2nd board bow showing follow while tillering

[bowkill]

I'm working on my second board bow.
Red Oak
55" n to n
bend in handle design

I have it tillered close, and about the correct weight 55# at 26"

I am allready showing about 1+ inches of string follow when it is unstrung.  I was planning on using hot water and flipping the tips, and then backing with rawhide.  I want this to be a hunting bow. 

Do I have a bad piece of wood, and should I just give up and make it a kids bow, or do I still have a chance of it being a good bow?

[John K]

1 inch is not bad, keep going !!

[Gordon]

If that's all the string follow you have so far for that design and wood you are doing very well. Don't stop now.

[Kegan]

That's a stressed design for that wood- if that's all you have so far consider yourself blessed  with unnatural skill .

[NOMADIC PIRATE]

55# and 1" of follow ?....that is a hunting bow !

[bowkill]

Well,  I'm chalking this up to a learning experience.  I boiled the tips in water for 15 minutes, and tried "flipping" them a little too much.  (Actually just one side)  It cracked, so I have now cut about 3 inches off each end, and my 8 year old should be expecting a new bow soon!! 

Just another step in the learning process of making a great bow.  As soon as I finish my "new" kids bow project, I'm starting again.

[Gordon]

As soon as I finish my "new" kids bow project, I'm starting again.

New bowyers are God's gift to children...never let a bow go to waste when a youngster could be appreciating it.

[Dustybaer]

i like that, gordon 

bowkill, even though i'm not familiar with red oak, i think 15 minutes wasn't enough.  if you have a scrap piece of red oak, try boiling it for 30 and bend it then (provided you have reduced it to the dimensions of your limbs).  just a thought.

[Hillbilly]

55" is really short for a hunting weight bow, especially with a weaker wood like red oak. 1" of string follow is better than average in a good design matched to the wood. People get the impression that a bow should have no follow, but that's not the way it normally works unless you start out with a bunch of reflex. Tim Baker used 1 1/2" of string follow as the norm in his performance and design chapter in the Bowyer's bible.

[david w.]

1" of string folow was great i usually dont care about string follow unless its over 3"

[a finnish native]

55" is really short for a hunting weight bow, especially with a weaker wood like red oak.

I disagree. I have made quite a few hunting weight bows (55#-40#) that have been 48"-54" long. the woods I use are soft whitewoods like Rowan and bird cherry. I have had no problems with them. No cryshals or nothing. it's the desing that makes the difference.

[Hillbilly]

OK, a 55", 55# @ 26" red oak board bow is short for some of the rest of us, then.  I wouldn't attempt one myself, because I couldn't pull it off without making it about 2 1/2" wide.