Hey yall. As probably everyone here knows, you win some, you loose some. This was something of a 'fixer upper' bow that I made from a Black Walnut log that I hacked into pretty hard with a hatchet over most of its length (long story), so I tried to chase a few rings and get a clean back on the bow. Unfortunately I couldn't really see the rings that well and I did get one side pretty perfect but the lower limb had a few nicks across the grain (this is bad). I continued on anyway doing my best to sand out any imperfections, getting the tiller as best I could and polishing the back. I shot it a few dozen times yesterday with no worries. Then today I put some linseed oil on it and it was beautiful.
However, as I was drawing for a F/D pic, the back couldn't take the stress anymore and it blew.
I had all of those feelings in about a second and then I was just okay with it. Its not the first bow I've broken and it won't be the last. Cussing and pouting won't put my bow back together. So, I went inside, put the pieces in the corner, and grabbed a new hickory stave with a clean back.
Anyway, This bow was gorgeous before it broke, here are some pics. The Pics are a little big but if you go to 'View' in your tool bar and turn the zoom down to 75% you can see the full picture. Then just change it back when you are done.
And the break...
Its pretty dissapointing putting 40+ hours into a piece of what is now just firewood. But, hey, if it was the easy path, than everyone would take it. I know the broad path isn't for me so I'll endure and keep on making. Stay tuned, there'll be a hickory short bow up in a week or so.
