Not an A+ board. The growth rings could run a little straighter, but I knew it would work.
Starts wide, 2.5", stays the same width for about 5 inches off the handle, and then a (basically) constant taper to the tips. They're slightly "Eiffel-towered."
Not much set. A funky attempt at heat shaping that didn't work out quite right resulted in a bit of kept reflex right off of the handle -- but not kept anywhere else. This is slightly apparent to me, but maybe not anyone else.
Had to redo the nocks. First attempt at overlays. Had a bit of trouble at first but figured them out. Nothing fancy really, just cut from some scrap maple and stained to match.
67", 45# @ 28"
Because of removing too much wood at rough-out, I got stuck trying to migrate the bend more toward the handle at 26" (tillered out to 29"). I kept going slow to preserve as much weight and keep the set low, otherwise I probably could have slogged off a bunch of wood near the handle and got the perfect shape, at the expense of a lower weight and perhaps more set.
So that is part of the story on why it looks so stiff out of the handle. Another part of the story is what I mentioned before, which was a half-done heat-bend/heat-treat. It kept a touch of reflex on the inner limb but not the rest of the limb.
Anyways, set is low and it shoots great. Of all of the bows I've made this one shows more change from just-unstrung to rested. Rests near flat, but just unstrung shows maybe an inch and a half of string follow.
Looking for good homes for both of these bows.
My next order of business is setting about building the bow I'm going to use for deer hunting this year. I decided a year ago that I wanted to hunt with a self-made selfbow this year, but here I am 5 weeks before season without the bow I want to use. I have two candidates (the brown one posted is one I suppose), three if you count the glass bow I might use. But I have a pretty sizable pile of staves. Maybe some can relate, but it's not simply about the draw weight or speed of the bow. Something just has to "feel" right about it.
I want one that is over 50#, but anything in the high 40s will suit me fine. Working on one that's going to cut it close. If it comes out low I'll just grab another stave. I read something that I thought was particularly apt a little while ago. "This hobby is easy if you never fall in love with a piece of wood." I've been guilty of that, and -- big surprise -- it makes making bows harder.
Anyways, no more board bows for a while -- and why bother? I have a bunch of wood that was free (in dollars) that's ready to go. If I break some or they don't turn out right? So what.
