"Z" handle oak board bow

[JW_Halverson]

I am going to attempt yet again an oak board bow.  I have had one survive and iowabow's son has it. 

This is a decent grained oak board I picked up at Lowes, intending to do one of those wide pyramids that seem to work well with this wood.  I have done a few diagonal handle or Z handle bows before, but never one this extreme.  For those not familiar, it is a handle that allows a more center shot arrow without cutting into the handle.  The grip is set up to be diagonal as it bridges from one set of fadeouts to the other:



Having seen the photos, you can see this handle will actually give me center shot because of the extremity of the Z.  Fade outs are inch and a half, handle is a bit over inch wide, and the bow at the fadeouts will be two and a half inches. 

My question to those that have fiddled with this design, am I going too extreme?  Should I dial it back a little?  And secondly, is two and a half inches too wide for a pyramid of this wood.  I am not so far along that I can't sand off the lines and start over, no actual wood was harmed in the making of this thread.

[Jim Davis]

Just a note: If you remove the lines, use an eraser, at least to get most of the carbon. Sandpaper just moves the graphite down to the next layer of wood.

On the main topic. Center shot is not a goal worth warping a bow and one's  form out of all proportion, in my view. Any small gain in paradox recovery will be offset greatly by the awkwardness of the grip.

Think  about it, all beginning bowyers eventually experiment with something different. But show me a bowyer with hundreds of bows to his credit who makes radically different self bows...I'm just saying....

[bubby]

Jw I never make mine over two inches at the fades, that being said overbuilt won't hurt anything but performance

[PEARL DRUMS]

Cody has made a few Z handled osage bows. Actually I think his go-to bow has a Z handle. Talk about a comfy grip that just feels right with a canted bow. A z handled selfy is on my short list.

[Onebowonder]

I made one much like this for the RO Board Bow trade.  You'll want to heavily reinforce the entire area where you have the cut out Z-handle and make sure the fades do not even begin to move any closer than about an inch or two beyond the cutouts.  I liked the fact that I could shoot just about any weight arrow I wanted out of this bow.  The spine of the arrow was not a factor really...  As far as having to 'cant' the bow to shoot it, ...well I already have that 'bad archer's' habit anyway, so - not an issue really!   

OneBow

[bushboy]

I've made a few Z type handles but only with the Z one the top.here's one 2-1/4" fades pyramid 50/50 molly. Hickory.

[mullet]

Dang, JDub! Why don't you make it out of a Poplar board and make it a little more challenging .

[Del the cat]

Hi JW
I often do my primitives with a hint of Z, I like the way it falls to hand nicely and the improved centreshotosity (yeah, that is a word... honest )
That layout looks well wacky, all a bit Art Deco... nice.
I like a bit of Art Deco... I like minimalism too, mind you can have too much of it   
Del
@ Onebow... blimey, we need to see the side view of that grip just to reassure us it won't fall in half when you pick it up 

[JW_Halverson]

Think  about it, all beginning bowyers eventually experiment with something different. But show me a bowyer with hundreds of bows to his credit who makes radically different self bows...I'm just saying....

My first slight Z was about 80 bows ago. I quit counting bows long, long ago.

Eric: THAT was the bow I was looking for earlier today!  I know the fades have to be pretty solid and bend should not be appear until an inch past where I would normally start the actin. 

Bubby, thanks for giving me the impetus to narrow this down.  I really wanted to emphasize the pyramid look, but may have just gone a tish too far. 

I was looking over the hazel beauty this morning, which is where I was initially inspired to go this direction. 

Mullet: When you come up next spring I am going to take you turkey hunting and we are also going to harvest some cottonwood staves.

[mullet]

Oh,boy Oh, boy! Cottonwood has always been at the top of my "to do" list

[JW_Halverson]

Oh,boy Oh, boy! Cottonwood has always been at the top of my "to do" list

We'll knock that one off and go to the Ponderosa pine next.

[Onebowonder]

@ Onebow... blimey, we need to see the side view of that grip just to reassure us it won't fall in half when you pick it up 

Here's the best pick I could find of the backside of the Z-Handle that shows how it is reinforced...  There is a real thick piece of Oak Quartersawn across the entire length of the handle.  I sent the bow off in a trade so I really don't know how it is doing now, but I put over 300 shots through her before I packaged it up and she was double solid.  Probably Over Built actually.

OneBow

[JW_Halverson]

Clever engineering

[bubbles]

My best shooter so far is a red oak pyramid unbacked boardie.  2 1/2" at the fades.  Old reliable, she is. .  1.5" of set. 66", 48#@26".  No crazy Z handle though.  Been shooting regularly for about 2 years.   

[JW_Halverson]

My best shooter so far is a red oak pyramid unbacked boardie.  2 1/2" at the fades.  Old reliable, she is. .  1.5" of set. 66", 48#@26".  No crazy Z handle though.  Been shooting regularly for about 2 years.

The design is an easy-to-execute job, nothing too complicated at all, really.  It strikes a balance between performance and durability that is (IMHO) unmatched. Throwing this crazy handle into it is my way of just being ornery.  That and chosing a wood I have a very long and unsuccessful record using.  I am kinda second guessing myself at this point and thinking of doing a little Eiffel Tower to the limb tips.