Starting another one....and DONE.

[Gaust]

This is my third self-bow, first one with reflex tips.  After making unbacked flat bows with the first two staves, I must say I had a fun time with this one, the third of five from a hackberry tree I had cut down in my backyard.  A previous post of mine showed mostly how I got to this point: http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,48943.0.html

The numerous heatings, both steam and dry, to straighten the stave, toasting the belly to induce a little reflex, and then bending the tips, was quite a learning experience, for sure.  After tillering it to full brace and finally shooting it, I could see it wanted to go back to its original shape.  I reheated parts of both limbs again to bring it back into alignment.  The end result turned out okay, certainly not perfect, but it does shoot well with no hand shock.  It did end up five pounds lighter than intended.  64” ntn, 37# @ 26”.  Mass weight 20 oz.  Unbacked w/4 1/2” grip, 2” fades, 1 ½” wide limbs to mid-length, tapering to 3/8” tips.  I decided to glue some hackberry leaves to the back of the bow for decoration after I stained it with brown leather dye.  Then applied five coats of Tru-Oil for the finish.   As you probably will notice, the bottom limb has the stronger reflexed tip.   In the end, I must say I’m impressed with hackberry; it can take the abuse of the inexperienced.

Thanks again all, for your helpful suggestions and comments during the making of this bow.   I’ll shoot this one till my thoughts wander, inevitably, to the next one.
George

[Gaust]

A couple of details.

[mhof86]

I love the pattern with the leaves. I may have to give that a try myself, really like it. Seeing bows of this skill pushes me to get back out in the cold and start another one.

[DC]

That's real nice George. Let us know how the leaf finish wears. I kinda like that

[SLIMBOB]

Nice work Sir.  Love Hackberry myself.  Surprisingly good wood.

[Gaust]

Thanks, mhof86, DC, and SLIMBOB.

DC, I'm kinda curious myself about the durability of the leaves under the Tru-Oil finish.  I almost went with sprayed poly, but I thought I could add a coat of it after the Tru-Oil cures a bit.  So far, it's staying on and staying green.

mhof86, fyi, I dried the leaves first, removing the moisture by placing them between two sheets of paper towels and ironing them.  I glued them to the bow using Titebond II, carefully flattening them  and squeezing out excess glue.  The leaves are fragile in this state.  After the glue dried, I applied Tru-Oil to the surface of the leaves with my finger.  On the leaves you have to rub the oil in the direction of the veins.  I woke up one morning with the idea but couldn't find any info on how to do it.  So, this is an experiment. 
G.

[Drewster]

Gaust, what a fine looking bow for your third one.  The green leaves on the back are striking......what great camo too.  After all you learned with this bow, can't wait to see the next one.

[Gaust]

Thanks, Drewster.  I wanted this bow to blend in with the fall colors, thus the color scheme.  It would disappear against a hackberry tree.
G.

[Peacebow_Coos]

That's looking like a nice shooter, I really like the leaves too keep us posted!

[Accipiter]

What a beauty! Tiller looks great to me and that leaf back is awesome.

[Lehtis]

Nice bow and I like the idea to use the leaves. I wonder how does the green stand time... does it turn to autumn after a while? Please, report.

[IdahoMatt]

Very cool bow George.  Very inovative idea with the leaves, looks great.  I've never seen that before done like that.  I love it

[missilemaster]

Great looking bow there George!

[lesken2011]

SWEET!!

[burchett.donald]

Gaust,  I like everything about this bow...Profile and tiller looks like you been at it more than 3 times, your very talented Sir...
                                                                                                                       Don