Broken record bow . Literally ! and a want a be.

[Selfbowman]

I broke a couple records with the dark bow. The other is as close as I could get to it. I did get the limbs on the new bow as rectangular as possible for the engineer to run in the computer. Both 67” ntn . The new one was 1/8 narrower at the fades everything else same on width. The old bow 26.2 oz. the new one 26.8 oz. both 48@28 # the new one did not flight test as well. Both had the same type growth rings . The new one has real flat back and belly . The old one a bit of crown in the back mainly at fades.
I haven’t tried my best arrow  in it but probably 15-20 yds short of the broken record bow. Now to see what the computer model will look like. I will send off the measurements and a wood sample to see what comes from it. I measured the sides and finger calipers on thickness. Here are some pics.

[Selfbowman]

Pic

[Selfbowman]

Pic

[Bob Barnes]

Love it Arvin...keep up the flight fight.  It is aggravating when things are almost exactly alike and yet still different.   

[Del the cat]

Yup... that's the nature of wood and stuff.
Years ago we had a radar display that had so many different versions of the various circuit boards that we coined the saying:-
"They're all interchangeable except where they differ"
Del

[bjrogg]

Ah that beautiful yet somewhat frustrating wood.

Will be interesting to see what the engineering team finds out.

Looking on my phone it almost looks like the older one has a very slight amount of reflex mid limb bottom limb and the new one a very slight deflex there. That could just be illusion though.

For some reason they both look the same length except for the picture of the front  profile. That picture the new one looks like its top limb is a couple inches shorter.

Must be a illusion

Bjrogg

[Selfbowman]

New can of worms!  Can you change the elastic property’s of wood??? My wood is to dry I think. Below 6%. Will olive oil, motor oil,  water , true oil or any thing change the elasticity?? If so can we spray lacquer on the belly and oil the back changing the neutral plane. It does when we add sinew or bamboo.

[bentstick54]

I don’t know about adding any type of oil to change the elasticity, but I would thinking any different amount of heat applied for corrections, adding in recurves etc., or heat treating from 1 stave/bow could make a difference from 1 bow to another by changing the cells of the wood by different amounts. Maybe?

[Selfbowman]

So I whats the best way to rehydrate the wood?

[bjrogg]

So I whats the best way to rehydrate the wood?

I’m thinking slowly. I don’t have anything to measure moisture. I usually just let mine sit for about three days after heat treatment or corrections.

I doubt my shop’s humidity is as low as yours though. I have in floor geo thermal. It seems to be a good climate for them though.

I’m sure moisture affects our woods. Not sure if it’s elasticity or compression, but from my experience here. When it gets really wet and humid I might notice a slight decrease in performance.

The dryer the more performance, but like those race cars everything has to be right or they go boom.

Bjrogg

PS I’m convinced that a really good heat treatment changes compression characteristics. Maybe not in all wood varieties but certainly some

[bradsmith2010]

   sometimes I put mine outside away from heat,, if the humidity is up ,,,
or spray it with water,,,
the difference could be in the way it was tillered or a million other variables,,as suggested difference in heat treating,,or just the difference in the wood,,
    Guitars are manufactured to close tollerence, but none sound the same,,the really great sounding ones are treasured and can not be duplicated,,,

[PEARL DRUMS]

Your bathroom is probably the most humid in your house. Leave it tipped up behind the toilet for a few weeks and it'll creep up in humidity. 

[Selfbowman]

Thanks Pearl that sounds easy enough.

[lonbow]

Thanks for sharing these two beautiful bows.

Here are my thoughts: I think it's interesting that the new bow weights slightly more than the old one. This might be the reason why the older bow shoots faster. In my opinion, there are two possible reasons: 1. I have the impression that the older bow is slight narrower in the midlimb area and outer third of the limbs. Or is this impression due to perspective?
2. The wood of the new bow might have a higher density.

lonbow

[loefflerchuck]

Nice looking clone Arvin. Seeing the bow up close I liked how much more rounded your edges are than other high performance bows. Hard to duplicate a bow and get the same performance. I think you need to make 5 to have a better chance. Sometimes you can't tell from a piece of wood, sometimes you can. The little hickory bow I have with a couple records came from a stave I got online auction for about $30. It had a perfect natural reflex. The stave sat in my shop for about 5 years and I kept thinking "I need to make a flight bow from this stave someday". Every time I try and make a self bow to compete with it from a normal stave they come up short.
 For humidity. I have a room with a RH meter and a humidifier. When I need to add moisture I let the humidity get up to about 60% for a few days. I have a incense cedar stave that is way too dry. I've had that in a bathroom and turn on a hot shower a couple times a day and close it in there at 100% RH. I swear the bear grease I have adds some "sap" to the wood as other bows get too dry without it. Some may argue that.