Edge grained Maple backed Yew

[DC]

DC, can you do a force draw in it if you have time?

It was on my list before company dropped in. They're gone now

[DC]

Not that impressive I don't think. I have a stop on the scale I use for this and if I'm not really careful I can overshoot the weight on each step. I think that accounts for the 1 and 3 at 20 and 21. Gotta think of another way. OK I fixed it
8"=2.5
9"=5
10"=8
11=11
12=13
13=15
14=17
15=19
16=20
17=22
18=23.5
19=25
20=26.5
21=28
22=29.5
23=31
24=33
25=35
26=36.5
27=39
28=41

It basically goes 3# steps to 11", then 2# steps to 18 and then 1.5# steps until I guess it starts stack at 27-28. Does that qualify as early draw weight.

[Badger]

  The performance numbers are too good for that force draw. I would double check the calibration on your scale.

[DC]

I'll double check all my scales. I've already done my arrow scale. When I made my spiner I weighed the 2# weight with certified scales. I'll have to be more creative for my bow scales but I've been through this more than once and they've always checked out. Can you think of anything it might be other than the scales?

[bushboy]

Very impressive and beautiful design!if your breaking arrows I would wear a leather glove! I found this out the hard way by impaling my thumb!

[Marc St Louis]

Lovely bow and excellent performance. 

Most of the time I will reflex the limbs with dry heat before I glue the backing down, if it's a type of wood that reacts well to heat that is, and then add more reflex on glue-up.  The bow keeps much more reflex that way.  If the wood benefits greatly from heat-treating then I do that as well as I am reflexing it.

[DC]

Thank you very much. I was shooting the arrows on the shooting machine so impaling my hand wasn't an issue. They were breaking when they hit the target. The only light arrows I had were to low in spine.
The bow already had  about 2" of natural reflex. I was a little hesitant to put in much more as it was my first Maple backed Yew and I had a few worries about the backing. I did make a similar Boo backed Yew a while back and I heat treated the belly with good results.

[Redhand]

 Very nice bow!  Looks like a smooth shooter. Great job!

[DC]

  The performance numbers are too good for that force draw. I would double check the calibration on your scale.

We have a pretty good bathroom scale so I put a 5 gal bucket on it, zeroed it out and poured water in it until it weighed 40#. Then I lifted the bucket and water with my bow scale and it said 40#. Then I got out my go to garage scales that are accurate to +- 1 gram. They will only weigh up to 5# so I scooped water out of the bucket and weighed each scoop until I ran out of water and then I weighed the bucket. I got 40.19#. So I'm confident in my scales. I realised that as I pull on the scale it gets longer(the spring stretches) and at 40#it is a half inch longer. I made a new peg board and put each hole 1.025" apart instead of 1" to compensate for this.
I redid the FD chart and it varied a pound here and there from the chart I posted.
So I've checked my scales bow and arrow and made a new rack for doing FD on. I've actually done three FD charts with slight mods each time and each time the numbers didn't change enough to bother changing anything. It's a very linear 2# per inch. Just to make sure the bow hasn't gone away I shot two through the chrono 400 grains and 40#@28" and got 190.7 and 190.8 fps. I'm going to move the shooting machine outside and take a couple of shots to eliminate lighting as an issue.

My setup.

[Badger]

  It sounds like you are doing everything right. I have no doubt you have a super performer there. I would sure like to try that thing out on the flight range. If you happen to have a very light arrow ( in the 200's) you would like to shoot through the chrono that would ne interesting. Your virtual mass is incredibly low and it should really zing those light arrows. If your stored energy were just a bit higher I would feel better. Always the risk of breaking a bow shooting light arrows so if you don't care to take the risk I wouldn't blame you. I have never damaged a bow doing it but I have seen a few of them come a part at the range

[DC]

I just can't get enough spine in a 200 grain arrow. Even 300 grain ones break when they hit the target. Maybe on a 24" arrow.

[Badger]

 That would be cool. If you can use an arrow you don't care much about. You don't even need feathers or tip, maybe darken the end with a marker

[DC]

I just hunted through all my carbon and aluminium arrows and I can't get anywhere near 200. I got one 28"carbon that was 288 grains. That went 205fps but even if I cut that to 24 inches it would be 222 with no tip. I'll keep poking around.

[willie]

I just copied Marc St Louis, to give credit where credit is due.

DC, there is lots of good inspiration around here, but a nice execution of any design that comes out that good, needs some credit given to the bowyer.

[Badger]

   The Mark St Louis design is so unique that even if it catches on and a lot of others start using it or variations of it. I believe it will always be known as his design. Minute improvements to it might be made over time but I doubt they will amount to much.