Birch bows/results

[bassman]

Here are some paper Birch bows I have made in the last 6 months. With repeated heat treating this wood can make a relatively good bow.These bows shoot 100 plus  poundage at 10 gpp, and some exceed that by 10 fps. or more.

[Hamish]

A lovely group of low set bows. Well done.

[bassman]

Thanks Hamish. The pics don't show it , but some have a little reflex. Bad pic. It took repeated heat treat to hold the set to a minimum. That was the hardest part for me. Not thought of as a premium bow wood, so I am satisfied with the results. Use it if you have it in your area. It does work to a  certain degree as a bow wood.

[Bob Barnes]

one for each day of the week...   nice job. 

[PaSteve]

Good looking bows, Bob. Nice representation of paper birch as a bow wood.

[bassman]

Thanks Bob, and Steve. I cut some small trees last fall just to play around with Birch through the boring winter days. Any how if you have some handy ,and it is nice stuff try your hand at it. I wanted to try fire hardening one,but never got around to it. Good building ,and stay safe. Steve thanks again on fire hardening info.

[Black Moshannon]

If I made bows at that rate I’d be further along on this journey. This is some inspiration.

[simson]

Nice pile of bows.
How about letting us see more, braced, fd, details, ...

[RyanY]

Always like seeing bows from less commonly used woods. If I find some birch I’ll try it out.

[bassman]

Requested by simon

[bassman]

More Picks

[Hamish]

They look really good when drawn too.

 Its good to see some good bows made from the less familiar types of bow woods. I love yew and osage still, but much respect to a guy like bassman who goes the extra mile to get the most out of these woods.

[DC]

They're even nicer bent. Great job

[bassman]

My draw is short of 26 inches by a little. Bows are 1- 1/2 to 1-3/4 inches wide coming off the fades, and straight taper to 1/2 to 5/8 inch at the tips.60,60,57 inches long tip to tip. . All bows shot through a chrony with a 425 gr arrow.57 inch 45lb bow shot 156 fps. 60 inch 37lb bow shot 143fps. 60 inch 44lb bow shot 154 fps. Static release. Bows are shot with either 9 or 10 strands of B55 Dacron. With a 10 strand low stretch string  the chrony numbers would move up 4 to 6 fps. Hope this gives you a better idea of what you are looking at. Thanks to all.Bob.

[willie]

Good looking bows, Bob. Nice representation of paper birch as a bow wood.

I would second that, PaSteve. 

Bassman, Birch as a bow wood is underrated, as your bows show that designs that allow you to keep half the limb a good bit stiffer than the working bend (ala. mollegebet) are entirely doable, even in shorter lengths.