This is a 62” long vine maple bow that draws 45lbs at 28”. I have really started to enjoy using vine maple. It always has some level of character, even the straightest pieces will have cool pin knots and bumps on the back. I would say it is a terror to work compared to almost any other wood. It really come down to using the right tools. Blades don’t work, at least I’m not successful with them. A drawknife tears the interlocking grain. But I do use a carpenters axe to shape the profile without a problem. It’s all rasp and scrapers after that. I do like how well VM takes dye, but I also like to leave at least some of the original wood color there.
The tips are cocobolo and a bit of torn up road kill bull snake that my mother in law made sure to let me know she saw on the road, and I was able to make good use of it. Thanks for checking it out.
