tri-lam warbow

[fisher2]

so somebody contacted me with a warbow that the tiller is great on and the price is great but i have one issue i want opinion on the woods are
white hickory back argentine osage core, and douglas fir(he says dense old growth) belly...im not sure about the fir do y'all think it will hold up?

[adb]

Sounded good until you got to the fir part. I've never heard of fir being used as belly wood for a warbow. I'm not aware that  it's strong in compression. If I was going to make a fir bow, it would be wide and flat. Got any pics of this bow? Full draw pics?

[Newindian]

Have you seen the bow in person? Hopefully the price is right for a fir bow. Any pics

[fisher2]

i have not seen the bow in person nor have i drawn it, he did show me a pic of a 31" draw on it though

[adb]

Care to show us the picture?

[fisher2]

here it is, on second look it looks like left limb is a tad stiff that might be me though this is an 80" bow if it helps

[adb]

Nice tiller. If that's fir on the belly, it's really dark. Maybe it'll hold up. At 80", it's got enough length. If the left limb is bottom, it's good. What's the draw weight? It doesn't look like that pic is a full draw either... maybe 28" would be my guess.

[fisher2]

he says 140#at 28 or 170# at 32" i believe

let me ask you adb what do you think i should pay for it?

[adb]

170#@32"  . Not bloody likely!! I'd need to see a full draw pic with an inline scale to believe that!! And gaining 30# in 4" of draw??? Again, not bloody likely. Judging by this, I wouldn't pay a thin dime for it.
Don't get me wrong, it's a nice looking bow. The tiller is very nice. But, I don't believe the draw weight claim with those materials. If I was going to part with my hard earned doe, I'd want a warranty and pics to prove his claims.

170#@32" is big weight. That's world class stuff. Who's gonna shoot that bow anyway? If it was ipe, yew, or osage on the belly I might believe it, and that's a big might!

[fisher2]

well i'd likely only shoot it from normal target shooting style not the warbow distance shooting so 27" i will ask for a scale pic though

[WillS]

Just a thought - do you need a 170# bow for target shooting?  There's that video you posted where you're struggling like hell to pull a 122# bow 28 inches. 

It would be a hell of a feat to go from not being able to draw a 122# bow to being able to comfortably target shoot (which requires total control and accuracy...) a 140# bow.

Either way, if you really feel like you can master it, I wouldn't lay a single penny down until you've gone and seen the bow being drawn on a scale.  Anybody can lie and say a bow is heavier than it isn't. 

[fisher2]

i put that bow on a scale the guy was lieing it actually scales 130# it maxed my 100# scale at a tad under 23" so i put it on a bigger scale and got 130-135#@28 but yes this will be a work in process

[fisher2]

i am making progress on it though! still alot of work left to do i figure another 2 months before i can say i can shoot 130#

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q57TOhTAYbg

[WillS]

Good stuff! Very impressive.  Personally, if I were you in this situation, I'd leave that tri-lam for somebody else.  At the moment, you won't be able to shoot it comfortably, and by the time you've worked up to that draw weight (if you ever do! A lot of people get to a point and just can't push past it.  There's no way of knowing where that line is until you hit it!) you might find a better bow, that isn't made of a slightly unknown belly wood. 

At the draw weight you're talking about, buying a bow without shooting it first seems crazy.  It might be able to make 140# on a tiller, but there's no knowing if it's a huge sluggish beast or quick and worth the effort of training for it.  By the time you're ready, you might be able to find a warbow (or have one made for you) with a quality belly wood that is tried and tested.

Or make your own

[fisher2]

is there any well known bowyers on this side of the pond for warbows?im in the usa