osage/hickory reflexed short bow

[radius]

Hi, I have had a great time working on this little sucker...making it at the same time as the two board bows in my other thread.  It's not done yet...at the moment it's curing on the reflex form.  I have to say hickory is superior to bamboo in terms of ease of use and application.


















The reflex form has 3 inches total reflex over 66 inches...this bow is just a hair shy of 43 inches long!  so the reflex put into it will be around 1.75 to 2 inches.  This time I just used yellow glue for the glue up.  I'm not going for anything mega with this bow, so I didn't want to waste my epoxy and my time.  After all,  a guy's gotta do more with his time than just make bows!

[radius]

Ok, it's the next day and the bow has been sanded to shape, a string sent down the center, and tip overlays of osage added on.  Notice that the grain of the hickory is PRIMO, PERFECT...God, if it were always this easy!





This is at about 15" draw...

[Pat B]

I think that your handle is gonna pop off when you draw this bow. You can see the handle area bending when you pull it to 15".    If it does pop off try adding 3 thin(about 1/8") pieces of graduating lengths. This type seems to bend a bit and may stay on better.
   This is going to be a nice little bow. Looking forward to the finished product.      Pat

[radius]

Pat,

Thanks for the advice and the encouragement.  But I wasn't even going to thicken up the handle.  Not with wood anyway.  I see John Strunk sometimes uses an insole for padding around handles, under the leather, and I thought I would do something like that.   After all, this is a small bow:  it doesn't need a big handle...

That being said, it is a stiff little sucker!  I can see why osage is called Bow-wood.  I have a french-canadian friend who had never heard of bois d'arc:  when I told her that I had some, she had to come over and see it.  I don't think she was as impressed as I am!

[radius]

Next step:  trim down the tip overlays, reduce the width of the limbs (the last 12" or so) and set it back up on the tiller stick.







You can see that there is a bit of gappage here.  My mistake in rounding over the handle before putting on the backing.  I will have the sand that down to a clear line before I 'm  done.



In these 2 pictures, the bow is drawn to 13".  The string is 1 inch longer than the bow, so, 44 inches.  The pressure was considerable, to get it into place.  How far do you guys think a short bow like this should max out, at full draw?  20 inches or so?  18?  Is there a formula, like, max draw length equals 1/2 bow length?  Or something like that?  Boy, when I first imagined this bow, I thought it would be a kids bow.  But it is STRONG.  Yikes!

[Pat B]

She's gonna be a great little bow. I like hickory backing, especially for osage and ipe. It makes for a great bow...and like you said, it is way easier than dealing with boo.
   I have used leather to pack out handles. works very well and flexes with the wood. Shoe repair shops(if there are still any) have pre-cut sole leather of about 1/4" thick or so. I use this quite a bit. I like to put a bit on the back also to help round out the handle( I make bulbous handles) and make it more comfortable while shooting.
  If you reduce the width of your tips but leave the thickness you will decrease the physical weight without reducing the strength.  As far as the gaps in your glue line, a bit of super glue will fix you right up.
   Lots of folks cut in the handle first thing. I like to leave the handle area and the tips unfinished until the very end. I even shoot a bow first before reducing these areas. This gives me a place to clamp the bow in the vice without effecting the final bow.    Pat
 

[radius]

Working good so far.  Amazes! me every time I pull on this thing.  It's not a "little sucker" as I have been calling it.  It's also not a "sweetie" as Pat B has been saying it would be.  It's a MONSTER!

I finally got some brace height out of it today.  3.5 inches.   Found some unevenness in the tiller.  Fixed that.  Every time I string this monster I am "knee-tillering" it.  Finally, the inevitable happened, but only in a very minor way.

















This crack is so minor, I could probably just sand the spot away and never notice.  It still needs to be tillered, otherwise i'd just wrap it with artificial sinew or something.  It bends all the way along its length, so I can't just leave the handle out of the equation.

While I wait for some advice, I'll post some other pictures of the firehawk and work on the BBO bows which were my first thread.  Thanks.

[radius]

oh...

with the taut string on (not braced, just v. tight)  I drew the bow on the scale to 13 inches...the same draw as in these new pictures.  It was 38-40 pounds!

[Pat B]

Put some super glue or TB glue in the splinter and temporarily wrap it until it dries. Sand it smooth and keep on. If necessary, you can add a permanent wrap later.      Pat

[El Destructo]

Hi....I don't know where you came up with the Bench Leg Mounted Tiller Device....But I would spend the Money for an Oak Board or something ....make a Tiller tree....and Mount it upward on a Leg...and lose the Clamp... That setup scares me to look at....when you pull a Bow on this ....where is your Face located??? I would be afraid to use it....but thats Just My Opinion...And I Have Been Wrong Before....but as my Wife would say....Very Seldom would You admit it!!!!!!!!!!

[radius]

You're right, Yankee...this is a hokey f'n setup for sure.  Canadians!  ADB (holmegaard buildalong) does something similar, and I will paraphrase him:  "Never been clocked yet!"

Yeah, I definitely need a better shop, instead of outside under the landlord's deck.  I want to hook something up to one of those pillars, but so far I haven't asked.

Rent around here is big time money:  house poor and can't afford a shop right now.  But I'm turning out some fair bows.  If I start selling 'em regularly, I'll have more money to invest in space, a better setup, and a safer tillering station.

[El Destructo]

You could always make it so that it clamped to the Post...not through it....so you could remove it when not in use.... Just a worry wart I guess....I have had to pull wood out of my own Forehead and Neck before....and don't wish it upon anyone else....and mine was done with a Tiller Stick...also got it once at Full Draw in the Garage....it blew up and got me and the Garage Door and ceiling....so be cautious.....would ya!!

[radius]

thanks!  Yeah, I've never been hit ...YET!  But the ceiling took a good hit once!

[radius]

well, i snuck some glue under that little crack, and a couple days later I got back to work on the thing.  I narrowed the entire bow, handle to tip, and then sanded a fair bit of the inside.  Still lifted though:  that little crack.

So, i am following Pat B's earlier advice:  I have ground up 3 lams (popsicle sticks, really) to cover the handle and thicken it up a bit.  1 is of hickory, to contrast the belly; and 2 are of yew, 1 for the back, and 1 for the bellly.  WE'll see...it might not be very pretty!  but i can always stain it.  I now have an abundance of pacific yew, whereas i am running low on osage and what i do have is spoken for.

we'll see....

[radius]

ok,

My first mistake with this little bow was in reflexing it.  It's simply under too much pressure.  It always feels like it's just about to break. 









I had other scraps of osage, but I decided not to use them for a short bow like this, but instead saved them (and have almost used them up!) for accents and stuff. 

I have reduced this short bow from its initial 1.5" width to 1 1/8th...  and it's probably going to have to be 3/4" before it's reach a decent draw!