Congratulations to Ryan (wizardgoat) for winning August Self BOM with his bow Smoky.
http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,46845.0.htmlI named this bow "Smoky", because its the first bow I've made, that has some serious speed.
The stave came from the Cascade mountains in Washington. It was pretty large, so I was able to
saw out 2 staves from it. Very decent ring count, and beautiful colour. The stave had almost no
imperfections, a very flat back, no knots, and no twist at all. It had almost an inch of natural deflex,
that i left in. I boiled the recurves in, and they lined up perfectly. Being only my 7th bow, I took my time with tillering and really obsessed about the final scrapes. Im really happy with how the bow turned out. It shoots accurately and has zero hand shock. The bow deserved the prairie rattler skins, and she wears them well. Tip overlays are pacific dogwood, and cane wrap grip. B50 string in the pics, but she has a fastflight string now. 60# @ 28" 64" nock to nock. 1" wide handle, 2.5" long fades to 1 1/4" at the widest, tapering to 3/8" tips. I got this yew stave from Kurt Brisky. It was pretty wide, so I cut it in half and got 2 staves out of it. Can't complain. The stave had about 3/4 inches of deflex, so I tried to put some heavy hooks on it to off set it. A nearly perfect stave, no twist or character at all, and pretty striking heartwood/sapwood contrast. Tips are pacific dogwood, cane wrap grip from Carson, and pretty prairie rattlesnake skins from Ted Fry. 60# @28" 64" ntn Rounded belly. bow #7 for me, for sure my fastest and smoothest shooter, and my first bow where my string nocks are ahead of my handle, 1"wide handle, 2.5"long fades to 1 1/4" at the widest. starts tapering to 3/8" at the nocks. not sure how to measure degree of recurve. rounded belly, I maintained the 5/8 rule, just because I really like the look of it on yew. Thanks for looking, Ryan
Primitive Archer Forum members had a great deal to say about this fine bow. Here is just a small sampling:
Sweet bend, definitely looks like a wicked shooter! huisme
That's gorgeous, I like the smooth blend into the tip overlays, sweet Great tiller too. Del
I think you nailed it. Your bow seems to be tillered in such a way that the limbs don't look like they are overstrained at all. I bet that one shoots great for years to come. Finishing work is beautiful too. Really great work. H Rhodes
You gotta love the way that bow turned out, very nice all around WG! Badly Bent
Great job man. That turned out gorgeous. You are getting them bending real nice. Matt