[If you don't wanna read this life-story i have a few quick questions at the bottom regarding bow twisting and choosing a finish to put on]Today was the big day, i mentally prepared all week for today and i feel it was a great success!
It started out REALLY slow, like my bumbling around trying to get the string on. I exercised it a little more with the long string out to 10" and then decided it's time to man up and low brace....boy this was hard for me. I have never strung a bow in my life before so i was bumbling around trying to get the timber hitch the perfect length and i was confused about how to use a stringer for a LONG time. I made a stringer out of paracord and i wasnt sure how long to make it so it started out as a 14 foot monster stringer that didn't work at all, also i kept putting the stringer on first and then the bow string and then having the undo the stringers knots to get the stringer off. Also i was putting the stringer like 4 inches down from the nock on each side which made stringing it require a lot of force, i haven't been to the gym in a while but i didn't think i was THAT weak :p
Anyway i kept at it and got it to a
brace of 2 1/2" (a little short but this was a big accomplishment for me). I was nervous as all hell, having any amount of tension in the bow felt weird and scary like it could snap at any moment! I spent the next hour just using Eric's gizmo on the braced bow at a very low setting to make sure it had not flat spots when braced, this might have been bad in retrospect because it may have lowered the weight unnecessarily. Anyway i chugged on removing wood little bit little until it had just the slightest curvature all the way down the limb, it took four or five times over maybe 1.5 hours because of how incompetent with the stringer i was.
Once i was unable to see any marks with the gizmo is when i put it on the tree and exercised it out to 10" again at this low brace. At 10" i used the gizmo to mark it and took it off, shaved off the wood - and did this a few more times until i couldnt see any marks (still at a very low gizmo setting). I took it off and noticed that it was taking on set, so i measured it and saw about
1/2" and 3/4" of set. Then i braced it up again
this time bracing at 3.5" and exercised it. I measured 16 pounds @ 10 inches.
At this higher (but still low) brace i first did what i did before, using the gizmo at brace without not pulling. I took wood off like before and after that was done i exercised it little by little out to 14" and thats when i marked it up with the gizmo again at a very slightly higher setting. I took it off and removed the wood little by little, putting it back on and exercising it, marking it, and taking it off again - over and over until i couldn't see any marks with the gizmo at its setting. I then measured it at 23 pounds at 14 inches, also i measured the deflection to be about 8 inches at this pull. I took it off and measured the
set again to be about 1.5".At this point i felt i was
ready for full brace, this was super hard because i was still using the stringer like an idiot, putting it a few inches down paste the nocks. But i managed to get to full brace t about 5.5" and did the usual - used the gizmo to tiller at full brace with no pull.
Then i exercised it out to 18" one inch at a time, 30 pulls per inch. At 18" i stopped and marked it up with the gizmo again. You know the drill... I know i took measurements here but i didnt write them down or take pictures at all, if i remember right i was pulling 29 pounds @ 18 inches.
It was around this time i realized i could put the stringer on the OTHER SIDE of the nock and put the bowstring on first and then the stringer after. This reduced the time to string and unstring to about 20% of what it was taking me more to string and unstring. I then felt like a major idiot because Eric told me how to use a stringer on this exact thread earlier....
Anyway, continuing...
Exercising it out little bit little and using the gizmo, taking off wood and restringing (now much faster and easier than before) i got to 32 pounds @ 22 inches and then up to
37 pounds at 25 inches. It was at the 22 inch mark when i realized i probably will not hit my 50 pound goal, and i was okay with that. I already felt amazing seeing this beautiful hunk of wood bend and curve.
Finally i was ready to take it all the way. I was super duper ultra nervous here so i exercised it 50 times per inch for 26", 27" and
finally 28". I measured it and it was a fine 42 pounds at 28", i was fine with this because I was too excited to be anything but giddy about it. I used the gizmo to get a good final tiller, it's not perfect but i think it's pretty good.
After this whole process (about 5.5 hours) i just sat there in awe. After about 20 minutes of just amazement i stung it up and just felt drawing it back. I held it, observed it, and just let it be strung but not exercised for a bit. Then i drew it back to my jaw and slowly undrew it ( i hear its bad to dry fire so i didn't). After a bit of that i unstrung and measured the final
set to be 2 3/4" on the left limb and 2 1/2" on the right.
I then restrung and felt the draw again and i felt like the bow was pull away from me a little, i flipped it over and drew back and then felt it pulling into me a little. I think it may be twisted. I'm not sure if you
can tell from these photos, but if someone can observe twist please tell me how to fix it. It also might be caused by the string not being centered by the nocks.
I hope the feeling of it pulling away/toward me is not a major issue, i can't exactly see where it's coming from.
Either way today was exhilarating (and exhausting). But i am beyond the moon with my new bow.
I still need to finish the handle area, thinning it width-wise a little, and then sand down the whole thing to remove marks.
I asked my girlfriend to paint the linen for me with some nice geometric designs, i am thinking of using either acrylic or oil paints (i have both). Then I want to finish it with something that will bring out the woods grain, giving a good contrast for the ring lines. What should i use for this?
edit:
gf just got home so i got her to snap a pic
