Red Oak Board Bow Cook Off Results

[MWirwicki]

Guy & Chris:

Well, a few of us were tossing around the idea of a MIJAM.  The idea is very appealing to me.  It would take a bunch of work and coordinated efforts.  No one person could pull it off.  I wouldn't mind leading the charge.  Hunting season is near and my sights are set on it, for now.  Maybe come January we'll revisit the idea and recruit some volunteers (Lee, Drums, Watson).  I'll start a new post for that one, though.

[Matt S.]

Matt S. Don't be embarrassed. Speed isn't everything,as I previously stated I shot your bow the most accurately.  Which says a lot in my book. So it obviously was comfortable for us to shoot.

Well, I guess that's some consolation

...you only had 17" of real working limb. .... That's asking a lot for a red oak board IMHO.... If this bow bent further out then your widths would've been fine cus it was a pretty long bow. You also need to make sure you have enough gear (bending limb power) to move long static dead mass levers,and make sure the levers aren't too heavy. Otherwise you negate the positive effects of the enhancing leverage physics. Which I don't think proper gearing for lever bows isn't discussed and understood enough. Heck im just now starting to grasp that now thanks to this contest. I read it before,but now its sinking in.

This part, especially the bolded section, really made me think. This bow was almost identical to a shorter 62" tip-to-tip red oak board bow in design. Similar working limb and slight bend through the handle. The only difference was that the cook off bow had 10" total of more lever. Hmmmm, there might be something about the ratio of working limb to limb lever at play here... You're right, looking back I should have made the inner levers bend just a little bit, it would hve made a huge difference.

So how heavy of an arrow did you shoot thru a chrono with?

The arrows I shot were between 410 and 460 grains. I'm sure the lightest arrow had the best speed but the heaviest wasn't that much different. I don't remember exact details because this was a month ago.

I only had 55" of usable length. So I strung it,put a camcorder in my wifes hand,she pressed play, I drew back,and SNAP. That's what happened to mine....lol

sorry to hear that.

[straightarrow]

Hey guys I just want to say I had blast judging at the burn off. We spent a good deal of time with each bow....some of them I didn't want to put down. There is was one bow in particular that I liked the feel of and would definitely take hunting......Congratulations Lane!!! It just wasn't the speed that did it for me. I love a bow that I can pick up a just start hitting with. I believe the bow had about 2" of set after shooting.....but apparently not cast robbing because it was the quickest shooter....Please don't ask me why....because I have No Idea....lol. The draw was super smooth and I felt very little handshock. I could have shot her all day!!!!

There was something about every bow that I enjoyed.

Josh....Your bow had some real punch and a great tiller

Matt W....Your finish work was superb!! I felt your bow was the most durable for sure.  I think the other guys would agree 100%

Matt S... I really liked your design and the cool tips. Your bow was very smooth to draw and accurate.

MP... I liked your center shot handle....but really liked them tips....Was that Cedar???

Here are a few pics of the testing

Jon

[blackhawk]

Few more pics

[M-P]

Howdy Folks,   I finally found the results here.  My poor ego will never recover.   Well,  already knew I wasn't the best bowyer in the world.   I knew about the chrysals on the upper limb and was concerned, so I shot an extra 100 arrows through it and rechecked it before shipping.   Based on your observations it was obviously failing and is rightfully discarded.
Any thoughts from the rest of the crowd as to why?  The board I had was fairly narrow so I made a longer than usual bow to compensate.  The tiller was not quite perfect.  The upper limb had a minor hinge, but that should not have caused chrysals on the lower limb.  As you noted the bow had a pretty small amount of set and shot close to average in spite of its failing status.
It was all fun any way.  Thanks to the organizers and other participants!   
Jon,  Thanks for the complements on the handle.   I tried to make it easy for a novice to use.  The tip overlays were mountain mahogany ( Cerocarpus betulifolia) that was being pruned on my club's range.
 Ron