Hawthorne Flatbow - Not for BOM

[Gordon]

Here are some pictures of a semi-bendy handle flatbow that I fashioned out of a hawthorne sapling. The bow is 60” ntn and pulls 60# @ 27”. It has a Strunk style handle wrap with no arrow rest. The limbs were stained with leather dye and then finished with Tru-Oil. The limbs are about 1 3/8” near the handle tapering to ½” at the tips. I encountered some difficulties tillering this bow as the crown was very high and the high point tended to wander from one side of the limb to the other.  I learned the hard way that you must compensate when the crown is off center by removing more belly wood on the side of the limb where the crown is highest. If you do not, the opposite edge will be overstressed and may develop frets. That’s what happened to me and I had to cover the unsightly frets with wrapping after I had corrected the problem with proper tillering. If you look at the top limb carefully you will notice that it appears to be bending a bit much mid-limb. It’s actually bending correctly because the mid-limb is naturally deflexed and the handle area and tips are reflexed somewhat – but it does look a little funky.

Overall  I’m happy with the bow because it launches an arrow very quietly and with authority. I think I could easily bring down an elk with this bow if I hunted with it. I hope you enjoy the pictures. The quiver/bow case in the first picture is made by my friend Ron York.

[deerhunter97370]

Wow Gordon have you ever made a bad bow? This is a masterpeice as always. Joel

[Mattco]

Outstanding work!!  Tiller looks great to me - the stain and paint work very nice - a work of art

[Badger]

Nice one Gordon, those bows are more difficult than they look. Steve

[Ryano]

So what do you think of hawthorne as a bow wood ? Looks pretty similar to some of the vine maple bows you've posted in the past.

[Gordon]

Joel, I have - I just don't post pictures of them 

Thank you Matt, I know it looks like paint, but those are actually thread wraps.

They are indeed more difficult than they look Steve. Thank you.

Ryan, hawthorne seems similar in density to vine maple. Hawthorne doesn't have as many grain swirls as VM which makes working it with a scrapper somewhat easier, but it has a lot more pin knots. Performance wise, they seem to be very similar.

[Keenan]

Wow Gordon that turned out really nice. I like the charactor bumps and the color scheme is awesome. Even in your problem solving you tied in the thread wraps to look very nice. Those little sapling bows can be challenging but sometimes well worth it. Another master piece. Congratulations.      Keenan

[ricktrojanowski]

Another beauty Gordon.  I like the character in that piece of wood.  Is it necessary to remove a little more wood where the thread wraps are?  Or do they have no effect on the final tiller of bow?

[DanaM]

Nice one Gordon as always your artistic abilities and eye for detail are superb.

[TRACY]

Absolutely fantastic!

Tracy

[brownhillboy]

Another beautiful bow Gordon!  You are an artist.  Great job.

[David Long]

Beautiful bow Gordon. So even after the wood frets, you think it will hold up fine, otherwise you wouldn't have finisher her out. Interesting. The wood is black hawthorn (Crataegus douglasii) I assume? Any trouble drying it?
Dave

[adb]

Another nice bow, Gordon. I tried a sapling bow from ash once... a total disaster.

[George Tsoukalas]

Gordon, that's fantastic work. Jawge

[Mattco]

The string wraps are a nice touch - what material do you use for the wrap??