Author Topic: First (and only) self bow-Ash  (Read 3206 times)

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Offline DuBois

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First (and only) self bow-Ash
« on: March 01, 2013, 10:49:22 am »
Hey again,
I haven't been posting much on here for sompleted work so I thought it was time to show a little.
I finished this back in Nov.
65" NTN with 8" handle section with Jute handle wrap.
2" wide at fades to 1.5 at mid limb to 1/2" nocks.
I had a small crack at the handle from a happy hatchet, so I wrapped it with rawhide and I was concerned about a section on the upper limb so did the same to that tip area.
Built up the nocks with buffalow sinew; might be a little overkill but It was the first unbacked bow so I was a little tense  ::)
Came out at 48# at 28" and I haven't put an arrow through it yet; I know I should but my target is under snow so I just keep doing thing in doors (sinew....)
This was my 7th bow and evben though it took about 2.5" set, I think it is a keeper.
Thanks for looking folks.
Marco DuBois
« Last Edit: March 03, 2013, 07:48:08 am by DuBois »

Offline DuBois

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Re: First (and only) self bow-Ash
« Reply #1 on: March 01, 2013, 10:50:05 am »
Thanks to my 4 year old daughter for the awesome pics. ;)

Offline Hrothgar

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Re: First (and only) self bow-Ash
« Reply #2 on: March 01, 2013, 11:05:13 am »
Nice looking bow Marco, tiller looks good too. Lets us know how it shoots after the snow melts.
" To be, or not to be"...decisions, decisions, decisions.

Online Pappy

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Re: First (and only) self bow-Ash
« Reply #3 on: March 01, 2013, 11:20:51 am »
Nice job,I have had mixed results with Ash,looks like you pulled that one off nicely.
   Pappy
Clarksville,Tennessee
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Offline PEARL DRUMS

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Re: First (and only) self bow-Ash
« Reply #4 on: March 01, 2013, 12:47:07 pm »
Not too bad dooby.
Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught will we realize we cannot eat money.

Offline danny f

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Re: First (and only) self bow-Ash
« Reply #5 on: March 01, 2013, 01:14:11 pm »
nice bow, well done. :)

Offline Carson (CMB)

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Re: First (and only) self bow-Ash
« Reply #6 on: March 01, 2013, 01:38:59 pm »
Nice work.  Love the grain on ash. 
"The bow is the old first lyre,
the mono chord, the initial rune of fine art
The humanities grew out from archery as a flower from a seed
No sooner did the soft, sweet note of the bow-string charm the ear of genius than music was born, and from music came poetry and painting and..." Maurice Thompso

mikekeswick

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Re: First (and only) self bow-Ash
« Reply #7 on: March 01, 2013, 02:37:40 pm »
Nice looking bow.
What I see about your tiller and a reason for some of the set is that the mid to outer limbs need to be bending quite a bit more.
Your limbs are parallel width for most of their length. This means that the limbs taper has to be in the thickness. As the wood gets thinner it can and should be bending more and because  the limb gets thinner all the way to the tip so the bend should also increase along the way out to the tip. This is called elliptical tiller. Because your mid to outer limbs aren't doing their share the inner limbs are having to take 'more' load and this means set. In the picture of the belly you can see the thickness reducing out of the fades but then by mid limb the rings run parallel showing that the thickness isn't reducing anymore. You can also help the performance a bit by reducing the thickness and width at the nock area.

Offline soy

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Re: First (and only) self bow-Ash
« Reply #8 on: March 01, 2013, 05:53:37 pm »
Wow that grain really shows up nice!!
Is this bow making a sickness? or the cure...

Offline DuBois

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Re: First (and only) self bow-Ash
« Reply #9 on: March 02, 2013, 06:10:37 am »
Thanks folks for the kind words. I plan to make some more from ash and really hope to get some elm drying soon too since I destroyed the one nice stave I harvested last year. Could have been several bows made from what turned into my firewood pile if I had been more patient and payed attention to what you all are doing for design. A lot more to it than I ever would have thought.

Nice looking bow.
What I see about your tiller and a reason for some of the set is that the mid to outer limbs need to be bending quite a bit more.
Your limbs are parallel width for most of their length. This means that the limbs taper has to be in the thickness. As the wood gets thinner it can and should be bending more and because  the limb gets thinner all the way to the tip so the bend should also increase along the way out to the tip. This is called elliptical tiller. Because your mid to outer limbs aren't doing their share the inner limbs are having to take 'more' load and this means set. In the picture of the belly you can see the thickness reducing out of the fades but then by mid limb the rings run parallel showing that the thickness isn't reducing anymore. You can also help the performance a bit by reducing the thickness and width at the nock area.

Thanks for the helpful insights Mike. I think that one of the things I have missed out on by not posting my bows in progress last year was the accumulated experience.

That being said, do you suggest I try to thin this one down and narrow the tips some to get the eliptical tiller and then maybe heat treat the belly or is it too late now that set has happened?
I am open to hearing what you all think.

Offline DuBois

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Re: First (and only) self bow-Ash
« Reply #10 on: March 03, 2013, 07:54:23 am »
What do you all think?
Should I try to improve on this now or just shoot it and wait until I see how it feels?
Can I even do anything to this after it has taken set?