55# Pyramid Birch - my first from a stave

[Yorec]

I cut a log of Betula occidentalis, commonly known as western water birch, mountain birch, river birch, or even red birch from along a local creek in the mouth of a canyon last winter. I debarked and split it into quarters when I got home and worked on it over the summer. I called it complete this fall and put 500 shots through it before calling it finished.

I named the bow “Hannih” in honor of the Shoshone tribe that inhabited the area at the time the stave sprung up. (Transient verb meaning “to hunt”)

Today I took it with me when I drove out to feed the stock and put another 25 arrows into a foam target I keep out there.... and then a cottontail hopped by. I carry a blunt arrow just for such an instance and... missed. But one of my field point tipped target arrows made up for it and Hannih is now a proven hunting bow.

Sooo, as I mentioned in an earlier post I decided to present it here and see what ya’ll think!

Pyramid style
Betula Occidentals (birch) wood
3/4” wide at tips
2 1/8” wide at fades
69 3/4” TTT
69 1/4” KNK
30 1/2” working limbs
Grip is reversed bark from the stave
Tip overlays are antelope horn
Backed with polyester/cotton cloth (from some old uniform pants) and impregnated with fiberglass resin
Sealed/finished with lard

A true hodgepodge of modern and primitive materials and methods.

Working on posting pics!

[Pat B]

A proven hunter.    well done

[upstatenybowyer]

Cool. Congrats on your first from a stave!

[Yorec]

Thanks Pat B and upstatenybowyer - I’m trying to upload the full draw, half draw, etc pics so this bow can be critiqued!

Proving difficult, sigh.

[JWMALONE]

Excellent! I love small game with a bow. I love deer as well but show me a guy who can drill a rabbit between two clumps of grass or a willie ole fox squirrel off a limb at 15-25 yards and ill show a fine hunter with a fine bow.

[Yorec]

Getting there - finally figured out how to change file size... hope enough detail is left that you can pick out my errors!

[Yorec]

There is a slight twist in it - about 5 to 10 degrees I’m estimating. It doesn’t seem to affect accuracy so I left it alone.

I love how the handle came out -

What I don’t care for is how the lard finish collects dirt - gives it a sort of antiqued finish. I’d prefer something that showed off the clear wood!
 

[Jim Davis]

Looks like it's working and it's hard to argue with success.

The dips and fades do look pretty short, but as I said, it's working.

I haven't tried birch in a long time.

[Yorec]

Thanks JWMalone and JIm Davis -

I was hoping for more input as there is plenty I question about this bow, but think my pictures are to blame - by the time I shrink them down to fit forum standards the detail is lost. 

There are checks in the tips which don’t seem to have moved since I started the project (so I left them) and I forgot to post the picture of them. They are why the tip overlays are so long - in case I had to shorten the limbs.

The biggest thing I thought would provoke discussion is the stiff looking spot in the upper limb - I tried to thin it and just got it moving, but it doesn’t seem like it does much. The relaxed state really shows up in the unbraced side view - it is quite reflexed... I was wondering whether I should have went further. I didn’t because I thought the upper limb already appears to flex more than the lower. Just didn’t know for sure if I should go further from here.

As Jim noted, the fades I purposely shortened to just over an inch. I did this  because I wanted to make the most of the working limb, being unsure of the birch is was using - can this cause issues?

Next time I present a bow I’m make sure of better pics!
Thanks guys.

[Jim Davis]

Short abrupt dips just make it hard to avoid a hinge at the point where they thin out to limb thickness. You seem to have managed to  avoid hinges there.

[Yorec]

Ah, that makes sense since it it hard to keep from digging into the limb when coming off the fade... the pressure of bringing the tool (no matter which type) is greater as it comes off the slope and meets the flat plane of the limb.

I believe I Understand - Good advice, thanks.

[ohma2]

You did good on that,it looks like it will feed you.

[selfbow joe]

Nice work