Hickory Brothers

[straightarrow]

Just finished up a pair of Shagbark hickory bows. I named the bows brothers because I got two bows out of one stave and I am going to give My friend one. He has been a friend since I were 4 yrs old.  I'm going to give it to him tommorrow (his choice) and I can't wait........he has no idea. He is a great hunter and is a compound shooter. I know if I give this bow he will shoot it and probably hunt with it. They both measure 64" long and one is 48@28 and the other is 55@28. They are a 1 3/4" at the fades and I dropped it a 1/16 every 4" until I got to the last 6 inches or so and went straight down to 1/2" tips. If I had to do it again I think I would have kept a consistant measurement for at least 2/3 of limb this would have allowed me to get the limbs a little thinner with less string follow. (comments please) At first I didn't think I would be able to make a bow from the stave because of a severe propellar twist. I took the green staves down to floor tiller and clamped it to a board for a few weeks to get the twist out. After 3 weeks or so I heat treated the belly on one and left the other alone. I left them clamped for another week before I started to tiller. The heat treated bow had no twist and the one that I didn't treat the propellar came back. I figured it would be a good experiment. Also the untreated one took a little more string follow. I later read on a site that some guys treat hickory several times......I'll put that in my memory bank. Overall I was pretty happy with the turn out. I used teak wood on the tips and dyed a piece of buck for the grip. I glued leather together for the rest. I put three coats of spar urethane because I read how hickory likes to take on moisture. I went and shot them both about a 100 times to make sure everything was okay before i give him one. They shoot great. Also made him some matching sticks and arm guard.

After three breaks.......I'm five in a row........cross my fingers....LOl

Gonna take more pics tomorrow when i give it to him

Jon



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[venisonburger]

Really nice looking bows, your friend is lucky.
VB

[youngbowyer33]

now i wanna give my friend a bow 

[George Tsoukalas]

Very nice bows. Congratulations! Jawge

[Dad]

Very Nice!  I am sure your friend will cherish it.

[woodstick]

saweeeet. that is very nice twins ya got there.

[Sweet Potato]

Bows arrows leather are all beautifully done.

Sam

[Josh]

Those are some nice bows... grips, tips, tiller and finish work are all top notch.  Your friend is gonna be a very happy camper when he receives his bow!   

[JW_Halverson]

No fair making a double entry for the Bow of the Month!!!

Sweet work, man, sweet work.

[vordigan]

i have to say very nice bows i currently have some shagbark hickory seasoning and i hope i will be able to make some bows that nice. once again very nice bows

[straightarrow]

Thank you guys for the compliments!!!  I am so pumped up to give it to him. The armguard was a first for me and I don't think i will ever buy one again.........Cost me $2.50 to make and about two hours to put together. Well worth the time. I didn't want to give him a bow and then force him to spend money on a glove and armguard. Its not like you can just run out and buy that stuff at least not around here.....I found out that the shagbark is really easy to work with when its green. I got very close to my layout with just a drawknife. A big difference after doing two osage bows, that stuff will make a man out of ya.....lol. I will post pics of the unveiling. He thinks I coming over just to help him till his garden.......

Jon

[Pappy]

Very nice pair,he should love that. Nice finish work,look great.
   Pappy

[DanaM]

Well done your friend should be happy with it

[Dean Marlow]

Those are really nice bows. Your friend will be all smiles. Hickory is a wonderful bow wood.

[AndrewS]

A pair of nice bows. I like the armguard, too!