I just wanted to say hello and introduce my self and the my first successful bow.
My family (wife, daughter and I) are new to archery. We all picked up a bow for the first time in the early part of the month and have been going to the range twice a week since. after tooling around on forums, watching youtube videos, and reading build alongs, I decided to try making my first bow, with the intention of making or breaking it before all 4 of my TBB books arived, that way I could have a little practical experience behind me before I started with the books. The first bow was made from red oak backed with a couple layers of linen cloth. It took me nearly 12 hours over 3 days and came out nice, however, I carelessly tryed to bend it over, due to the light weight, and ended breaking the top limp off 8" for the tip. Did I mention that the bow was 10lbs at 17" and 51"ntn for my 5yo daughter?
well, I got the books in the mail the next day and started reading. Through the first, then a couple chapters into the second book, I figured out some things and started again. This time I used a stick of Merbau and backed it with three layers of linen, soaked in tightbond II. This one took me between 6 and 8 hours and came out nice, I think, for my first successful bow. It's a bit more "modern" than what really interests me, but I made it for my daughter to learn on, and wanted to take some inconsistancey out so she can work more on having fun, and less on fumbling arrows off her hand.
here it is:
