65" Bamboo/maple/osage Tri-lam R/D longbow

[silent sniper]

Hey Everyone,
I wanted to show off my first attempt at making a Tri-lam bow. The bow is 65" NTN and draws 55# @ 28".

I glued up a combination of a bamboo back, white oak power lam, double tapered maple core, and a slightly tapered osage belly lam. I used a thickness sander and a taper sled to sand the maple and osage laminations. I then spliced the maple and osage laminations together before gluing the bow up. The handle is made up of thin laminated strips of hickory with a few pieces of jatoba on top for a mix of color. The limb tip overlays are Ipe.

The top limb is 1/2" longer then the bottom.

The bow was glued up with a couple inches of reflex and deflex. The finished bow lost around 1/2 of the reflex and ended up holding 1" rested reflex and only takes 1/4" set while shooting.

  Tillering was a bit difficult and I really took my time to ensure I did it correctly. Both limbs have an even tiller for my 3 under release. The bow draws smoothly and shoot well.

The bamboo back was stained with leather dye to create a natural camo. I then stained the rest of the bow with black walnut dye to darken up the osage and make the grain stand out more.

The bow is scribed with the phrase " Aim Small, Miss Small"; which was a phrase my grandpa liked to use.
The Cross on the bow reminds me of everything I have to be thankful for.

Two coats of amber shellac were used to seal up the bow before I applied 6 coats of water based spar.

The bow was finished off with a leather grip and arrow rest and a nice little piece of beavertail leather on the shelf.

After shooting the bow 75-100 times I decided to Chrony it. Drawing 55# at 28", I managed to attain 175 fps with 565 grain arrows and 170 fps with a 601 grain arrow; making this the fastest bow I have built so far.

The bow was a fun challenge to build and is a joy to shoot. If anyone has any suggestions on ways I can improve please do not hesitant to tell me! I definitely see more Tri-Lams in my future!

Photo credit to my wife for taking pictures for me.

Enjoy,SS

bamboo back, unbraced and braced
20180520-036A1347-Edit by Taylor Eliot

Full Draw
20180520-036A1416 by
[url=https://flic.kr/p/27r8H12]20180520-036A1427 by

[silent sniper]

Here are some more close ups
20180520-036A1384 by
[url=https://flic.kr/p/26koDv3]20180520-036A1386 by
[url=https://flic.kr/p/27r8JPH]20180520-036A1381 by [url=https://flic.kr/p/HMc8Gv]20180520-036A1364 by

[silent sniper]

20180520-036A1441 by [url=https://flic.kr/p/HMc2jv]20180520-036A1431 by [url=https://flic.kr/p/27r8G16]20180520-036A1444 by [url=https://flic.kr/p/HMc1GZ]20180520-036A1436 by [url=https://flic.kr/p/26koD7h]20180520-036A1405 by

[Badger]

      Very nice job, excellent lay up and great performance.

[youngbowyer33]

Wowee that's a nice one

[Bob Barnes]

Great job... your tiller looks spot on.

[simk]

May I order one of theese? 

[Del the cat]

Nice work, tiller looks great
Not a great fan of stained finishes... but if it's for hunting, fair enough
Del

[leonwood]

Nice bow! I like the smoothness and performance of RD's!

[Will B]

Great job on that bow.  Love the stain job on that bamboo back.  Excellent tiller!

[Marc St Louis]

Very well done Taylor.  You did a great job on the tiller.  I bet it shoots great.  Some pretty wild grain on that Osage though

[upstatenybowyer]

Beautiful work!

[Bob W.]

Nice bend and tiller looks great, the grain on the osage would probably kept me from using that board but its some tuff stuff, look forward to seeing more of your work!

[BowEd]

Excellent work SS.I like it.

[Bayou Ben]

That one came out great.  That's the shape I look for when I'm building a r/d longbow.  I like the shape of the outer limbs at brace and full draw.  That style bow makes for a smooth draw and has great performance as you are a witness to.  Great job on your 1st attempt! It took me about 5 before I got it to look that good!