2nd bow - aussie bloodwood 65" 40lb

[ryder]

Hi guys,

Just finished making my second bow (not counting the half dozen board bows that did not survive my tillering before it). It has a few issues, but I've shot about 100 arrows through it and learned a great deal more about tillering and bow design, as usual mostly through hindsight.

Its a swamp bloodwood, 65" NTN and 40 lb at 29". Limb width is 1.5". I have made it for a friend of mine who is interested in archery, and I thought 40 lb would be a good starting weight for him. It was also a good excuse to experiment with building in an arrow shelf, and it's the first time I've ever made a leather handle. I also experimented with heat treating the belly, which helped a little but its a very dense wood, so I'm not sure how much good its actually done.











The upper limb has taken more set than the lower, the lower is at 1 1/4" and the upper at 2". I can see (with hindsight) that the upper is bending a little too much just out of the fades, and not quite enough at about 10-12 inches out. I found that one hard to see at the time, as the limb has a natural lump right at the end of the fade, and another one just after the part where it's not bending enough. That second lump may also account for some of the set difference between the two limbs? I'm not sure. That lump is around where I started to taper the limb too.





Also, for both limbs I can see they have both taken some set at the exact point that I made the limbs start to taper towards the tip. In the future with this wood, I think a better design will be to make it full width along its length except the handle and last 6 inches of both limbs, which will be rigid. I also don't think 1.5" limb width was quite enough for this bow, and I should have gone for 1 3/4. And I think 65" NTN was maybe too short for a 29" draw. And I need to make the leather handle neater in the future.

But, I'll chalk all that up to experience and improve on it next time.

The bow is great fun to shoot! Its obviously not very powerful, but it is VERY accurate. Once I account for drop, that is. It lacks the kick of my first bow which is a 55lb, and has a little more hand shock than I'd expect for its weight, but it does the job and I hope it lasts him a while and, you know, doesn't explode in his face 

[Pappy]

Nice job for your second, that is what it is all about the more you build the more you learn.
 Pappy

[bjrogg]

What Pappy said. Keep building and trying new materials and seeing what works & learning from what doesn't. I'm in about the same league, I just got my 1st HHB Ironwood bow shooting last night.

[cadet]

It looks like it's working hard immediately out of the fades, but it's a working bow of a respectable weight from a timber not many have played with: that's worth the price of admission!

I'm not the most experienced bowyer, but I don't get too worried about just an inch or two of set from pushing wood hard.  I get a bit of a buzz from torturing wood and making it take more dynamic load than pretty much any other timber thing I can think of.  Wooden bows - particularly selfbows - don't last forever, necessarily, and if they don't last, if they break, we have the tools, the timber and the material and an excuse to get in the shed to replace them!

Do hardware stores there carry spotted gum decking boards?  They're worth a shot.  I've made bows from white cypress bunnings fence pickets too.

[tattoo dave]

That's a good lookin number 2. Don't stress too much over set. Shoot the heck out of it and make another.

Tattoo Dave

[osage outlaw]

That's a good looking bow for #2.  Your assessment of the tiller and set seem accurate to me.  Your ideas for improvement should help on the next one.  Keep experimenting and you will figure out the best design for that wood. I would suggest rounding the corners on your limbs,handle, and fades on your next attempt.

[Redhand]

Nice bow, glad to see you stuck with it. The more bows you build, the more you will learn.

[SLIMBOB]

Sweet looking bow!  I agree with your assessment on the tiller and would add, that you need to work on the transition from handle to limb.  Looks to me like that is where your issue is with the set.  There should be no sharp angles on that transition.  Feather the thick part of the fade into the thin working limb.  The junction of the two will be the thickest part of the limb and the sweep will gradually thin itself out.  That will keep it from bending much if any at that spot as you get the rest of the limb working.  Now come back to it later in the build once the limb is working properly, and begin thinning it some along that area, keeping the sweep nice and smooth as you go.  Now with micro adjustments you can monitor just how much bend you want at that spot.  Just dial it in.

[ryder]

Thanks gents 

I agree that avoiding small radius corners and sharp angles is something I'm going to have to work on. I'm a fitter/machinist by trade and used to working with metal, so making things with natural curves feels a little, well, unnatural to me lol.  Don't judge me 

I'm going to shoot the hell out of it this weekend, and plan the next one some more