Shawnee style bow (not for bom) Wildmans 3 ready for the mail....

[half eye]

Workin on a trade with Wildman, here is my first attempt at a Shawnee style bow. It's 55" ntn, 54# @ 28, and will draw to 29". The bow is Hickory with a red elm belly lamination (wasn't supposed to be that way). The Hickory had about 7/8" of natural defelex and I did not straighten that.....just left it. It took 1" of set from my tillering, which normally I dont mind but combined it's too much.

The bow is 1-1/8" wide at the grip and tapers slightly to the tips. I tillered the bow out and then cut the sides to the pattern which dropped the draw weight from 50# to 38#.....so it got the red elm belly lamination which jumped it up to 60# then tillered back down to 54# @ 28".

Anyway here's the bow, the first pic is the museum bow I based it on. It's from the Canadian Muesum (Musee McCord) and is attributed to Tecumseh. I just used the plan view because it was supposedly Shawnee and looked pretty cool to boot. Later today I'm gonna build the real deal for the trade and make sure it comes out with an acceptable amount of set....say 1 to 1-1/2 inches or so. hope ya like the pics.

Hopefully Wildman wont get tired of waitin on the old man.
rich

[LEGIONNAIRE]

Thankyou for sharing this. I admire your work, especially because its native american focused. Very nice. On these narrow pieces How do you go about keeping your set at the lowest?

Cesar

[half eye]

Legionnaire,
      I found that for low set and full circle bows I usually make about 4 to 6 inches of the center of the bow the thickest part and then "slow taper" the belly to the tips. The NA bows that are tapered in plan view (like a pryamid) appear to be the same thickness but actually when you sand the backs and bellies they take a slight thickness taper. I guess because if the pressure is constant then the narrower portions get thinner than the wide sections. The bows with side carving and "waisted" grips I leave just a smidge thicker yet to compensate. The bow just sort of comes out to be a circle that way, if you make it the exact same thickness throughout it's real easy to get too much bend in the middle. JMO
rich

[gstoneberg]

Nice!  I need to make one of these to shoot when hog hunting out ground blinds.  Thanks for posting it.

George

[osage outlaw]

Nice bow.  I really like that tiller.  I just started on my first native american inspired bow.

[Cacatch]

Crap, Rich! You just don't stop, sir!  Do you think this would be a good style of bow to try in White Ash? I have some and am thinking of what to make with it.

-CP (Albert)

[Pat B]

Very cool bow Rick. You sure do have those northern Native bows down pat.

[okiecountryboy]

Rich
Great to see another work of art from you.
She is a real beauty for sure!
Curious though...How do you keep that style of working limb from splintering, ie, the way the wood is cut in with that almost layered look.
A HOW-TO on this one would be outstanding!
Once again, beautiful weapon as usual!

Ron

[tattoo dave]

 That's awesome Rich!!! Hey I see you're from Michigan, me too, just a little north of grand rapids. I would love to see some of those awesome bows in person. I'm still somewhat new to bow building, thanks for all the inspiration.

[Hrothgar]

Very nice Rich. You continue to amaze and inspire!

[half eye]

Thank you for the nice words....

Cacatch, Got to believe that ash would make a really good one....also forgot to mention that the museum bow is 63" long    (158.5cm) mine is way shorter.

Okie, This was my first Hickory bow, and think most of the guys "trap" the backs....so that is what I did, then cut the sides, then took off the lines from trapping.......the back looks like a "low-crown" stave in cross section.

Tattoo, Ya we are about 30 miles north of Traverse City. Glad to see any of ya fellas, anytime. Small reward for not having to go to work no more.

Again, thanks fellas.....means alot commin from fellow bow-builders.
rich

[Del the cat]

Excellent work as always. You guys have a really interesting and varied heritage of bows to work from.
Great to see your bows.
Del

[toomanyknots]

Your a beast. Tiller looks very fast.

[bubby]

another cool shorty Rich, awsome bow, Bub

[wildman]

OH YEAH  Now I'm like a kid before christmas. I am in lust