Sinew backed recurve

[Marc St Louis]

I was approached a few months ago by a guy that was looking for a short high preformance bow. He changed his mind but I didn't change mine on making it. I've made a few bows like this in the past and performance is very high. Can't shoot it right now because there's too much snow out there but they usually launch an arrow to at least 180 fps with 10 GPP. The bow is made out of Elm and is a deflex recurve 56" long, 55" N to N, with limbs 1 1/2" wide tapering to 3/8" nocks. I heat treated a few inches of reflex in and then reflexed it a bit more when I applied the sinew. In all the bow started with 6" of reflex before tillering and it now holds after tillering just under 3", this is after being pulled to full draw several times.  Pat sent me a snakeskin last year and it was long enough to back this bow from tip to tip so I put that on. Daemon Kent also sent me some Desert Ironwood a few years ago so I thought that would go well as overlays. The bow pulls 60# @ 28". Here's a few pics

[richpierce]

Wow that looks great and looks stout too!  How thick are the limbs and tips?  It looks like ot would be tricky to tiller a bow with that much reflex.  Is a design like that fast because it has so much tension at brace height?

[Woodland Roamer]

Wow, that's a beauty Marc, as usual. I really like the way the unbraced profile looks, just an all around great bow.

Alan

[Pappy]

Beautiful bow Marc,you done a great job as usually.
   Pappy

[a finnish native]

nice one! Have you ever made a sinew backed recurve with a gull wing profile? simillar to hornbows but just sinew and wood.

[snedeker]

what a great tiller.  challenging to string?  It does look thick limbed.  Great to see.

Dave

[Marc St Louis]

Thanks guys.

Limb thickness varies Rich but just after the fades they are 1/2" thick and 3/8" at the apex of the bend of the recurve

Tried to make one out of Osage and sinew FN many years ago but the design is too unstable.

Not bad to string at all Dave. There's not that much reflex on this one

[George Tsoukalas]

That is an awesome bow with an awesome tiller, Marc. Jawge

[Hillbilly]

Marc, that's a wicked looking bow-we've missed seeing those screaming recurves of yours lately.

[tom sawyer]

She's a beauty, sinewed bows are my favorite.

[Justin Snyder]

That is an incredible bow Marc.  You never cease to amaze. Did you use dry heat to get such tight bends on the recurve?  Every time I try to get that tight of a bend I have a delamination on the early growth ring.  I bet someone is sorry they changed their mind about wanting that bow now.  Justin

[OldBow]

Very impressive, bow, Marc. The potential buyer missed out!
Looking forward to seeing how it compares for Dec Self Bow of the Month consideration.

[Slivershooter]

Like always, one fine looking bow!!!

Walt Francis

[Gordon]

Wow, that is an impressive bow.

[Keenan]

Awesome bow Mark,
  To be able to get 28" draw out of a 56" bow is quite an accomplishment. That bow would be a good contender for the ambush bow challenge. You absolutely nailed the tiller, and the skins,tips and finish make that a work of art. I don't often consider buying a bow because of making them but that one has me drooling. Looking forward to seeing that one on BOM.     Keenan