My first semi-successful bow

[WhistlingBadger]

Hickory sudbury bow. 
66"NTN
40#@27"

Finished with 3rivers alcohol stain and spar urethane.  Goat leather handle sewn on with artificial sinew.

Hickory 66"NTN 40#@27" by Whistling Badger, on Flickr

Handle Hickory 66"NTN 40#@27" by Whistling Badger, on Flickr

Limb Hickory 66"NTN 40#@27" by Whistling Badger, on Flickr

A few notes: 
I was aiming for 55# @ 27".  Got a little excited with the rasp early on and put a hinge in it; by the time I worked that out it was 40#.  Still shoots pretty well, but I can't use it for big game.

I heat-treated the belly until it was brown.  Didn't see any difference in draw weight or performance, so not sure I did it right.  Probably won't bother with the next one.

I'm not totally thrilled with the tiller, but since it won't ever be what I want anyway, I decided to just finish it up and get on to other projects.  There's a bit of limb twist, but probably not enough to stress over.

I like the way the stain turned out.  Gave the back a very light once-over with fine sand paper to clear the high spots and let the hickory show off its muscles.  Not a huge fan of the spar varnish.  It's too shiny and artificial-looking for a selfbow, to my taste.  Will do the next one with bear grease and pine pitch.

Looking forward to hearing what the experts think.
Thomas

Edit:  Timbo, this is your stave!  It did good! 

[Morgan]

Thomas, I’d say that is a fully successful first bow, even if you missed the target weight. One of the successes is that you recognized why you missed it which will make that mistake less likely in the future. Congratulations on that shooter.

[PatM]

Looks pretty good.  Did you reflex it at all when heat treating it?     You can knock the gloss off a varnish finish  with pumice or a fine synthetic abrasive pad.

[WhistlingBadger]

Looks pretty good.  Did you reflex it at all when heat treating it?     You can knock the gloss off a varnish finish  with pumice or a fine synthetic abrasive pad.

No, I didn't put any reflex in it.  Meant to, but somehow it didn't happen.  It actually has taken about a 1 1/2" set.  Not sure where that bit of handle setback came from; it had that before I heat treated.  I knocked most of the gloss off with fine steel wool, but I still like the look of grease/pitch better. 

Thanks, Morgan!  It was a huge learning experience.  Looking forward to getting going on the next one.

[bradsmith2010]

looks great congrats,,

[RyanY]

Love the look of that back. I don’t think you need to add “semi” to describe this one. It is definitely a success!

[Will B]

Nice job on that hickory bow. Congratulations on your first bow

[bjrogg]

Looking good from here WB. I like the full draw.
Bjrogg

[PaSteve]

Definitely a successful bow. Great job!

[willie]

cool bow!  don't think you need semi in the title either.   If i remember correctly, the original was estimated to be closer to your finished weight. Not sure you could have gotten 55 without huge set or breakage.   Tillering a slightly bendy handle has it's own challenges too.

[bentstick54]

Looks good to me. Congrats

[Kidder]

Nothing semi about that - very impressive regardless of what number bow you’re on. You’ve done a great job on the tiller and chasing away the hinge demons!

[Hawkdancer]

Great job on a first bow!  If it shoots and doesn't explode it is a success!  I don't know if there is a draw weight minimum in Wyomng, but I think a well placed arrow from a 40# bow will bring down an elk.  Bear might be another ball game, but I don't hunt bear!  You should put that one in the "newbie challenge" and bow of the month!  Congratulations!
Hawkdancer

[M2A]

Looks Real good! Congrats! Nice work with the stain.
Mike

[Del the cat]

Good job
Missing target weight by that much is no big deal, you'll soon hone your technique... or learn to cheat by leaving an inch or so extra at each end than can be cut off if you need a few extra pounds 
Del