yew holmegaard

[radius]

hey guys

i've been doing a buildalong on this bow, but hope ya don't mind i post it here too, for those folks that don't visit the other section...

here's what it started out like:



a big, knotty log


and here's how it looks now


















The essence of a holmegaard design is a  non-bending outer tip that acts like a lever:  it reduces string angle and prevents the stacking effect.   THe knots at the ends of the limbs helped me with that, although each limb LOOKS quite different from the other.  I'd love your input.

Radius

[Keenan]

Nice looking bow Radius, Just a word of caution on those tips. I noticed that the string groves are past the wood part of the limb. This will put full force on the glue joint at full draw and sometimes will cause failure. I had one let go at full draw that was very similar. Next time you might run the wood out longer to give more support.

[GregB]

Very nice! Looks like a lot of work went in to get it to the point you're now at.

[DanaM]

Looks like a nice bow but it doesn't look like a holmegaard How about a front view picture?

Well done eh

[radius]

Thanks guys for the advice and comments. 

Dana, i know it doesn't look like a STANDARD holmegaard, but then it's not a board bow.  Because of the knots at the tips, the tips do not conform to a normal image of what we think a holmie should look like.  But they do thicken and narrow (the key) and so they don't bend.

this was a toughie

[radius]

here are two pics of the front profile





You can see how the tips narrow considerably.

I began the lever-tip action at 11" from the original end of the bow.

[radius]

Keenan:  i can't believe you said that.  I trimmed off the extra wood under the groove because it looked bulky !   With the big knots and the extra wood around them, i was trying to reduce tip mass as much as i could.  You say you've had them let go?

[JustAim]

Well, l said it over at the How-To section and l'll say it again. Great looking bow

[Parnell]

Heya Radius,

I'm really liking how clear it is to see the grain of the wood and how you worked it.  I like the bow's profile and the character.  It's interesting for me to compare the info I've read in TBB2 with what I'm seeing here.  The cross-secton in the book with your original stave outline, in particular.  The more I do this the more I like simple bow finishes.

You create interesting stuff, it's fun to watch what your up to.

Parnell

[radius]

well thanks, Parnell! that's a great compliment.

i looked alot at the "ancient european bows" for this one.  I really wanted to step down the back and leave the sapwood raised, and what i found is that you can shape that final layer of "extra ring" on the bow just by sanding it.  I'm sure it wouldn't change the tiller significantly.  Fortunately for me, most of the yew i got lately has badly checked sapwood.  I am working on a longbow now, with flatbelly, and after that i have a shorter recurve in mind...all heartwood, cuz the sapwood is lame.

What i can't do is handle wraps.  I'm totally at a loss.  If i can't cut in a shelf, i like to shoot off my knuckle.  i'm gonna try wrapping this with some 1/8" cotton rope that i found today...dye it some dark brown or so...but i might just be shooting off a glove...

[Parnell]

Yup, the sideview seeing the sapwood, where it appears to be running down and the knots.  So there isn't one growth ring on the back- just where the bending is happening?

[radius]

well, everyone says with yew you don't have to follow one ring, so although i mainly did that, it's not perfect. 

If you could see the bow in your hands, you could follow the rings as the grow further and further up the limb from the sapwood handle...you would see that the back of the bending limbs is one solid growth ring, mainly... it just has some decorations!

 So i tried to shape the ring above it with sandpaper.  See how she holds up.  The knots are totally solid wood.  They all cracked, the 3 big ones and a small one.  I put CA in there, and good to go.

It doesn't bend perfectly.  This was a real challenge, and two weeks worth of work every night and weekends with handtools.  I didn't wanna botch it!  But i'm pretty happy with it.

[Parnell]

You know, I was very interested in following the thread you came up with and the heavy responses about the sculpting aspect of bow making and it's pursuit.  Did you start out looking for perfection?  I haven't made a bow yet that I've sanded perfectly smooth and taken out all the little things that make the bow...the bow.  I don't know if I want to do that.  I wonder how many people here are looking for perfection in what they make and I wonder who takes the most pleasure from what they've done?
Good stuff, man.   Puff puff, pass.

[radius]

Parnell, i always try to do the best i can at my creations.  And that varies, sometimes my best ain't much.  This bow is special to me, though, for a few reasons.  It's the first bow i've made in a good year.  I brought the wood home from the bush myself (what a chore that was!).  I imagined the flatbow inside the log even as i picked it up for the first time.  Like we talked about in that other thread:  my imagination and the wood started to work together right away.  This is only half the log, there's another bow in there, or two,  i can't remember what it looks like.  To take something from rough to fine like that, through perseverance and art, is very fun for me.  And i do try to make it perfect, but i always blow it.  The inlays are terrible.  The arrow-strike is way oversized.  The runes inlaid in the tips are not exactly the same.  It doesn't bend quite right because of the multitudes of knots.  But man i cannot wait to take a deer with it this season.  I cannot wait!

[majsnuff]

You are a brave soul. Those knotts along the edges of the limbs would make me real nervous. Great job. I admire your skill.