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Author Topic: new member's bow builld  (Read 10838 times)

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Offline thomas74p

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new member's bow builld
« on: June 12, 2014, 10:02:27 am »
I'm somwhat new to building bows and would like to show what I have so far and accept any thoughts, ideas or suggestions.
I'm from oklahoma so I natuarlly chose a nice osage orange tree to start with. I found a nice thick butt log that was pretty straight and undamaged by bugs or knots, as far as osage orange goes at least. the stave was well over 60 inches. I cut it in november and let it dry till around may. since then I have cut it down to real close to the dimensions I want and in late may/early june I made a steam bath and jig and began reflexing and recurving it. in straight form it is 58 inches long so about 56 inches now from tip to tip and the tips are 23mm wide and 14mm thick. I plan to thin the width more all the way to the handle to tune each side. I figure i'll leave it in the jig till late august also the back is almost perfectly down to one ring only around one or two knots is it at the ring below. overall I'm pretty happy with it. it was one tough piece of wood to shape and work. in the end I hope for a 52-54 inch bow and hope to have around 38 pounds in draw at 26 inches. I'm short and my effective draw length is only 27 and at 38 pounds I think 26" would be more reallistic. if I get 30 pounds I'll take it bout really hope to be more. I know for sure however that at 40 pounds or more my shooting becomes to inaccurate to be trully effective. planning on using it for small game, turkey and if it's fast enough and shoots straight enough someday for dear. also I plan to make my string from bcy 8125G. any thoughts or suggestions are welcome and will be appreciated.
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Offline Buckeye Guy

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Re: new member's bow builld
« Reply #1 on: June 12, 2014, 10:16:35 am »
You are putting alot of work in that little piece of wood , hope it turns out the way you want !
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Offline bubby

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Re: new member's bow builld
« Reply #2 on: June 12, 2014, 10:41:09 am »
Is there a reason you are putting so much deflex into the bow
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Offline thomas74p

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Re: new member's bow builld
« Reply #3 on: June 12, 2014, 10:56:33 am »
it's still in tension right now. by deflex I suppose reflex and deflex are interchangable terms? when I take it out of the jig I doubt it will have nearly that much. even the recurve  at the tips will straighten a bit too. my goal with the reflex is to help it get more speed when shot. if I'm wrong let me know. like I said I'm new to the build process.
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Offline PEARL DRUMS

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Re: new member's bow builld
« Reply #4 on: June 12, 2014, 11:06:10 am »
Reflex is forward of the handle and deflex is behind the handle. You've added a bunch of deflex with a tad of reflex at the tips.
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Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught will we realize we cannot eat money.

Offline thomas74p

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Re: new member's bow builld
« Reply #5 on: June 12, 2014, 11:16:31 am »
just to clarify my pics the back is not visible as it is facing the floor. the belly is facing up and you can see almost all of it. thats why I refered to the handle as being reflexed. and the tips to be recurved.
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Offline Pat B

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Re: new member's bow builld
« Reply #6 on: June 12, 2014, 11:18:23 am »
It would be a nice shape if that was the braced shape.   Instead of shaping a green stave, I think you would get better results adding the shape you want with seasoned wood using heat.
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Make the most of all that comes and the least of all that goes!    Pat Brennan  Brevard, NC

Offline thomas74p

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Re: new member's bow builld
« Reply #7 on: June 12, 2014, 11:27:44 am »
pat. do you suppose it will straighten out too much in august when I release it? I did let it dry from november to may. and steamed it over a 3 day period in which I slowly added tension to it to get it to shape. I remade the jig a week later and steamed it one more day as I put the final shape into it and made sure everything was straight and evenly curved and while out of the jig it retained it's reflex and some of it's reurve really well. however the limbs did straighten quite a bit and had  only retained a slight curve.. the second jig I tried to give the limbs a little more tension, in hopes the would retain a little more curve once released. would it help if I left it in the jig longer than 3 months?
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Offline Pat B

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Re: new member's bow builld
« Reply #8 on: June 12, 2014, 11:43:39 am »
As the others have said I think you added too much deflex.. When you bract that bow you will not have the early draw weight that is desired.  Like I said that is a nice shape if that was your braced shape
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Make the most of all that comes and the least of all that goes!    Pat Brennan  Brevard, NC

Offline PEARL DRUMS

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Re: new member's bow builld
« Reply #9 on: June 12, 2014, 11:46:44 am »
Id suggest taking it off now and hoping 1/2 of the deflex you tried to add returns.
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Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught will we realize we cannot eat money.

Offline thomas74p

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Re: new member's bow builld
« Reply #10 on: June 12, 2014, 11:47:12 am »
yes sir. can it be fixed?
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Offline Badger

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Re: new member's bow builld
« Reply #11 on: June 12, 2014, 11:48:05 am »
  Yep Thomas, you bent the bow the wrong way. You can still use heat to straighten it back out, You have deflex in that bow. Reflex is bending the limbs the opposite way. You bw will seriously be lacking power if you deflex it that much.
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Offline thomas74p

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Re: new member's bow builld
« Reply #12 on: June 12, 2014, 11:57:34 am »
well crap. this is not what I was hoping to hear. I do appreciate ya'lls help though. wish me luck I guess. it was a heck of a straight stave but I still have the other half. half of which is tension side wood so I could still make another. and it's still drying in the pantry since november. I was hoping to be hunting by october.
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Offline wizardgoat

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Re: new member's bow builld
« Reply #13 on: June 12, 2014, 12:51:53 pm »
Id suggest following one of the many bow build alongs on this site, and buy the bowyer bibles.
Good luck on your build
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Offline Joec123able

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Re: new member's bow builld
« Reply #14 on: June 12, 2014, 01:27:05 pm »
Yep I definetly agree to much deflex looks like you already have it bent to brace height
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