S2NR: Second attempt at saskatoon (serviceberry) D bow

[zenmonkeyman]

68.5" N2N, 54# @ 30".  But, THIS time, I took a full draw pic with an arrow, and was surprised how much arrow was left over.  I realize now that I'm only really drawing 28", which makes me both sheepish about being so wrong about 30", but also excited that I can try for shorter bows.  Backed with rawhide, antler shelf and tips, cork handle with parachute cord wrap.  Dyed black with Sheaffer nib pen ink, then decorated with acrylic artist paint.  Not the fastest shooting machine sadly, but I had a skinny tree to work with at about 1" thick.  So we're talking high crown and thick cross section.


Believe it or not, this is still about the straightest stave I have yet found.




My little bit of tip-flipping just about entirely disappeared.  The big deflex kink just above the handle was a challenge.  It really wanted to bend and take set there, even though it was left almost completely round.  I heat-treated the spot quite thoroughly and managed to reverse a bit of the set.




Wouldn't recommend the knotted handle wrap I did, but on the plus side it encouraged me to slim up the tips to eliminate the hand shock.

[Josh]

Dude... Nice bow!  I love sapling bows... always have some great character.  Got it Saved for the BOM contest for August too. 

[Barrage]

Did well on that one.  Nice job Zen. 

[Stoker]

Cool bow..Like the artwork on it
Thanks Leroy

[zenmonkeyman]

Thanks guys!

[loefflerchuck]

 Wow! That is a cool finished product! I just finished my first serviceberry bow too. It has nice snakey grain but not as cool as this. I heard serviceberry does not handle compression so I left it unbacked, but apon reaching full draw it lifted a splinter, so I backed it with thin sinew and rawhide wrap.
 I like your finish work

[zenmonkeyman]

I hadn't heard about SB being weak in compression.  My own tillering skills are "somewhat" lacking, and even so haven't had a problem.  I DID have a few lateral pin knots to deal with, and there are two thick rawhide belly patches; one of which does double duty in building up the handle.  Hopefully this fall I'll have enough sinew supply to back a chokecherry bow; I'll be picking your brain!

[Del the cat]

Nice tiller from such a wacky stave.
Looks real cool in that darl finish (I don't normally like much finish on a bow, so that's a BIG complement...in fact so big, I need to go and lie down for a while).
Nyah nyah nyah nayh nyah... we tol' you, you wuzzn't drawing 39"
Del (in a daft mood)

[zenmonkeyman]

Thanks guys!  I am at a loss as to where the 2" went.  I measured my draw with a yardstick as "arrow" but no bow.  I was careful to crook my left arm generously and not overdraw or stand too square...  My best guess is that with a real bow, my shoulder blades are pinched closer together?  I dunno.

[Stoker]

Thad'll do it 
Thanks Leroy

[George Tsoukalas]

Excellent work. That is a great tiller! Jawge

[Frode]

Nicely done, zen!  A most excellent work.
Frode

[Pappy]

Beautiful bow,I love the color and finish work, It suprises most people when they really check what they draw,everyone tells me when I ask 28/29 but in reality most I measure are usually 25 to 27.
Very nice job on a challenging piece of wood. Tiller looks dead on.
   Pappy

[zenmonkeyman]

Wow!  Some high-level tiller endorsements there, you guys are making my day!  Thanks!  Now that I have a revised draw length, I'll have to figure out a new optimum spine for shorter arrows, although I need to put heavier tips on for hunting, so maybe the two adjustments will cancel each other out.  I gotta get cracking, not much time left before hunting season starts.

[walkabout]

very cool bow, finish is well thought out.