64inch sinew backed osage character bow,60 ish@ 32" more photos

[bradsmith2010]

  ok I tillered it out to 32 inches on tree,,, but I can only draw it to 30,, its shoots good,,bout 56# 
will send more pics after I get the handle on it, and will add braced and full draw photos,,
I had been reading some post on long draw shorter bows so tried one to see if it would shoot hard,, it did,,
it follows the sting a bit even with the sinew on it,, will add more asap,,
I didnt induce reflex, just to see what it would do even,, but will next time to see how that improves it,,
the handle has a bad curve ,, so I had to shoot it right in the middle, so really the top limb is longer,,sort of,, but it gets good arrow flight with a 55 60  spruce shaft,, 569 grains,,the bow weighs 21 1/2 oz  ,
   one limb is more narrow and roller coaster and the other limb a bit wider with some reflex so it was a little difficult to tiller, once I got it to 32 inches of draw, and it not shift or change the unbraced profile, I called it good,, it shot so well I feel its pretty close,, it has better cast than I was expecting for no reflex,, I think the long draw is helping that,,
   working on handle now,, and gonna paint the back to protect the sinew,,
   im almost to 30 mark in photo,, the last mark is 32, I did draw it to that on tree,,
   i have a hand scale just couldnt pull it to 32,,for exact weight at that draw,,

[bradsmith2010]

rawhide handle,, the arrow will pass where it curves in a bit,,had some issues on the handle and used the rawhide to cover the sinew wrap,,

[bradsmith2010]

starting to paint the back,,

[bradsmith2010]

unbraced

[Allyn T]

That's a long bow for you  looks good dude! I've never seen a painted sinew bow I dig it. How long did it take you to make this one?

[George Tsoukalas]

Wow, Brad. Very impressive. Jawge

[bradsmith2010]

   the bow was roughed out, to brace  I was making a self bow,, but decided to see if I could make a 32 inch draw,,,, I put the sinew on, and finished it in about 10 days,,
I wanted to see if I could get it to shoot hard,, being a longer sinew bow than I usually or ever have made,, it was interesting,, at about 27 inches of draw it started shooting good,,
at 27 ,,,it was 53# at 27 and shooting 167fps with 527 grain arrow,,with b55 string,,
that was better than I expected,, so I kept tillering it out,, and just left the weight a bit heavy,,,but it would be a good hunting bow for someone with a long draw, it shoots hard,,and not too long as well,,
it will shoot a 569 grain arrow 174 fps at 31 inches of draw,, estimate it to be close to 58# at 31,, I think it woud be a little faster with fast flight, but dont have any string right now, and Im happy with that,,anytime I get a bow to shoot hard enough to kill a deer I am happy,,
    Thank you Jawge,, you know we like to make our bows,,
    I will show full draw tomorrow, its not pretty,, but its not broke and shoots good,, las time I photoed myself at full draw the bow expoded,, so Im a bit gun shy,,

[Allyn T]

That's awesome, so do you like the longer draw or still prefer your shorter draw?

[bradsmith2010]

  I enjoyed shooting the longer draw,, but my comfort zone is about 24 or 25,, I can face more forward ,, and like the way I can look over the arrow,, its something I have done for 20 plus years, the longer draw is fun,, but the shorter draw bows feel more natural to me, as I am sure some prefer the longer draws,,, for me when I would get out to 30 inches, the string started to hit the front of me,, I think I am just not used to it,,

[bradsmith2010]

 top limb art work,,,, on a side note, a bow with slight string follow can still shoot really well,,I prefer my sinew bows to be reflexed,,
and have made some short draw bows with little reflex and they dont shoot that great,, on a short bow to get good cast i think you pretty much have to have a reflexed unbraced profile,,
   but on this longer bow with longer power stroke,,,, it shot fine with no reflex( the sinew keeping it from following the string too much),,, that being said, if I had put more reflex in the bow,, I have a feeling it would be even more effecient,,but like I said,, it was a nice experiement and it shoots fine as is,,

[bradsmith2010]

64 inch osage sinew backed bow about 60# at 32 inches of draw,
art work on the back,,,,painted with acrylic,,

[bradsmith2010]

art work in the sun,,

[Will B]

Great looking bow Brad!  That’s a fast, hard hitting bow. I really like your paint job. I’m gonna try to build one similar to that for a shorter, sinew backed, hunting bow. Most of mine are 66”-68” selfbows for my 29” draw. Thanks for sharing!

[bradsmith2010]

thanks Will,, it was fun to make and shoot,, I think the 64 inches gives you some stability,,but still shoots well,,you could go shorter for your 29 inch draw,,like I said it started shooting pretty good at 27,, 29 would work great at that length I think,,I just put two layers of sinew on so it would dry faster,, cause I am not very patient,,

[Will B]

I think your full draw looks really nice!  Plus it’s still in one piece😉. Great looking bow you have there.