Inaugural “junior” bow trade

[Muskyman]

I had thought about that Zugal. It’s actually my backup for the other one. If my main bow doesn’t work out then I might heat it but it’s already had some heating on it to help with some twisting and other limb issues.

[sleek]

I've been absent, but I knew I would be at the beginning. I've got the design for this bow figured out and I do believe it will be polishing things to an edge. It will certainly be proofing my short recurve design to see if my ideas hold up.

It's a 60 inch recurve, will draw 50 pounds. My goal is for it to shoot a 450 grain arrow into the speed range of 190 fps or higher. To date all my recurves have been shorter and designed to shoot very light weight arrows at high speeds and distances. The idea is that short limbs are good for higher horse power which is great for lightweight arrows but lower torque. Longer limbs give higher torque which benefits heavier arrows and lower horse power. This line of thought has put my son and I into 5 world records between the two of us, and he has one US record.

But I've focused only on short limbed high HP bows. Now it's time to reverse the direction I've been looking, make some torque monsters, and reach for the heavier broad head arrow flight records. With nothing more scientific that gut feeling, and hope, I'm hoping to break the 200 fps mark. But that will be with less that 10gpp, so it won't count to that specific challenge.

With any luck I'll have less that 1/2 inch of set, maybe even 1/4 inch as I get with my current flight bows, and a bow that will be sent off with some medals won. More updates coming in the next few weeks.

[Muskyman]

I’m thinking I’ve done about all the damage I can do with these bows. The flip tip bow is just under 45 lbs my target weight.
The other bow still has a bit of extra weight I could play with but the limb with the red markings in the area I still don’t like has a little twist to it and I think that might be what makes it look a little funny. Any thoughts are appreciated as always. I’ll post more photos later on. I’m shaping the handle and sanding at this point.

[Muskyman]

Put some whitetail antler tips on the bow today. Used Pat B’s advice and put thin super glue on the antler before I glued them on.  First time for me. Not real happy but not the worst thing I’ve ever done.  First one got stuck to my fingers and I thought I’d never get it off in time but, I made it.
Didn’t string it up, figured I’ll wait till tomorrow..

[Aaron1726]

Those both look good to me!  The antler tips look really nice too.  Who ever ends up with one of those will definately be happy.

[Muskyman]

Thanks Aaron, I hope so. I’m pretty much done with mine, even shot a few times with it. I started thinking about a shelf. But don’t know if my recipient would want one. So I thought I’d ask for the guys in the trade to chime in. Shelf, no shelf. What kind of shelf if you would like one. I started out cutting one in on the bows I made and then we to a smaller leather shelf then on to just shooting off my hand so I’m good with anything. Any one else have a preference?
I’ll post some pictures here before long. Full draw and some other pics.

[Aaron1726]

I'm more a fan of shooting off the knuckle, I like the look of a bow with no shelf too.  The one I'm building, I'm not planning for a shelf.

[Muskyman]

Pretty much done except handle wrap and a few things. It’s a little flat on the top limb but has a little reflex in it there and it’s a fuzz weaker in that limb so I’m probably going to leave it in there. Shot about 35-40 shots through it today and it took no set at all that I could see immediately after taking the string off it. Seems pretty fast and didn’t notice much hand shock. Here’s a few pictures.

[superdav95]

Looks great!  Well done.  I’d be happy with that.   

[Muskyman]

I tried heating the limbs on the one with the flipped tips. Cooked them pretty good. Didn’t help with the weight. Shot about 30-40 shots through it and it seems to spit them arrows pretty fast. It probably won’t last a long time because of how skinny the limbs are. They are a little over an inch wide, maybe 1 1/4 tops at the fades and can’t really say fades because it kinda just goes from handle to limbs.
 Also tried to take a little off the flat spot of the top limb of my trade bow today, just with sandpaper. I think it’s bending a little more in that area. Shot about 30 or so though it today. That’s getting close to 100 arrows through it and so far so good. Handle still feels a bit big to me. Getting ready to make a string to ship with it. It shoots 700 graphite shafts that are 26 or 27 inches, I can’t remember, got them for my wife. But it shoots them good with no rest just off the knuckle. Seems to shoot straight and I can group arrows pretty good at 20 yards. Just about ready to go to my recipient.
It’s weighing in at 50 lbs at 27 inches. All in all a pretty good bow. I think.

[Muskyman]

Thinking about inlaying an arrow pass on the bow. I’ve got a piece of whitetail antler tip that I’ve been shaping. It’s probably 1/8 thick and is the outer shell of the antler, so no porous material in it. I might shrink it down in height but I’m thinking 1/8 thick is okay.

He’s a couple pics. Let me know what you think

[Muskyman]

Shot 15-20 shots through the bow today with the new string I made, I need practice with that. Not a great string for sure.. anyway I was measuring the tiller and it has about 1/8th negative tiller. Top limb is about 3/4 inch longer. Should I worry about the negative tiller or not. It shoots good and I have been getting good groups with it. I checked the draw weight and it’s only a few pounds from my low side for my recipient. 45-50 is what they wanted..
It’s never shown any signs of set in either limb at all after tillering or shooting. When I take the string off it’s right back to where it was. Probably only had it strung for a hour or so ever at most.
Top limb has just a hint of reflex out by the end. Far end it the top limb

[Aaron1726]

Lookin good muskyman, whoever gets that one will be happy for sure!