Maple Padauk Jatoba Trilam

[Halfbow]

This bow was a bit of an adventure to make. Originally it was just going to be a maple backed padauk, but the padauk developed a big crack during tillering. So I thinned it down and added a belly lam of jatoba. The grain on the maple is pretty bad, so I was also going to play around with a silk cable backing and see if that would help it survive. But it ended up not needing the cable after all.

It has about .5" of string follow, down from 1" of reflex after gluing the jatoba.

Most of the limb is pyramid style, with narrower tips for the last 6".

66" ntn. 58lbs@28"











The handle looks harsh, but it's actually one of the most comfortable handles I've used.



You can see the bad grain.







Katalox tip overlays.



The jatoba belly doesn't go all the way to the ends.



The belly lams faded in to the handle, but after awhile I noticed the glue lines were starting to fail there, and the belly lams were trying to ride up the fades. I cut the ends off of them and inserted a block of katalox to give them something to run in to. That seems to have worked like a charm.









Thanks for taking a look!

[simk]

your craftsmanship makes me turn pale and humble     

great bow

is the.maple bscking just sawn from a board?

cheers

[bjrogg]

Very nice bend. Nice bow good work
Bjrogg

[leonwood]

Nice bend and looks pretty with all the contrasting colours! I would advise you to round the edges of the maple back a little more, especially because of the grain runoff. That reduces the chance of lifting a splinter there

[Bayou Ben]

Nice! that sure is a pretty bow.  Your fit an finish skills are top notch.
I've tried maple like that on a couple bows and they both ended up failing, but hopefully you have better luck.

[upstatenybowyer]

Nice bend and very clean finish work. Congrats!

[BowEd]

Very well made clean lines to your glue up with the contrasting colors also on a laminated bow.Nice tiller on the bend too.Hope the backing holds up for ya.You got enough length.Sharp edges for me just get dinged up though.

[ohma2]

Nice glue lines on that,like the colors.

[DC]

Beautiful job, you do awesome work. And aside from all the prettiness it has a very nice bend. Well done.

[Halfbow]

Thank you for the kind words everyone!

is the.maple bscking just sawn from a board?

Yep, it's a board bow. Flatsawn maple.

Nice bend and looks pretty with all the contrasting colours! I would advise you to round the edges of the maple back a little more, especially because of the grain runoff. That reduces the chance of lifting a splinter there

Yeah that padauk is a beautiful wood. Especially in person, it has a beautiful holographic luster. But it's not a color combo I'm keen to recreate. The oily bright red sawdust from the padauk would get everywhere and quickly dye the maple pink. During finishing it was a real struggle to keep the maple clean and white. And as soon as I'd get one part white, everywhere else my hands had touched would be pink. Had to just wash my hands a lot and try to sand the maple separately without touching the padauk. During the process I kept telling myself, never again. XD

Thanks, I will certainly take your advice and round the corners more next time.

[Drewster]

Interesting bow and a fine tiller.  I like the contrast of all the woods.  Sweet!

[Sidewinder]

I really like the Pyramidish / Holmie hybrid. Hopefully it shoots as good as it looks. If so you got a hit on that one.

[Knoll]

Lotsa well executed craftsmanship in that one. Congrats!

I just completed maple self bow with that front profile and agree with your positive comment. Definitely gonna do more with that profile.

[Badger]

   You did a really nice job on that bow. I have found jatoba to be one of the fastest woods ( low hysteresis) that I have ever worked with but I have had so many problems with it developing chrysals that I quite working with it. Hard to beat when everything works out.

[backtowood B2W]

Congrats to that great looking bow. The handle looks really great, if it's fine some sharp edges really show the design. But at the back, I'm with leonwood, they are to sharp for my taste. Have you ever tried one without arrow shelf? Lately I make them all without, it's no need for me at all!