Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: stonecarver on June 15, 2008, 04:55:48 pm
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A big thanks to JD Duff and others here for the inspiring posts on Crabapple as a bow wood!
Well I'm fairly new to bow making having started last winter. I have been searching for a local wood to work with and found a few references here at PA on Crabapple. My first few Crabapple staves were from the mouth of the Thorne river (Thorne Bay SE Alaska) they were really lumpy and had a lot of red heart, not very good for bows but pretty wood. As the snow melted I was able to get away from the shoreline and find Crabapple that was a much better grade for bowyering. I think that being right on the bay the saltwater had something to do with the red heart I found in my first staves
example of red heart notice how little white wood there was in this character stave (this one ticked on me):
(http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j288/stonecarver/cs2.jpg)
here is my more recent bow made from non red hearted Crabapple:
notice the stave is deflexed
(http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j288/stonecarver/dscf0002.jpg)
this pic shows the set it has taken
(http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j288/stonecarver/aset.jpg)
I worked in a little pistol grip on the handle
(http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j288/stonecarver/hndl1.jpg)
mahogany tip overlays
(http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j288/stonecarver/tip2.jpg)
pics of the bows back
(http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j288/stonecarver/scf0004.jpg)
(http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j288/stonecarver/scf0003.jpg)
(http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j288/stonecarver/aback.jpg)
strung shots
(http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j288/stonecarver/abackb.jpg)
(http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j288/stonecarver/aside.jpg)
Did I mention its a bear bow ;)
(http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j288/stonecarver/abear.jpg)
the bow is 63.5 long 62 3/8 ntn 70# at 26 inches I was trying for 80# @ 28 but never pulled the extra 2 inches
(http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j288/stonecarver/3.jpg)
I hope you enjoyed the pics!
sc
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The color contrast is great. How does it shoot? Justin
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nice job. good tiller as far as i can tell, and i really like the grip. great job.
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Man, that is wicked looking. Looks like it would be a real hard tillering job. It came out really good.
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Looks to me like you did a great job on a tough stave.
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Thats one GNARLY piece of Wood!! Looks really good....but a Straight On picture of the Bow at full Draw would be easier to tell if there was any issues with the Tiller....diagonal Pictures are deceiving....
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man this is nice. And making a 70# bow can sure be tough (never worked with that wood though).
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Great looking bow love the characterI am working on a crabapple as well thanks to J.D.Again great bow!Hammertime
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That did come out nice for a challenging piece of wood :). I'm eyeballing a pear tree close to the house nobody wants, hmm...
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Whew! If I was voting for BOM today, I'd have to give this one a vote.
Reasons:
1)Primitive
2)Stickbow
3)Character bow
4)70#
5)Great story
I'll have to be patient. This one is bookmarked for June Self BOM for sure.
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Beautiful bow with lots of character and from a relatively unused bow wood. Nice work! Pat
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That is one wild bow. I love the look of it. 70 or 80lbs make my shoulders hurt just thinking about tillering that one. Very sweet!
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great bow! nice character!
f.
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Thanks!
It was a very fun project :)
Compared to the other Crabapple staves I had found this one was clean ;)
sc
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Hey neighbor ! Good to know there is another primitive in southeast Alaska.I am up here at Hoonah.I stumbled on to some crabapple down in Tenekee inlet reckon you just turned me on to a new bow wood. Thank you ! Very nice looking bow.Hear you have plenty of blacktails and black bears down there,you plan to take that bow for a walk in the woods ? Frank
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Hear you have plenty of blacktails and black bears down there,you plan to take that bow for a walk in the woods ? Frank
Frank,
You bet I do, I'm sure Ill be throwing some arrows at the deer with it real soon.
I hope to have something with a few more pounds to do next years spring bear hunt. I have a few more really good crabapple staves. I also found a small patch of big Vine Maples a week or two back and got a nice chunk of it that should make a heavy couple bows :)
Its the first time I've seen any vine maple on the island and it was only growing within 100ft of the edge of the bay.
This hunting season I will be paying more attention to the juniper and looking for the elusive Yew, its rare here on Prince of Wales but it is here ;)
Have a great day!!
sc
Vine Maple
(http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j288/stonecarver/beach2.jpg)
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That Crabapple bow is narly looking. I bet that was a tough tillering job. Are you a big guy, or you just like heavy bows? I like them on the heavy side myself. I'm hoping to get to your Island hunting in the future. The wife's cousins, Don and Teresa Busse own the Trophy Inn on PW Island.
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wish i could see the pics.
I cant view photo bucket pics.
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Looks good from what I can see,the full draw is really dark for me.Lots of character,had to
be a tough piece to make work.Good job. :)
Pappy
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Mullet,
I am kind of a big guy 6'1 and over 250#, I like heavy bow as they make arrows zip and thwack ;)
leapingbare,
Sorry I'm just used to using photobucket to post pics on the internet.
Pappy,
I used a chainsaw and then the rest was hand tools, lots of scraping and sanding. I'm new to bowyering so I took my time and enjoyed watching the bow develop out of the stave. I had a few people warn me not to try for over 50# with this bow, but I pushed towards a bow that I enjoy shooting.
She looks bare without handle wrap but they get soggy, we get 100 to 300 inches of rain annually here on Prince of Wales. So a lot of my hunting is out in the rain for hours on end, day after day ;)
I thinned down some poly and sanded it into the wood with 400 grit several times before putting 3 coats on this bow to seal it up as waterproof as possible.
Bottom line is I'm very happy with this bow :)
some shots of the back
sc
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Neat stuff! Those are some crazy bows.
Good job.
Sean
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Very nice bow!
About your picture labelad 3.jpg, how are the bow wood? Very beautiful the "moka" color from this bow!
Thanks, in advance for your time
Dorigon, Fernando.
from Brazil
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fdorigon,
The wood is wild crab apple the color is the cambium from the bark the tip overlays are made of Mahogany salvaged from a sail boat.
I hope this answers your question.
sc
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Hey stonecarver i was able to see the last two pics, I am considering voting for your bow for BOM but i cant with out seeing a full draw pic, a pic of the knocks and a pic showing the set, I've heard good things about your bow and would like to have the chance to give it my vote. Please post some new pics without using photo bucket.
BTW I'm know others cant view photo bucket pics eather.
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full draw
[attachment deleted by admin]
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Handle
[attachment deleted by admin]
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Kind of slow dial up I'm on here ;)
tips
[attachment deleted by admin]
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The stave was deflexed to start with so I'm posting before and after pics. The bow is facing the opposite direction in the after pic, but you can easily see how it took set,
She has a slight twist to her that is making one limb look thicker in the pics,
just more fun in the tillering :)
I don't know if shes worthy of BOM ,
but she shoots sweet and I am pleased with her.
I feel flattered you took interest!
thanks,
sc
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Sweet bow thanks for the pics.