break...how desapointing..

[Manolovis]

kia ora to fellow bowyer across the world and kiwis!!!
This is my first post here thanks to Simson and Pat B. it has been a few months now that i m trying myself at being apprentice bowyer with gotta say much more fails than successes. thanks to simson for driving me along some process with a couple of bows...i learnt a lot and realised why my bow were breaking.
So after my last success i wanted to get to work right away and the only thing left to work with were a couple 35 " billet.one was pretty straight the other one was sort of curved to the side, bit weird looking. so yeah let s go for a take down. did a symetrical recurved flat bow design . after few heat correction tips and handle aligned but the top limb very stuborn kept a lateral bowing and did not follow the midline. anyway tillered the bow with a gizmo and looked pretty much al right to me. i was aiming 60 lbs at 29". got there and all of a sudden boum!
i used kanuka wood ( a type that doesnt need ring chasing ).
i ve gotta say to say while with the other ones i learned from mistakes i dont get why this one broke with no hinges and a tiller that looked right. mind you this is just subjective....i might have untrained eye.
anyway could it be the lateral bowing shape of the top limb that caused too much stress ? or bow breaking is neceserally bad tiller ...
unfortunately no pics... it expolded before i could get there...
thanks in advance for your insights
manu

[PatM]

How long was it?  How much working limb?   Why does this particular wood not need ring chasing? Sounds like violated grain and a long draw might be the culprit.

[George Tsoukalas]

What PatM said. I have no experience with kanuka wood. Never heard of it so I can't comment much. Length of the bow and some photos of the break may help.

Sounds like you attempted a complicated design for an apprentce (your words).

Don't get discouraged. Learning how to build bows is not easy.

My site may help.

http://traditionalarchery101.com

Jawge

[bownarra]

68" bow length?
By not needing to chase a ring do you mean  you used the underbark wood surface as the back?
29" draw is quite long. For this length of draw with a good bow wood I would make the bow around 68 - 70" obviously there are many factors at play as to why yours broke. It is nigh on impossible without pictures etc to give you a definative reason. Not many of us will have used that wood either so.....
The ways to lower strain would be make the limbs wider and therefore thinner or make the bow longer.