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Author Topic: First Bow  (Read 3157 times)

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Offline Sepecat

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First Bow
« on: July 07, 2019, 12:04:57 pm »
Evening all. Long time reader but first time poster and I must say I've found a huge amount of very good information here so thank you all.

I'm not much of an archer myself although I have wanted to build a bow since I was a kid.

This bow is made from whatever I could get my hands on so it's a spliced piece of white oak (the splice could be tighter so I dowelled it for additional strength) with a riser made from some walnut which I also used to make the tip overlays.

It's 68" overall, 66" NTN. I haven't had a chance to check the draw weight yet but it's reasonably lightweight I think.

I've managed to get it to my full draw of 29" although there's a fair amount of string follow.

I've got a bit more shaping to do on the handle, shelf and arrow pass to make the whole thing a bit smoother

No idea if it's a shooter yet as I need to borrow some arrows. My brother-in-law is a keen archer but shoots left handed which is why I made the double shelf, I'm looking forward to getting his opinion.

It's not meant to be anything serious so I'm not expecting much in the way of performance. It was more to test my skills and get some practice in before maybe trying something else in the future with better materials. I may toast the belly just because I can and it might halt any more string follow/set.

Anyway, I think it turned out OK. I will hopefully be able to report back some more specifics in the next week-or-so.

Would welcome any comments or suggestions on improving it. I hope the photos magically appear at the link below.

https://www.flickr.com/gp/182511120@N02/0wpMJ5

Thanks for looking.
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Offline burchett.donald

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Re: First Bow
« Reply #1 on: July 07, 2019, 01:03:22 pm »
  For your 1st bow that is one really nice even bend you have...Congrats and welcome to PA
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Offline Woodely

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Re: First Bow
« Reply #2 on: July 07, 2019, 01:03:39 pm »
Overall it looks great, but it looks like the fades are doing all the work, the outer limbs appear stiff.
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Offline SLIMBOB

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Re: First Bow
« Reply #3 on: July 07, 2019, 01:09:04 pm »
Congrats on your first!  If you follow the path I did, you will be scrathin' that itch for years, decades to come.
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Offline Eric Krewson

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Re: First Bow
« Reply #4 on: July 07, 2019, 01:41:26 pm »
Nice first but you do have a hingy spot out from your fades on the right limb that shows in the braced picture. That said, it is ten times better than my first bow that was so poorly tillered that it blew after about 30 shots even though it was sinew backed.

Look up a tillering gizmo, it will prevent hingy spots. There is a how to make and use one in the How To and Build Along section of this site.
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Offline bjrogg

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Re: First Bow
« Reply #5 on: July 07, 2019, 01:43:39 pm »
 Very Nice first bow. Looks like you've been doing your homework.

Welcome to PA
Bjrogg
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Offline Sepecat

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Re: First Bow
« Reply #6 on: July 07, 2019, 01:53:44 pm »
Quote from: Eric Krewson on July 07, 2019, 01:41:26 pm
Nice first but you do have a hingy spot out from your fades on the right limb that shows in the braced picture. That said, it is ten times better than my first bow that was so poorly tillered that it blew after about 30 shots even though it was sinew backed.

Look up a tillering gizmo, it will prevent hingy spots. There is a how to make and use one in the How To and Build Along section of this site.

I noticed that but I seemed to be losing too much draw weight trying to get the outer limb bending more so decided to quit while I was ahead  ;D
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Offline airkah

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Re: First Bow
« Reply #7 on: July 07, 2019, 03:14:40 pm »
Welcome! Much nicer than my first bow!
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Offline Pappy

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Re: First Bow
« Reply #8 on: July 07, 2019, 04:18:36 pm »
Congrats on your first shooter, much better than my first several bows. ;) Welcome to the addiction, hope to see more of your work as time goes on. :)
 Pappy
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Offline PaSteve

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Re: First Bow
« Reply #9 on: July 08, 2019, 06:22:18 am »
Welcome to PA. Agree, that is a nice bow, especially for your first. You did an excellent job on your nock overlays also. Keep building.
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"It seems so much more obvious with bows than with other matters, that we are the guardians of the prize we seek." Dean Torges

Offline Pat B

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Re: First Bow
« Reply #10 on: July 08, 2019, 06:25:52 am »
Nice bend for your first bow. The outer limbs should bend a little more but you can do that on your next one.
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Make the most of all that comes and the least of all that goes!    Pat Brennan  Brevard, NC

Offline ohma2

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Re: First Bow
« Reply #11 on: July 08, 2019, 08:06:59 am »
You are doing great with that ,when finishing your grip area round off your arrow shelfs so as not to be so flat .
you should  continue to build cause you show tallent .
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Offline Hawkdancer

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Re: First Bow
« Reply #12 on: July 08, 2019, 09:17:37 am »
Selecta,
Very nice!  I like the overlays, and handle!  The more experienced guys will be able to give better advise on tiller and such!  Welcome aboard!  Keep up the good work!
Hawkdancer
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Offline Sepecat

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Re: First Bow
« Reply #13 on: July 08, 2019, 09:47:12 am »
Many thanks for all your kind comments and advice, much appreciated.  :)

I'll hopefully post some more photos when I've finished all the shaping and finishing.

I'll try and put a scale on it at some point to get a rough draw weight and report back once I put some arrows through it.  :o
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Offline bassman

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Re: First Bow
« Reply #14 on: July 08, 2019, 01:38:07 pm »
Nice. Keep up the good work.
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