White oak backed ipe - string question

[kevinsmith5]

This is my latest creation. A 76" (nock to nock) ELB ipe belly and 1/8" white oak back. It's 1.5" at the handle (for 4" on each side of center) and tapers to 1/2" tips. Obeys the 5/8 rule the length of the bow. Nock overlays are ipe and its grooved for a simple stringer. Right now I'm shooting it with 93-95 lb spine ipe arrows I actually made for a modern recurve but I am working on some self nocked poplar arrows. It pulls 110 at 26" (that's as high as my scale goes) and I'm pulling it 30" (on the occasions I've actually brought it to full draw). Right now I'm doing as much work on the archer as I am on the bow, 45 minutes of shooting and I'm WHOOPED even when I'm not brining it to full draw most of the time. 

[Cameroo]

Looks good.  Do you have any info about it's performance? What kind of cast are you getting from it, and how heavy are your arrows? What does the bow weigh?

I'd love to see some full draw pics, and some arrow pictures would be nice too (I've never seen ipe used for arrow shafts before)!

I have some white oak backed ipe boards glued up right now, so I'm very interested in how it performs as a war bow, because I haven't committed to any particular style of bow for them yet.

[Dag]

Looks like a beauty!  Man it must be beast at 1.5" width at the handle!  I know you can get a higher poundage warbow from Ipe with a handle width of just 1".  Props to you on drawing that man!

I love war arrows just as much as bow.  What are the specs on them if you don't mind?  Wood type? Diam? Tapered or non? Fletchings? Heads?

[kevinsmith5]

It is 1.5" at the handle exactly. I haven't chronographed it but it shoots those 800 gr ipe arrows 235 yards from a full draw (I don't do the "fling" move) at 45 degrees. I'll have to get someone to take full draw pics.
As for the arrows - I cut them from an ipe board and used a Veritas dowel maker to round them. Then I sanded and crested. They're not technically warbow arrows as they aren't self nocked. I actually made that set for a recurve but since they spine at 93-95lbs it's what I've been testing this bow with until I get another set done.

[Dag]

Wow! Those sound pretty awesome.  Never heard of anyone making Ipe arrows before   I've been curious myself about making arrows from Tigerwood (Goncalo Alves).

Anyways, great looking bow and sounds like it is performing quite well!

[kevinsmith5]

These are the raw shafts and the finished arrows.

[kevinsmith5]

Tip on the bow

[Cameroo]

Sounds like you are getting pretty good cast from that bow! I always wondered if the high density of ipe would add too much weight to the outer limbs of a heavier warbow, and therefore reduce cast, but it doesn't seem to be a problem with yours.

[kevinsmith5]

I spent a lot of time thinning the tips with a bow scraper. This is actually my second attempt at this combo, I had the first one shooting very fast with 3/8" tips and thought I was ready to polyurethane it when the top tip snapped off.  Won't be my last bow if this combo though.

[kevinsmith5]

So I'm having a heck of a time keeping the brace height consistent with my 20 strand B-55 string. Start at 5-1/2" and after five shots its down to 5". Unstrung, two twists, string, back to 5-1/2". Ten shots, 5" brace again. It seems the string stretches more and more with every use. Suggestions for a material to make a better string from?

[Cameroo]

I think it's safe to say that most of the warbow makers in this forum are using fast flight or some variation of that (d-97, astro flight, etc.).

B-50 just doesn't cut it for warbow weights.

[Cameroo]

One other note - I have used black D-97 and found that the wax on the thread is black, and leaves a horrible mess all over the bow.  My next order will be white

[kevinsmith5]

I'll make my own. Is fast flight safe for use on wood nocks? These are ipe overlays on top of the white oak.

[Dag]

FF should be just fine.  I think most of us warbow archers on here use FF exclusively for our warbows.  Wood nocks and all.  The woods you used are plenty hard and strong enough to withstand FF.