Much much thanks for all your help and wise words. An update to my story...... I AM A BOWYER!!!!! it shoots! it actually works!!!! I did a bit more scraping and a lot more sanding and have left it above a radiator. It still had a ridiculously low brace height, but I got the fear with further tillering and thought id give it a go before the unthinkable (inevitable) happened!. I bought some pads from amazon.. they are a bit small, but fine for my son. I dug out some crossbow bolts i had lying around and set up some damp chipboard as a target. I havent cut a shelf yet, so shot off the knuckle. very tricky at first as the xbow bolts dont have a gripping nock... just a v shaped cutout. after a few missfires... Success!! oh boy! its soooo powerful! I cant pull it to my draw, Im about 6"from my chin, but i nailed the wet chipboard worksurface to the solit wood Id put behind it! got some nice red marks on my arm from missfires and small pads. Lad had a go and got the arrow to stick in the target from about 10m. there has been a bit of set but not too bad. Interestingly, while putting the bow back in its home, i have noticed spots of raised grain right down the length of its belly, kind of like a leopardskin pattern. Its like the uppermost fibres have been raised slightly by the compression? I must have done something right because the spots are evenly distibuted along the belly. They will sand off ok.... I havr to scrape a bit more to make it useable for the lad. Once I am done, can I treat the wood somehow to prevent this? all in all a great day of fun! Back to that hazel tree to make some better arrows now!
