A couple static curve questions

[WhistlingBadger]

Bleah.  Not what I wanted to hear, but thanks for the advice.  This bow is already only 54", so I can't really cut the tips off and make it into an even shorter bow.  I already have several kids' bows in the pipeline.  So if I don't go through with this one, I'll have to just cut it up for firewood and start all over.  Bleah.  I sure wish I'd make these mistakes at the beginning stages instead of 2/3 of the way done.

[WhistlingBadger]

Well, I think I'll put this one away and start anew.  Might get it back out at some point and see if I can salvage it, but don't feel inclined to put any more work into a losing proposition.  Thanks for the help.  Onward.

[SLIMBOB]

Get you a good stave of some sort. Build a self bow. Build it right and you won’t need to back it, unless you just want to. I have been where you are. Bummer, but if you learned something, then parlay that knowledge into the next one.

[WhistlingBadger]

Yeah, I've got a couple of good self bows I'm happy with, so the pressure's off.     And I still have a couple good hickory staves.  I really want to make a short bow that I can use to hunt antelope from a ground blind.  My long bows aren't so great for that.  I also really want to try the local bow woods, juniper and chokecherry.  Both of those definitely need to be backed, so I thought I'd try out the design on hickory first, since it's pretty hard to screw up.

And yet still, I managed.  It's one of my many super powers.

[SLIMBOB]

Choke Cherry you won’t have to back. With a good piece. I have a friend working on a short one now.

[WhistlingBadger]

Interesting!  Everything I've read says that they have an annoying tendency to explode randomly, sometimes after shooting them for several years.  So I'd probably play it safe and at least put rawhide on it.  My face ain't much, but it's the only one I've got. 

[WhistlingBadger]

The thing I like about a chokecherry bow is that stuff is tough.  You can hardly break it if you try. I have used it to make walking sticks and hatchet handles.  So a good bow made of chokecherry would probably last a long time, even in bang-it-up hunting conditions. 

I've worked with juniper before, but I made some mistakes and never got a shooter with it.  It is a joy to work with, almost like carving chalk.  And wow, does it make the shop smell wonderful.

[SLIMBOB]

I think with a few exception's, you can make a decent self bow with so many different woods. Black Cherry being an exception for me, but others have succeeded with the nasty stuff. Just make it wider and or longer in the right proportions. A decade ago I laughed at the idea using Hackberry. After learning to heat temper, Hackberry is a perfectly good option.
Texas Persimmon. Yet to get a shooter from it after several attempts, but it is short small diameter and twisted up around here. I will keep after getting one from it.

[bassman211]

Some of our natives have made both bows, and arrows from wild choke cherry. I also tried it some years back. You really need to sinew back it for safety in my opinion.  One winter I built 6  self bows from this wood not knowing much about it as a self bow wood. . All went well until a couple of hundred shots in. One blew up at full draw, and I mean blew up. I was lucky not to loss an eye. Broke my glasses in 2 pieces, and it gave me a bad shiner. The wood I was using had hidden flaws. The branches though do make good arrows. I heat treated them, and fluted them. The bows were 62 inches long. One ,and 5/8 at the fades to 5/8 at the tips, and 40 to 45 lbs. at 25 inch draw. I still have a couple left, but won't shoot them until I sinew back them. Just my experience, and others may vary.

[WhistlingBadger]

Some of our natives have made both bows, and arrows from wild choke cherry. I also tried it some years back. You really need to sinew back it for safety in my opinion.  One winter I built 6  self bows from this wood not knowing much about it as a self bow wood. . All went well until a couple of hundred shots in. One blew up at full draw, and I mean blew up. I was lucky not to loss an eye. Broke my glasses in 2 pieces, and it gave me a bad shiner. The wood I was using had hidden flaws. The branches though do make good arrows. I heat treated them, and fluted them. The bows were 62 inches long. One ,and 5/8 at the fades to 5/8 at the tips, and 40 to 45 lbs. at 25 inch draw. I still have a couple left, but won't shoot them until I sinew back them. Just my experience, and others may vary.

Thanks for your input, Bass.  I've heard the same basic story from enough people that I don't think I'd make a chokecherry self bow.  I've heard they're really snappy shooters, though, while they last.  I have some good antelope rawhide, lots of dogbane fiber, and quite a bit of sinew for backing.  I prefer to save the sinew for juniper bows, so I'm leaning toward a couple layers of dogbane on the chokecherry, just for safety. 

[WhistlingBadger]

In other news, I just about have the new recurve roughed out.  We'll see what creative and interesting ways I can come up with to screw this one up.   

[scp]

I would rather boil or steam to make recurve tips. I sometime even splice in the recurve tips, mainly for short Osage staves. Good luck with the new one.

[WhistlingBadger]

I would rather boil or steam to make recurve tips. I sometime even splice in the recurve tips, mainly for short Osage staves. Good luck with the new one.

I did boil and steam, I was just using dry heat after to really set the curves in.  I'm still puzzled about what happened exactly, blowing heat on the belly, but it was the back that got charred.  Some warp in the time-space continuum, I guess...

[superdav95]

Ya it’s strange how it happens.  I’ve had this happen to me also.  I find the heat gun with blowing hot air likes to wrap around with the heat.  Was it clamped down to anything when you used the heat gun on the levers?  If so that heat could also be bounced back onto the back over time and accumulate heat too getting hotter and hotter.  This is what I figure happened to me trying to do the same last year on a build.  I’ve started lining my forms with something nonflammable to prevent heat wrapping effect.  For a visual to explain what I believe is going on… if you e ever done and soldering of copper piping and put the flame of your torch onto the pipe and can see the flame wrap around the pipe as if it almost hugs the pipe and reconnects on the other side of the pipe.  I’m sure there is a technical name for this for those scientific guys out there. 

[Pappy]

I know it’s not funny but you sure are making me laugh with you comments  WB 😊 . Pappy