Tzalam wood, Longbow / Flatbow, Self Bow, Mexican Hardwood. Questions???

[Capt]

Hi everyone, just made myself a bow, first attempt at a self Bow and had to use locally available wood. I managed to find a nice cut off from a trunk that made a good looking Stave... The Wood is named Tzalam and I'd really like to get some info on how good a pro-bowyer thinks it would hold up for a longbow....that's if anyone has even heard if it? I managed to get a good 55#@28" after tillering.. Any info or feedback would be much appreciated... Bests

[Badger]

   It appears to be a good wood, if it did not chrysal or take set with the heavy bending area you have I would like to give it a try some time.

[rossfactor]

I'm no pro.... but here are some thoughts:

Interesting bow, and very pretty wood.  Whats it backed with?  It does not seem like the limbs are bending past the inner 1/3 hardly at all.  This is likely going to produce a lot of set (especially because inner limb set causes the most string follow). How does the bow shoot?  Can we a see a picture of the unbraced profile?

Since this is finished I would suggest making another bow, unbacked, and getting the mid and out limbs bending more evenly with the inner limb.

Nice finish work by the way,

Gabe

[Capt]

Is really not finished i have just tapered the sides of the limbs from the inner 3rd portion to the tips (along the edges / sides of limbs and want to tiller them down to get more flex in the outer portions...

Before doing this and after shooting about a hundred arrows i heard a light cracking noise at the over stressed points on the inner limbs and noticed a slight crack and lifting of a splinter..

My thinking is to reduce stress at this point by tapering the edges of the limbs and re-tillering to get more flex in the outer limbs... and then with the bow sat on the tillering stick just enough to open the crack fill the crack with super glue then cover the section with a dacron and wood glue wrap.

Im also using a mexican glue i believe to be similar to recommended american equivalents... its called Resistol 850

Any thoughts? Any comments, criticism or advice much appreciated, i'm on a hell of a learning curve and appreciate any input....

Bests,

Capt. Bob

[rossfactor]

Hey, making bows isn't a walk in the park... and there are a lot of good things about this bow, so don't beat yourself up. 

I'd remove wood (SLOWLY) in the outer 2/3 of the limbs to get them bending more evenly. By the time they are, your bow will probably have dropped at least 10#, maybe more. 

I wouldn't worry about "tapering the edges," other than making sure they are rounded, until you reduce the outter limb thickness.

Next time, when you are tillering, I would suggest that you don't bend the bow any farther when you notice uneven stress across the limbs, and that you definitely don't shoot the bow until you think the tiller is perfect as can you can make it.

Keep plugging away, you obviously have some good wood working skills, and by making more bows you'll improve quickly as a bowyer.

gabe

[toomanyknots]

If that bows not finished or stained in any way, than that is a pretty wood.

[Capt]

It has no Finnish only on the backing

If you class this as Finnish this it what I have done:

I removed all tool / rasp marks with a metal file and sanded with 180, then 220, then 400 and wiped it down with virgin coconut oil....

[Capt]

Update !!

Ok, So i tapered the limbs and did a superglue in the crack, clamp and Dacron wrap repair at the spots where the limbs were hinging..... Then i re tillered the bow to flex more evenly across the limbs....

Result:-

The repairs seem to hold up nicely...Ok, so i lost a few pounds in the process it is now 46# @ 27-28  but wow it fires so much smoothly... it draws nicer.. the release is way, way quieter and honestly i can notice no difference in power it seems to hit just as hard..

Alls left now is to add some finishing touches... i want to re finnish the back and paint the wraps a kind of stony brown and i think i'm done?

Somebody asked for a profile of the Bow Unbraced so i have included a photo also of the repair and the bow at full draw so you can see the difference in tillering...

Please if you have any feedback don't hesitate to reply... all comments much appreciated

Bests to All..

Capt. Bob

[Capt]

Re finishing repairs and tips today with some textured stone effect type paint... I'll post the outcome

[toomanyknots]

It has no Finnish only on the backing

If you class this as Finnish this it what I have done:

I removed all tool / rasp marks with a metal file and sanded with 180, then 220, then 400 and wiped it down with virgin coconut oil....

Oh, that makes sense, it was probably the oil. Like others have said, my only advice is to get the whole limb bending evenly, as in your new picture it still is only bending in one concentrated spot, but still not a bad job at all, . Can't wait to see the next one,  . Really probably is some good wood you got there, to not outright break or crush with that tiller. I wouldn't hesitate to harvest some more if I was you,  .

[mullet]

Very nice looking bow and an interesting wood. If you want to improve the performance, get rid of a lot of excess wood past the nocks. And then where your cut in shelf is, file away that ridge between your grip and the shelf. It will help your accuracy the closer you get your hand to the arrow, and, it will look nicer . Square lines on wood bows suck.

[Capt]

My funny new way of checking tiller cure.....

Take profile photo sat at full draw on tillering stick.

Open photo on iPad and overlay a roll of masking tape..

Then take photo of bow on iPad with iPhone and load it up to Trad Archer for constructive criticism...

Bests to all next pics should be the finished product ...?.   

[Capt]

Would there be any advantage to recurring the tips on this bow?