Sinew-backed Mulberry Bow with lower limb problem revealed

[upstatenybowyer]

Hey guys. here's one that was worth the wait. I cut the stave, roughed it out, chased a ring and floor tillered all within about 2 hours. Then I bent it into a wood-block r/d form and waited about 4 months for it to dry out enough that it would hold it's profile for the most part, which it did. Then I applied 2 courses of sinew and waited another 2 months, tillered, and finished. It came out pulling 51# at 27". It's incredibly light and man does it shoot fast! I'm really happy with this one. 

52" ntn
Sinew backing is covered w/ birch bark
cow horn tip overlays
seagrass handle wrap

I know I post a lot of bows, so thank you all for looking... again.

[upstatenybowyer]

and three more

[tattoo dave]

That's a great looking bow! I love it. Nice work

Tattoo Dave

[upstatenybowyer]

here's the f/d from another angle

[Bob W.]

Nice tiller, I bet she's a shooter!

[Philipp A]

great looking bow! did you Chrony it to see how fast it shoots?

[Green Mountain Man]

Wow!
Came out great
Ya do nice work

[mikekeswick]

The lower limb tip looks like it is about to hinge on you. Especially as it is reflexed in the unbraced picture?

[loon]

the more bows you post, the better!

[MulchMaker]

Wow upstate!!! You've outdone yourself! And don't worry about posting to many, for me, a beginner looking at your bows helps me keep motivated. I'm sure the entire board has gone through it. You wake up and your like I wanna build a bow! And then you find out you have to wait for wood to dry. So for at least a month if not longer to build there first. I'd go crazy if it wasn't for you and other members posting bows. You have helped me and probably countless others keep with it just by the drool factor alone! I do often wonder how you keep up the pace you've been going at...I'll end this long winded post with....thank you and please don't stop posting

[upstatenybowyer]

Thanks everyone for looking. Phillip, I wish I had a chrony. It's definitely a priority for me to get one. Mike, I saw that lower limb thing as soon as I posted the first f/d pic so I had the wife take one from a different angle. To me the second one looks much less like it's about to hinge. I'd be very curious to hear what others think about this. Loon and mulch, I'm glad you don't mind all the posts. 

[RyanY]

I agree with Mike. Its visible at brace as well. Love the birch bark backing!

[BowEd]

Yes ditto on the lower tip there but still nice to see a mulberry on the forum.Especially with the nice birch bark cover on it.

[Springbuck]

Right on, you did it! And you did it good.

[upstatenybowyer]

So I've been racking my brain to figure out what happened on the lower limb because I took pics close to full draw just prior to finishing and that hingey spot wasn't there and then it hit me. Just before sanding I noticed that the string alignment was just a tad off so I decided to correct it with some dry heat. I think what happened is that the heat and slight bending weakened the wood in that spot cause that's precisely where the hingey spot is. The picture below shows the bow just before the heat correction and I removed no wood after it was taken. It had to be the heat.