My Fourth bow(success in failure)

[hedgeapple]

I wanted a lighter weight bow to stay in shape and work on my form.  Something in the 40 to 45# range.  And, I want to try a cut in arrow shelf bow because I was thinking of making a bow for a friend. A couple months ago I ventured through the lumber section of a national store, not really looking for bow wood just looking.  I found this perfect grain red oak board for like $6.79.

The tiller could be a bit better.  I learned a bunch from this attempt. I still need to finish the tips and handle.  It 64" nts. 43# at 26 1/2 draw length. It has 1 13/16 set on the upper limb and 1 5/8 on the lower.  All in all I'm happy with her. She shoot quiet, no hand shock and true.

I'll post more pics when I finish her out.



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[Almostpighunter]

Really nice bow! Way to go!

[Pappy]

Nice job.
    Pappy

[hedgeapple]

Thanks Pighunter and Pappy.
I really driess up for the photo, also.  haha

[gmc]

The tiller looks great to me, you've done a really nice job on that bow. I got to see it in its roughed out fashion a few days ago. This makes me miss my board bow endeavors early on, it was a lot of fun. Can't wait to see the finished product.

Yes, you really know how to dress up for a photo, I'd throw that crooked pair a scissors away. 

[half eye]

Nice bow, maybe some more pics when ya get the handle done. It's obvious your are well on your way to getting that tillering thing down pat.
Rich

[hedgeapple]

Thanks Greg and Rich for you kind words. 

I will post more pics as soon as I complete the finish work on it.

[islandpiper]

I'd throw that crooked pair a scissors away. 

Hey, wait a minute.   He's been scraping bows with that scissors!!   

Yes, looks pretty good but the upper limb has a sort of soft spot.   I'd probably lighten up the hard spots and just have a lighter bow that would survive longer.  Lots of good bows on the lumber rack at Lowes, just looking for homes. 

piper

[George Tsoukalas]

Very nice work. Jawge

[n2everythg]

There is nothing more satisfying than a 6$ bow!... that you can make meat with....
Nice job.
wade

[tdog]

"The tiller could be a bit better." 

I don't know how, tiller looks great to me. Nice when you can to to the hardware store and find a bow

[Josh]

Great bow and nice tiller man!   

[hedgeapple]

islandpiper, yes was scraping that bow with siccors.  And the red oak was tough on them.  They'd have to be run through the sharpener about every 20 strokes.

tdog and N2, it is kind of nice to stop by lowes for some sandpaper and TBIII and come home with a bow to boot. Now if they only carried hickory boards.

Thanks Josh and Jawge

[karrow]

great bow i love the handle good choice on the draw weight

[hedgeapple]

I see post on here all the time of bows being started, then I never see the finished bow.  Maybe they just got put back on the rack, maybe I missed the finished post or maybe they just didn't make to bow statist and the builder didn't post anything about them any more.  Well I find I learn more from my failures than I do my successes.  Maybe some of you can learn from my mistakes, also.  So here you go. 

Islandpiper was correct, there were some stiff spots in the limbs.  And the bow was bending too much right out of the fades.  I knew this.  In what little past I've had with shootable bows, getting them bending out of the fade was an issue.  But, these were with staves not boards.  So, I work on getting the limbs bending at the fades, but unfortunately I could not catch up the rest of the limbs before I would fall under my target weight, It seems.  On the tiller at 20" pulling 40# I thought I could correct the problems in the next 6 inches.  Lesson learned, board give up quicker than staves.  Even with the tillering problems that I saw, I opted to stay at 43# instead of dropping to maybe 30# to correct the issues.  I thought the bow might have a short life span, but I just wanted a target bow to work on my form and keep my muscles somewhat toned while I worked on another bow for deer season or if all else failed, I would fall back on my 58# hickory bow.  So if I had a bow that tax my strength a bit and still shot where I aimed and last 3 months, I'd be happy.  This bow accomplished the first 2 of the 3 goals.

Shooting it to today in the sunlight I noticed crystals on both limbs at the fades and a splinter raising from the edge of the back of the top limb.

I was sad that this bow wasn't going to give me what I asked for.  But after an hour or so of pondering the situation I realize it gave more than I asked.  More knowledge, more patience, and hopefully a little more skill for the next one.  Sure I don't have a lighter weight target bow I can shoot tomorrow, but I bet I will have in the next few weeks. 

So join me in saluting a successful, unsuccessful bow build.


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