Sturgeon-Backed Yew Mollegabet with Hollow Limb Design 60#@26"

[Weylin]

I wanted to try out a couple new things so I decided to do them at the same time. I've been ogling Simon's HLD bows for a long time now and finally decided to give it a go. I also wanted to make a Molle style bow so I decided to sandwich them together and see what I could come up with.

I had a straight, clean yew sapling with a nice high crown for the hollow limb design. I enjoyed the new method of tillering, it was slower going with a little more to pay attention to but worth it in the end. I don't have the fancy curved chisels so I had to do all the tillering with a goose-neck scraper after I got it to floor tiller. That slowed it down even more. I decided that I didn't want to make the ratio between the working limbs and the levers very extreme on this bow due to the width of the stave but I did decide to flip out the tips a bit.

 The sturgeon skin came from a younger fish so the scales are small, which I think goes well on this bow. I decided to take advantage of the translucent nature of the belly skins that I used by making a gradation of dye on the back of the bow going from black, to brown, to natural sapwood. I'm really pleased with the effect and it reminds me of a nebula or something of that nature.

I used a beaver tail to make the handle wrap. It's really amazing stuff, tough as iron and about as easy to work with. You have to be careful not to tear out the holes when you are lacing it. To protect against this I glued to strips of thin leather to the edges that get laced. I punched my holes through that and it gave me more security when I pulled the laces tight. Despite the bent needles and curse words uttered while lacing it up, I'm really pleased with the look and feel of the handle.

Both the sturgeon skin and the beaver tail were gifts from my friend Art. The tip overlays are sheep horn. The last bits from a nice two-tone horn that I had. The decoration hanging from the handle is made from the large scales on the back of a sturgeon and a couple wooden beads.

The finish is tru-oil and the string is fast flight with muskrat fur silencers.

I intend for this to be my elk hunting bow for next season. I really like the way that it shoots. It is dead in the hand and packs a solid punch. I will definitely try the hollow limb design again.

[DC]

OOOOOHH!

[bradsmith2010]

very nice thanks for sharing

[Pat B]

Very cool bow. 

[H Rhodes]

Awesome!  That is beautiful.

[Badly Bent]

WOWZA!  That bow has it all, absolutely beautiful Weylin. Every detail in your work on this one really made for a stunning bow.
That dye job paired with the skins is especially striking.

[loon]

Woooooooow!
Very pretty! And very fast, I bet

[Weylin]

Glad that you liked it, DC. 

Thank you and you're welcome, Brad.

Thank you, Pat. 

Thanks! H Rhodes

Thank you, Badly  Bent. That's high praise. I always admire the coloring effect you achieve on your bows. I use them for inspiration.

Thank you, Loon. 

[TimBo]

OK, that is amazing.  I can't think of anything that really does that bow justice, except that I want to jump through my screen, pick it up, and shoot it.  Excellent work - hope the elk like it too!

[bowandarrow473]

Dear God, That is one awesome bow!

[loefflerchuck]

Perfection!
 I like the white dots on black boarder. A little tribute to Ed Scott.

[steve b.]

Very cool Weylin.  A lot of work there.  You got the patience thing down.  Very cool grip.

[GB]

That is superb.  Everything is just beautifully done.  Love the dye work on the skins and that beaver tail grip...Wow!

[Peacebow_Coos]

That's a beautiful bow Weylin, every part of it.  And I too have been ogling that HLD, well done from tip to tip sirs.

[Weylin]

Haha, thanks TimBo! Fortunately for the elk, the bow's only as good as the hunter. 

Thank you, bowandarrow.

Thanks, Chuck. I didn't realize that Ed Scott did that pattern. I'll have to dig around and check out his work a little more closely.

Thank you, Steve. It was a lot of tedious work but I really enjoy that part of it. It's good to see you around and making bows again. Hope to bump into you again soon.

Thank you, GB.

Thanks, Peacebow! Simon's bows are pretty amazing. I'll definitely try this again. I think it would be cool with oceanspray.