Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Elktracker on January 11, 2011, 12:39:42 am
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Ok so here is a Vine Maple bow I just called good and finished. I havent weight it to see what its pulling yet because im loaning out my scale ??? But its 55 1/2 ntn, draw length is 24" and the weight is something heavy! well for me im weak lol I was struggling to hold it at full draw for pictures but I hope to work into it. I threw in a pic of my wifes full draw as well lol just because she said "you better not post that". The bow took some set not sure how much but I could watch the string getting tight after unstringing it, so I dont know if thats bad or not. The braced picture is bow braced at 5 1/4 " Im not sure if this is a good b.h. but it just felt good when shooting. The bottom limb looks like it has a issue with tiller but it was a little tricky with the way the last foot had a jump of reflex so I did my best and called it good. The bottom limb was pulling about a 1/2" less in distance on the tiller tree grid but I thought that was ok because the bottom limb should be stiffer? right? ??? this is my first serious grip I have done so dont laugh to hard, I usually leave handles bare wood but I have only built a hand full of bows so im still learning and probably always will be lol. I finished the bow with a Minwax (driftwood) stain and followed that up with 3 coats of Minwax spar urethane, I think this looks like it will take some harsh weather (Heavy rain) well thanks for looking and feel free to leave any comments or suggestions or anything you want, I enjoy constructive critisicism. I like the way this bow flings sticks so im leaving it as is thank you all you are all the reason this site is such a great place to learn and congregate. Josh Ps sorry about spelling lol
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that is a really nice bow. tiller looks great to me and the grip looks like good. I love vine maple especially all the bumps on the back. good job
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Josh I'm very impressed. That is a very fine bow and your first handle wrap came out great. The tiller is great especially with a lumpy bumpy VM character stave, Congratulations ;)
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Tiller looks great. Nice ! ' Frank
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Thank you all very much I appretiate the complaments and everyone on this sites help. Keenan I was suprised at how it seemed the finish helped with the set issue? but maybe im wrong?. I could literally watch after unstringing the bow the string go from limp to starting to rise in a matter of 60 seconds. It really isnt taking allot of set so im happy but we will see when I shoot it some more, I have only put maybe 100 arrows through it. How many shots before a bow is considered shot in? Thanks again guys
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looks pretty good! i like a low brace height myself. if it doesnt hit my wrist too bad, and the fletches of my arrows clear, im happy. just my preference. also, the handle looks awesome! you should see mine, i just wrap mine with hemp, and thats it! lol
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Cool ,short bow,very well tillered,looks great and I bet it will spit an arrow. Nice work. :)
Pappy
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very cool vine maple bow. ive had vm before. when you unstring it you could watche the limbs " go back". very springy wood. shoots an arrow hard. your gonna love the way it shoots.
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That is a great looking bow. I need to try vine maple some day.
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Tough piece of wood.
Well done !!
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I agree with everyone else. Excellent job on that tough piece of wood. I have a couple VM staves coming in a trade thats in the works. This one get me excited about working them. Danny
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nice one, josh!
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Excellent work all the way around, tiller, grip, and all. I'm a big fan of short bows for hunting and this looks perfect for that.
Jeff
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that is a great looking bow ,like the charecter and the wrap. like to try some of that vine maple one day.
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nouthing to laugh at there, that's a nice bow
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That is one nice bow,like the character on the back also.
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i give you an A+...that is some great work and the humpys can be a challenge and a learning leason...one great thing about vm is that its an exotic wood that most people cant get because it only grows out west...john
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Yea it grows like weeds out here on the coast but you do have to look long and hard to find a good piece. Thanks again, Josh
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nice looking bow josh, never have tried vine maple before but It looks to be very good bow wood
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Very nice tiller on that lumpy piece of wood! It takes alot of talent to turn such a knotty stave into a beautiful bow/piece of art like that! Got it bookmarked for January BOM contest too! :)
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Thanks guys Im excited to go hunting for some more nice VM Thanks
Josh
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That is an excellent tiller. I like the handle too. Beautiful bow! Jawge
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that's a sweet looking character bow. i just made one a lot like it. i can say that i respect the work you put into it. good job.
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Beautiful little bow!
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crooketarrow here are pictures of the stave let me know if you like it and if not let me know what you would rather have and ill see what I can do about finding it for you. In case you dont still have the demensions its 69" overall, it is roughly 2 1/8" to 2 1/2" around, and you can see has some pretty large amount of reflex. Pic 1 is the stave leaned up against my grid back of bow (tension wood), also you can see its pretty straight. Picture 2 is of the side, the belly is faceing my buddy in the picture. And pic 3 is looking down the back of the bow. Let me know what you think
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Sorry didnt proof read pic 1 the back of bow is faceing you as you look at the picture
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Fantastic job on a tough stave! The tiller is good and the character is awesome. I wonder if you couldn't narrow the tips a bit more? How is it for hand shock?
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The hand shock seems fine , but I have never shat a bow with noticeable hand shock so im realy not shure how she measures out on the hand shock but I dont feel much. Are you talking about width or depth? thanks I might try that?
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Yeah, I'm talking width. Somebody will correct me, but if you halve the thickness you halve the draw weight, but if you halve the width you only lower the draw weight by 1/8th. Which is why we often see slightly thicker but much narrower tips. The bow's energy isn't being wasted moving heavy tips so there's more left over to push the arrow. Put another way, there's more weight savings taking wood off the sides rather than the belly.
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Yeah, I'm talking width. Somebody will correct me, but if you halve the thickness you halve the draw weight, but if you halve the width you only lower the draw weight by 1/8th. Which is why we often see slightly thicker but much narrower tips. The bow's energy isn't being wasted moving heavy tips so there's more left over to push the arrow. Put another way, there's more weight savings taking wood off the sides rather than the belly.
k THE TIPS ARE 1/2 BY 1/2 what should I try takeing them down to? leave the thickness and take the width to 3/8 or 1/4? thanks
Josh
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I love those knotty bows. great looking bow!
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This is what im talking about crooketarrow
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and this is what it ends up looking like finished
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Those are moisture cracks. From not leveing the bark or while drying. To much moisture excapted to soon. I f your going to take off the bark before it seasons seal the whole stave.
The larger the tips the more hand shock you'll have. I've taken my vine maple bow tips down to 3/8's with no problems.
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I wouldn't get hung up on numbers. Just slim the tips gradually, checking often, until the tips start to bend too much at full draw.