the George Washington bow

[simson]

Looks cool, I'll be watching the project. That 72" is still a long bow. What weight are you aiming for?

[tom sawyer]

I'm going to shoot for 45-50lb, I just don't see this wood producing a 60lber.  If it turns out decent I might try my hand at a set of horn nocks.  Thats something I haven't done, I have three sets of horn for these and it'd be good to try before I work on my yew.

I scratched up the bow back and rawhide surfaces with a hacksaw blade, and then realized that hide glue probably works best on smooth surfaces.  I suppose getting any finish off is a good thing though, the bow was probably coated with a little shellac.  I pulled the string off this morning and the rawhide seems to be stuck tight, didn't see any air bubbles either.

Paul, I'm trying to keep a little of that MOJAM excitement going and get something done for a change.  The sinewed bow is drying up pretty well, didn't pull into a lot fo reflex though.  Maybe I should've back-strung it a bit.  I haven't done anything with the hackberry bow, I might toast the belly and slap a finish on it this weekend and call it done.

[lebhuntfish]

Sounds cool, Tom Sawyer. I to am trying to keep up the excitement. Been xworking on some things a little myself. Might even get together with Eric on Saturday.

I'm waiting to see that sinew bow you done at mojam, I'm wanting to do another one myself.

[tom sawyer]

Here's the backing.

[PaulN/KS]

That turned out real well Lennie.
This one and those other bow projects ought to keep you busy enough till next year's Mojam.

[Onebowonder]

When I saw "George Washington Bow" I was sure it was going to be a post about a bow built from an illegally cut and pilfered Cherry tree!

OneBow

[tom sawyer]

Unlike GW, I can tell a lie.  But this tree did push over GW's headstone.  This was in an old Baptist cemetery that included graves of several Confederate soldiers, and a couple of Mark Twain's relatives.  I lived across the street, and in spite of firing off black powder pistols and a couple of small incendiary devices, nobody complained.  We also shot bows in the cemetary.  It was a fun place.

[tom sawyer]

Cut the blank out and got it close to floor tillered.

[tom sawyer]

Front profile.

[Bob Barnes]

nice one Lennie!  You always do a great job on your demonstrations.  Thanks my friend.
Bob

[tom sawyer]

Appreciate the kind words Bob.  I'm doing this less as a demo, more as a way to keep notes for myself.  And it also gives me an incentive to keep working on the project.  I'm going on vacation later this week, I'm hoping to get a decent tiller on this by then.

[PaulN/KS]

It sure is looking good Lennie. Hope you guys have fun on vacation.

[Onebowonder]

You certainly have that one coming along.  I've had really bad luck (...aka inadequate skills) with Black Walnut myself.  So, I'm excited to see you have success with it! 

OneBow