Hackberry bow build - noob

[Chuck.e.b]

Hi new here and looking for help. Im building my first self bow this year, we'll probably a few, ha! I harvested some hackberry on my family farm in Iowa right before New Years and got it split into 4 pretty good staves. Wood glued the ends and shellac'd the backs. Now Im willing to dry those out for up to a year but wanted to get started on one in a month and down to the general shape to gain some experience.. I have some questions before I begin.

Should I start with the straightest knot-less stave possible or save that for my last bow since potentially it may make the best? (There's no open ended knots on any stave)

Is it true that the north side of a tree makes for better bows?

Was thinking from seeing some others on here work with hackberry that it should be a flat pyramid style bow with at least 2" wide limbs and thinking 68" ntn. Sound right? What kind of poundage will I be looking at?

I could use some general dimensions for a handle?

Thanks, any help appreciated! I'll try to post pics and update as I go.

[Chuck.e.b]

12/28/17. Cut down.

[Chuck.e.b]

12/31/17 cut staves.

[Chuck.e.b]

1/1/18 debarked.

[willie]

hi chuck, welcome. you do know that you can reduce a green stave to close to floor tiller dimensions and with careful drying, you can be shooting in a month or so?

you have lots of design options for a white wood stave. only a few types of wood dictate a preferred design.
pyramid designs lend themselves to board bows, or at least staves with flatter backs.
one of those staves would be just right for a ALB, and those look like some nice one too. personally, I would start with the straightest and knot free, maybe even a bend in the handle? especially if you can find more staves like it without too much trouble.
poundage should be chosen for your shooting pleasure and width adjusted accordingly. If you have 68" to work with that sound doable. How heavy a bow have you been shooting. Are you pre-decided on a handled bow?

[barebo]

Hackberry is an excellent choice for a first bow as it responds well to both the rasp and draw knife. A fairly fool proof design would be a good 'ol American Flat Bow.

Hopefully, some of the top notch bowyers will be on board to answer any questions you might have. Good Luck, and Great looking staves!!!

[bubby]

The length depends on your draw length. With a 28-29" draw 66"-68" will be fine. Pyramid or alb will be fine as both are great designs, I would go with a 4" handle with 2-1/2" fades going parallel about 6" past the fades then straight taper to 1/2" tips

[Chuck.e.b]

I have a 30" draw.  The staves are about 78". Im wanting around 50#. I love the look of American flat bows so aesthetically I want to head that direction at least.

2.5" wide 👍

What's the main difference between pyramid and ALB? The shape of the limbs? Can you describe a little more?

[Morgan]

Chuck, I like hackberry a lot. Removing the bark will be a bit of a chore, go slow and easy. Go at the orange crumbly layer with a scraping tool (knife or scissor blade held at 90°) and go slow to avoid violating the back ring. If you don’t have one, get a heat gun and after your stave is dry and bending well at floor tiller, thoroughly heat treat the belly. This will help tremendously with set. 2” wide will increase your odds of success I think, but I’ve Not made a hackberry flatbow wider than 1.5”. What I’ve dealt with, seems like it just wants to be a bow. Good luck. Go slow. Post your progress!

[Parnell]

The basic idea is that with a pyramid bow it tapers down to your tips consistently out of the fade and with the flatbow its about the last third of the limb.

Those look like some sweet staves.  I love the smell of toasted hackberry...smells like buttered popcorn.  Keep cutting staves and seasoning them.  You'll be thankful in the years to come.

[willie]

The basic idea is that with a pyramid bow it tapers down to your tips consistently out of the fade and with the flatbow its about the last third of the limb.

I might add that the taper is more in thickness with a flatbow and a longbow. ALB is said to be more squared in cross section than an English longbow (ELB). Many eastern woodland bows are ALBs

for 50# @ 30" draw. and being a first bow, I would pick a design that is long, and you have the staves for that.

IMHO, learning to tiller a sweet curve on a simple design is the way to go for a first bow,

 

[M2A]

Hi Chuck. How easy was it to remove bark? I have a piece of hackberry I cut 2 years ago(in winter), About a month ago I started to take bark off and it was on there very tight. I'll am interested in your build because I hope to start on that piece myself later this winter.

Just my thoughts with limited experience....for a 30" draw and 1st self bow I would look to start at 72" nock to nock. You can always shorten it up later.

Cheers, Mike             

[Philipp A]

Hi Chuck, those are great looking staves! I think you will be able to make fine bows from those staves. As to your choice of the type of bow you want to make, I don't have any experience with Hackberry so I leave it to the experts on here to provide you with advice on that. All I know is that those staves look great and you did all the right things to them to prevent checking.

[Chuck.e.b]

The bark was actually pretty easy to remove. The inner bark was a little tougher but not that hard. I took some video when I did it, I'll try to post soon.

[Chuck.e.b]

I finally got a edit together. I'm going to post vids as I go. Should be going through the design process and floor  tiller soon. Please chime in if you see any issues. Thanks.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eDFQTXT2OD0