Pyramid bow.

[superdav95]

Dave.....
Epifanes has a spar wood matte finish in conjuction with it's gloss finish that gives a dull matte finish to my bows.It's a top quality spar varnish.Dries completely within a couple of days too.All depending on humidity of course.

Thanks for the tip Ed.  I’ll have to see if I can source some of that. 

Dave

[superdav95]

Very nice, but you have to tell us about those fancy looking sticks in the back ground. 

Thanks Tradcraftsman!  Good eye!  Yes those are a couple of my bamboo horse bows I made earlier this year.  I bought some horn off of Ed and just waiting for it to arrive and I’ve got a Turkish style horse bow I’m gonna belly lam with buff horn.  I’ll see how it goes from there if I will sinew the back or not. I guess to see how well or poorly it goes before wasting too much time and good sinew and horn. These bows shoot well now just using heat treated bamboo slats.  Hoping for some testing out some ideas in near future with these guys.  We shall see.  I’ll be sure to post some results.  Here’s a few pics of those “sticks”.  Ones a 40lbs and the other is 50lbs at 30”.  Both shoot very well. 

[bentstick54]

Dave, yes I have had good luck just spraying Deft brand poly Satin finish over Truoil. I have always thought satin and matte where basically the same in the dullness factor, some brands call it satin, and some brands call it matte. I could be wrong on that though. Locally I have only found the Deft brand stocked in satin, semi-gloss, and gloss. I have one snake skin backed bow that’s probably 5 years old and has been shout 1000’s of times and finish has held up well.

[superdav95]

Here’s a short video of the 50lbs bamboo bow shooting 450grain arrow at 30” draw.  194fps isn’t bad.  The 40lbs is no slouch either at 185fps at same draw length with same arrow. 

Here’s the video link

https://photos.app.goo.gl/1Q1LsQ27LzrPuaeD8

Cheers

Dave

[superdav95]

Dave, yes I have had good luck just spraying Deft brand poly Satin finish over Truoil. I have always thought satin and matte where basically the same in the dullness factor, some brands call it satin, and some brands call it matte. I could be wrong on that though. Locally I have only found the Deft brand stocked in satin, semi-gloss, and gloss. I have one snake skin backed bow that’s probably 5 years old and has been shout 1000’s of times and finish has held up well.

Ok. This is awesome.  Just what I want to hear.  I’ve been wondering how to really protect these skins now.  Good stuff thanks again

Dave

[bownarra]

Next bow try Tung oil. It has superior warer resistance and has none of the issues varnish has

[BowEd]

Epifanes has a tung oil base.

[superdav95]

I actually have some tung oil and have used on a couple bows.  I wasn’t sure about it as it seemed quite thin.  But now that I think of it it may work really well as a penetration first layer then apply the finish coat of spar urethane (epifanes) or other brand.  Am I limited to tung oil based products as a finish coating if I use the tung oil first?  Here’s the tung oil I have.  It says interior use only though. Do you think it matters?   

[Stixnstones]

Got a cool looking bow there.... been using 8 coats of tung oil on all my bows without issue. Cant wait to see that beauty all dolled up and bent to full draw

[superdav95]

Got a cool looking bow there.... been using 8 coats of tung oil on all my bows without issue. Cant wait to see that beauty all dolled up and bent to full draw

Thanks stixnstones.  I ended up doing a light coat of the tung oil to penetrate as a base the a few coats of the spar urethane by Helmans.  Just waiting for it to dry now.  I’m gonna do some decorative paint with white and black along the sides. 

Cheers. 

Dave

[txdm]

Beautiful bow! I didn't know hickory could work at 1-3/4" wide and not take set...esp without heat treat (seeing that the belly is pristine white). Was this a stave that you dried in reflex?

[superdav95]

Beautiful bow! I didn't know hickory could work at 1-3/4" wide and not take set...esp without heat treat (seeing that the belly is pristine white). Was this a stave that you dried in reflex?

Thankyou. sir.  Yes the bow was clamped to a form and sun dried for couple weeks to get it to below 10% mc.  The form had a little reflex built in. Maybe around 3” or so.  I lost a tiny bit of this when tillered and shot in.  I did bake this one for about 3 hours over hot coals.  Wood removal on belly lighted it up quite a bit.  Still got the benefit of heat treatment though.  Here’s a pic of belly I stained or any finish

[txdm]

Thanks for the details superdav95. I want to try baking one over coals someday, its the "hottest" new thing to do. 

[superdav95]

Hey guys. Here is a quick little video of me shooting this pyramid bow with a luminok on a carbon arrow.  It’s pretty fast for a piece of hickory! 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/S12ses1rReZaNmyP8

[superdav95]

Just did a third coat of poly urethane and waiting for it to dry.  Any thoughts on some artwork along the sides of the limbs?  Looking for ideas.  Show me what you got or have done in the past.  I’ve rounded the shelf a bit more and still have to put the beaver tail skin on but coming along.  Let me know what you guys think I should do to break up the white sides of limbs. 

Cheers.

Dave