New to the addiction - My First Bow

[Gorzideudeus]

So,this is actually my second attempt at making a bow. My first attempt was a piece of red maple that ended up like this:



So that was depressing, but I kept coming back to these forums and looking at bows...and I gave it another shot.
I went up the mountain and located some good trees, trying to find the best one. I eventually chose a sugar maple that appeared to be in poor health. However, it was very straight near the bottom and roughly 7 inches in diameter, so I chopped it. I broke it into staves and brought them back home. When I got back, I picked the straightest of them and stuck it above the ceiling panels near the propane heater for about 2 weeks. I had already started chasing a ring and was about halfway through when I learned that it wasn't really necessary to do so with whitewoods. I finished it anyways, and went from there. I didn't have a specific type of bow in mind; I just had a general shape in mind. Therefore, I don't really know what type of bow this would be categorized as. It's about 62" NTN, and probably no more than 35#. (I don't have one of those poundage tester things, so that's just an estimate.) I also made my own string because I'm too cheap to buy one.

Here it is at 28" draw.



I sorta made a tiller tree, but I didn't trust it. I ended up just flexing it by hand and looking for stiff spots, and did my best to work them out. Let me know how it looks.
It seemed to take some set, so I figured I'd may as well learn how to recurve tips.



I also had a recent rabbit hide that was pretty torn up, but I managed to salvage two pieces from it and add "decoration".



I burned in some maple leaves, because why not.





It has two coats of tung oil and some poly on it.
Overall, it shoots straight enough, although there is still some slight limb twist and the string could probably be better aligned. Still, I'm happy with it as my first bow, and it will definitely not be my last.

Let me know what you think, and I'll take any advice/criticism!

Christian

[MulchMaker]

I like it! And the rabbit hide looks cool.

[High-Desert]

Looks like a pretty awesome first successful bow to me. Nice work. I would recommend letting the stave dry out longer. Even two weeks in a warm room isn't nearly enough. Thats where your set may have come from, as your tiller looks good....To me anyway. Great job, and welcome to the hobby.

Eric

[upstatenybowyer]

Looks great to me, especially for your second bow! I probably broke at least 25 or so before I got something that shot. If you rough out a bow to starting dimensions so it's bending just a little it will dry much faster than as a stave. Welcome 

[Gorzideudeus]

Looks like a pretty awesome first successful bow to me. Nice work. I would recommend letting the stave dry out longer. Even two weeks in a warm room isn't nearly enough. Thats where your set may have come from, as your tiller looks good....To me anyway. Great job, and welcome to the hobby.

Eric

Thanks. I guess I wasn't patient enough. I have a couple black locust staves that have been drying for a few months, plus the rest of the sugar maple...I'll probably start another soon enough.

[Arrowbuster]

Very nice job, well done.

[osage outlaw]

That's a nice looking first bow.  Your tiller looks good.  Like others mentioned, try to let your bow wood season a little more if you can.  Your bow might pick up a little more draw weight as it continues to dry out. 

[loon]

Awesome. Might end up doing this same sort of thing with hickory (pyramid, flipped tips)

[DuBois]

Man, that looks very nice. You are well on your way.

[selfbow joe]

Very nice looking bow

[scp]

Incredible curves. Well done.

[mikekeswick]

Well done on your first. The tiller looks pretty good
One note don't burn the back of the bow, You are probably fine with this one as your burn is close to the handle but better to use the belly if you do this again.

[bjrogg]

That a really nice bend Christian. Welcome to PA I think your gonna like it here. I think you did burn leaf patterns in belly of bow and that's ok. As said never heat back of bow. My only advice would be keep looking for and harvesting bow staves. Get enough that you have dry cured staves when ever you need them. It really is amazing how many a person can go through when this bug bites.
Bjrogg

[Gorzideudeus]

Thanks for the advice / encouragement everyone.
The burns are actually on the belly, not the back. The picture probably made it look otherwise. I also used dry heat for the bends, and just let gravity do the work.

[BowEd]

Pretty good and even excellent first time trys Gorz.you've got a great future in self bow making I'd say.