First Self Bow

[WackEM]

Finally was able to put a string on the bow and shoot it. Shoots pretty good, it’s a little stout, but very quiet and very little hand shock. Ended up at 60# at 27” even though I was shooting for around 50 to 55 pounds. Chronograph 160 fps. Pretty happy to make a bow with all hand tools even though some power tools would have been nice. Big thanks to everyone that gave help and advice.

[bradsmith2010]

congrats,, if your happy then its perfect,,enjoy shooting,,

[Kidder]

Awesome! Looks great! You did a great job blending the fades into a nice grip.

[superdav95]

Looks great.  Well done.  Make another one

[WackEM]

Thank y’all for the kind words still have to sand and seal it. Thought about staining it a little darker but have read that hickory doesn’t take stain very well so might just leave it. I have found another tree to make another one that is about 5” average. If I could get to split right I could have 2 staves. Wanted to take the bark off when I cut it on both staves and save one and try to fire harden the other. The humidity here in NC is awful. Any ideas on what to put on the back and ends of the saved stave to keep it from checking or splitting? I’ve heard glue, shellac, and paint but I wanted something I could take off in case this fire hardening thing works out I could do it when I get time and it not catch on fire haha. I have a heat box I made a long time ago when my wife bought me a laminate kit bow that’s still under the bed but I’ve never used it so I don’t even know if it works. Anyhow the learning experience continues and again thanks to all for helping me through this.

[superdav95]

Yes!  Fire hardening works and really is the ticket for your next bow especially in high humidity climate areas. I’m in Ontario Canada and it’s the way to go for sure. We are humid here as well.  You would just basically get to floor tiller stage or even little more to where you can get a string on it and then fire harden.  I’ve tried multiple combinations and variations on this depending on type of bow.  If doing a self bow for your next one with hickory make yourself a backset form with mild reflex to clamp your bow to and get to floor tiller and bake it.  About 3-4 hours cook is good. Low and slow is generally the rule.  You can just dig a bit of a pit and use rocks as your lining and walls or use block of cement.  The blocks at the ends are nice to adjust your height away from the coals as you monitor the cook.  You do t want to scorch it but you want a good deep cook with hickory as it can handle it.  Be sure to clamp out any unwanted prop twist or bends in the bow to your form before you bake.  It will heat set to the form and hold it after it’s done like magic.  It’s a new piece of wood after the bake.  You’ll be amazed at the difference from you first bow in performance and dimensions of the limbs and weight of overall bow.  You essentially harden up and shrink the cells of the wood and drive out moisture that rob performance.  I’ve tested white wood bows against yew and Osage and had surprisingly good results.  Make sure you clamp to your form and bake in the sun on on hot sunny days and or bring into the house if you’ve got central ac to get mc down to 10% or les before you bake it.  This will prevent your splits and checks.  I’ve used the heat gun method too with good results working from the grip fade area of each limb out to the tips.  Little more hassle and I feel it’s not as complete of a bake.  Lots of guys on here are white wood warriors and can give lots of info to help you out when you get there.  Best of luck. 

[WackEM]

Thanks dav you’ve been a big help. Yeah I have a form that i built and I heat treated this bow with a heat gun which I think helped a lot with holding its form through all the tillering and shooting yesterday. At rough in stage it had about 2 1/2 to 3 inches of backset and shooting it yesterday about 15 times and unstrung it it was about 0” or even and still is this morning. Hopefully it doesn’t continue to cave. I been watching Thad Beckum and Keith on YouTube fire hardening and it looks like the way to go. Any idea on what i could put on the back of the other stave to keep it from checking that would be easy to take off when ready to use?

[bjrogg]

That looks like a very nice braced profile on your first Selfbow. Well done.

Look forward to seeing more in the near future.

Bjrogg

[WackEM]

Thank you. Yeah I hope to start another as soon as I get this one sealed up. It takes me a long time to get one completed as I work 7 days a week. I have to just work on it a little every day in the evening and I don’t have a shop so if it’s raining or bad weather that’s another day I don’t get to work on it. Plus getting done all the honey do list lol. But I will be trying to get another one started. Thanks again for the compliment.

[superdav95]

Thanks dav you’ve been a big help. Yeah I have a form that i built and I heat treated this bow with a heat gun which I think helped a lot with holding its form through all the tillering and shooting yesterday. At rough in stage it had about 2 1/2 to 3 inches of backset and shooting it yesterday about 15 times and unstrung it it was about 0” or even and still is this morning. Hopefully it doesn’t continue to cave. I been watching Thad Beckum and Keith on YouTube fire hardening and it looks like the way to go. Any idea on what i could put on the back of the other stave to keep it from checking that would be easy to take off when ready to use?

No problem at all.  Beckham and Shannon are great guys. Very helpful. That is same method I basically use.  I’ve since gone away from brickets that they use and use hard wood coals but same principle really. You want cook to go at least half way through the thickness of limb.  As far as sealing up a stave while waiting for it to dry I use a water based poly coat that is applied by brush.  I do t worry about it when finishing up the bow later and has never been an issue for me. I light sand of back and I’ve been able to stain or dye to my liking.  I know guys on here stick with shellack and hear it’s better against heat for your bake but I e had good luck with water based poly.  Hope that helps ya

[wooddamon1]

Good looking bow!

[WackEM]

Anybody know a good stain to put on a hickory bow? I’ve heard hickory doesn’t accept stain very well. Just like to have it a little brownish color.

[Aksel]

First bows are my favourite threads here.

Great job on that bow!

There are many options for staining. What I often do is rubbing the bow with high quality oil paint diluted in a bit of turpentine. Rub it really hard for the paint to penetrate the grain. It will give the surface a nice contrast and the grain will stand out and darken the bow. The more applications the darker the bow.

I often use "Burnt umber", or mix it with some red to give it a warmer tone.  Brown boot polish will also do a very good job!

[WackEM]

First bows are my favourite threads here.

Great job on that bow!

There are many options for staining. What I often do is rubbing the bow with high quality oil paint diluted in a bit of turpentine. Rub it really hard for the paint to penetrate the grain. It will give the surface a nice contrast and the grain will stand out and darken the bow. The more applications the darker the bow.

I often use "Burnt umber", or mix it with some red to give it a warmer tone.  Brown boot polish will also do a very good job!

Thanks for the compliment. It was surely a learning experience. Been wanting to make one for a long time so I just went for it. Hopefully the next one will be a little easier and nicer. Also thanks for the recommendations on staining. So after I complete the staining or color I can just apply the sealer? I bought spar urethane for the sealer.

[Aksel]

Let it dry up before applying sealer. Shouldn´t take long if you do thin applications of stain and rub it in.