Eastern woodlands inspired hickory bow

[ksnow]

Hi all.  Recently put the finishing touches on a hickory flatbow, inspired by several woodlands bows I have seen in books.  It was made from a 4/4 rough sawn hickory board, about half sapwood and half heartwood.  Finished it pulls 53# at my 26" draw length.  It shoots very nice, I am really starting to like the simplicity of the eastern woodlands bows.  I see many more of them in my future.  Thanks for all the tips in signing bows, it really came in handy.

Kyle

[Trapper Rob]

Looks nice like the way the sap wood & the heart wood look.
Rob

[lesken2011]

Nice job. What did you finally decide on to sign it with?

My eyes could be playing tricks on me, but it looks a little stiff coming out of the handle.

[ksnow]

I used a different style sharpie, apparently not all sharpie's are equal.  May be a bit stiff out of the fades, though there are no fades, just a slight narrowing for the middle 4" for a handle.  I always seem to start with the bow bending more right at the fades, and have to work the rest of the limb.  So, maybe I am ending up with stiff fades out of fear of overworking them in the beginning stages.

Kyle

[blackhawk]

The fades is just a term used as the area directly above and below the handle so we can specify a certain area in the limbs...and yes lesken is right....next time distribute your bend better up near the handle and out near the tips....all your bending is in a 10" area in the mid limbs...almost hinged to some....but congrats on getting a shooter

[Adam]

That looks really good.  What is your string made out of?

[ksnow]

The string is b-50, have yet to try a primitive one.  I did fond some heavy linene thread, but after doing break tests I would have needed a string about 1/4" thick.  If I am home enough this fall/winter I hope to find and collect dogane, and I am definitely going to try a squirrel rawhide string.

Kyle

[robby]

A nice simple, clean, hickory bow. I like it a lot!!!! nice job!
Robby

[IsaacW]

Way to go Kyle!  Looks like a shooter.

[JeremiahVires]

Is it just me or does it seem that there's a slight hinge in the upper part of the top limb at full draw?