Sudburry or pyramid?

[WhistlingBadger]

Yes, more questions from me.  ha ha

Second attempt at a self-bow.  Hickory. 65" ntn, Hoping to come in around  50-55# @ 27".  Might try heat treating a little bit of reflex into it.  Pyramid or sudburry-ish (narrow handle, widest mid-limb) profile?  Pros and cons of each?

[PatM]

Sudbury.  It works great and looks 100x better than a pyramid.

[bradsmith2010]

sudburry,, 

[willie]

there are plenty of pyramids made from staves so pyramids are not limited to board bows, although the pyramid does lend it's self to building from boards easier than some other designs.

I only mentioned it in the other thread as an example what you might consider reasonable for your length, species and widths. there are certainly other similar NA examples and also the euro primitive holmie that is not all that much different from the sudbury if you are of the mind the holmie does not need to have the lever tips.

the sudbury has longer fades than most which makes it easier to tiller for folks that struggle with shorter fade designs.

[WhistlingBadger]

OK, a Sudburry it is.  Thanks for the input, guys.

One more question then I'll try to shut up for a while.  There's a big, 1/4" knot that goes from belly to back (it's more like a pin knot on the belly), about 1/4" off center.  The way this blank is shaped, the knot is going to end up about 2.5" into the fade.  Is that a problem?  Sudburry fades don't work much, so it shouldn't hurt anything, correct?

[willie]

when you lay out your handle,and fades you should not be too concerned about cutting it to width right a way. you can sketch the proposed lines and allow the fades some extra width to flow around the knot area. Pics?

How thick is the stave at the handle area?

[WhistlingBadger]

when you lay out your handle,and fades you should not be too concerned about cutting it to width right a way. you can sketch the proposed lines and allow the fades some extra width to flow around the knot area. Pics?

How thick is the stave at the handle area?

Bow knot problem by Whistling Badger, on Flickr

Tim roughed out the handle for me, thinking I was going to build a regular flatbow.  So the handle profile doesn't quite fit the sudbury shape, but I think I can make it work.  The handle area is about 12-13" long.  The edges of the limbs are c.1/2" thick; the middle is a bit thicker.

[PatM]

That won't  matter at all.  Get those fades looking better though.

[WhistlingBadger]

Yeah, I think Tim just roughed it out to save some weight for shipping.  Going to start chopping some wood today.  Stay tuned...

[willie]

the handle it thick enough at the center, but the sharp dip on the left may be may be close to final thickness if the fade is long.

Drawing the proposed side and back profiles out in the handle area will help others offer a better opinion.

one thing to keep in mind when floor or long string tillering is you will want to get the mid limbs bending well  before the center of the bow area. some have described the sudbury as having a non bending handle, others say theirs bend and they can feel it, others like to have a juuuust slightly bend in the handle area.  which ever way you end up, bringing the bend in close to the handle is for later in the tiller process

[TimBo]

I thought I was leaving plenty of wood for whatever design you wanted... didn't think of a Sudbury though!   Or maybe it shrunk...

[WhistlingBadger]

I thought I was leaving plenty of wood for whatever design you wanted... didn't think of a Sudbury though!   Or maybe it shrunk...

Yeah, sudbury's have crazy long fades, so I had to fit it on the stave just right, but it should be fine. Got it roughed out today.  Need to rig up some kind of vice so I can start doing finer work and tillering.