAC duct.

[Swampman]

That's looking real good Hoosier.

[JWMALONE]

Looks good Hoosierf. I chose to just order some hickory backing from pine hollows, at least ill know its good stuff. In the mean time I had to keep the government from spying on this maple bow ive got going so its wrapped in foil. Gonna back it with raw hide, if it survives should be a nice shooting bow. Pic came out blurry for some reason.

[stickbowbeard]

All right, I'm back to work.  Had Lasik done a little over a week ago, so I stayed out of my dusty shop for a while, and then had a busy weekend with scouts and such, but got back to working on my bow a little last night. 

I took another look at my vine maple stave, and noticed a little ring-violating gouge about middle of one of the limbs.  I figured I have two choices.  I can just smooth it down and back the bow with rawhide and continue with the current design, or I can shorten the bow a bit, slide it to the other end of the stave, and make a bendy-handle eastern woodlands design.  I found that the gouge is 59" from the other end of the stave, so I should have plenty of length for plan B.  I was really excited about the design I had drawn on there, but I really like the character of the back of this stave, so I don't really want to cover it up with rawhide, so I drew up the shorter-bow design and will hopefully have a little time this evening to make some wood chips fly and come back with some pictures to post tomorrow.

[M2A]

Hoosierf, did you brace that backwards after adding the sinew? Or did the sinew drying do that?

Going to order some x-ray glasses(if they still sell them from bubble gum wrappers) to see what you got JW 

No pics yet from me but still at it. Been reading everything I can on 5 curve, gull wing designs. Hope to heat treat belly this week then will post some pics before I put a string on it. Got some good ideas to finish it up if I can get it to full draw so looking forward to things. Got a piece of osage in last week just in case. So may tinker with that while elm rehydrates. Mike       

[hoosierf]

I brace it backward to encourage it to start reflexing. After a few days it does it all on its own.  No help form bracing required.

[JWMALONE]

Put some rawhide on that maple, be a couple days for that to dry out so I worked on a all hickory trilam. Took six hours to make a one piece tapered core lam by hand, if that backing pops, I'm opening up a can of whoopass.

[JWMALONE]

The core and belly in that trilam pic are 73 inches long, the back is 66. I will cut of the excess after glue up. Makes it look wrong in the pic, I learned this from some one who makes a lot of these type boys.

[hoosierf]

Well the tips are too thin on my birch so i spliced on some pear reflex tips i cut while pruning a widow friend’s tree. That tree makes some darn fine wine so it will be just fine on this bow. Sinewed over the v splices last night with TBII. I will shape and straighten them tonight and see how my tiller looks. I’m almost ready to shoot her in. In the meantime i have a real nice HHB reflexed stave and a backed Osage stave started because they were next on the project list. Now if something happens i have backup options in the works. As of right now I’m really digging the yellow birch. The profile is identical with the new pear tips. I just hope to keep my early draw weight up.   The birch tips were opening up too much.