Author Topic: Hickory bow for a young lady  (Read 2808 times)

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Offline k-hat

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Hickory bow for a young lady
« on: January 04, 2013, 01:13:35 am »
This bow has a bit of a story with it as well, sorry guys ::).  This is going to the sister of the boy receiving the osage elb.  The girl loves archery but the stock youth bows don't fit her, so i hope this one is better. 

I started this bow for myself back in the summer.  It was a pyramid hickory bow from lumber.   Didn't take into account the humidity in the summer, tillered it strung in one afternoon, and when i unstrung I had a 50ish# hick bow with 3-1/2" of set!!!!  Ouch!  Set it in the corner of shame.  Revisited a few weeks later, cracked the tips tryna recurve it, set it back in the corner.  A few weeks later I whacked off the tips (last 4" or so of each end), and set her on my reflex form and gave a good deep and dark tempering.  held all the reflex, but didn't know what to do next with her (she was kinda short, didn't want a short bow), set'r back in the corner.  Lady wants me to make a couple bows for her boy and her tomboy archery girl who ain't easy on a bow.  Now i know what to do with this one. 

So i took'r outta the corner one last time.  Knowing she was way too heavy, i trimmed the 2" limbs down to 1.5", and cut about 1/3 of the thickness off.  "This should get me in the right neighborhood to get started"  I thought as i ATTEMPTED  to string her.  She was so taut she popped my temp nock right off.  Now i'm curious.  Turns out even with the reduction she was pulling 40+# at only 10 inches!!!!  No telling how high she would have gone.  Needless to say, i had a LOT of reducing to do.  By the time i was done, all the tempered wood was gone, but she wound up with a flat profile nonetheless once the reflex was gone. 

Lesson learned:  Well-tempered hickory is a beast!

Ok, so here she is:

"Stinger"
20#@21"
54" ntn
Hickory with osage handle and tip overlays
Pyramid profile with slight thickness taper.

This one also came with a half dozen matching arrows.













Thanks for lookin!

Offline Roy

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Re: Hickory bow for a young lady
« Reply #1 on: January 04, 2013, 01:16:25 am »
Very nice.

Offline randman

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Re: Hickory bow for a young lady
« Reply #2 on: January 04, 2013, 05:23:49 am »
Those kids are going to love their bows Mr. Hat. Wait till you see the smiles on their faces (make sure and post those).
Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder.

Offline Pappy

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Re: Hickory bow for a young lady
« Reply #3 on: January 04, 2013, 06:01:11 am »
Thats a beauty. She will love that I am sure. :)
 Pappy
Clarksville,Tennessee
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Life is Good

Offline Del the cat

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Re: Hickory bow for a young lady
« Reply #4 on: January 04, 2013, 06:08:26 am »
Great work. Low draw weight bows can be a pig to make, looks like you've naile those thin limbs nicely.
Del
Health warning, these posts may contain traces of nut.

Offline rps3

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Re: Hickory bow for a young lady
« Reply #5 on: January 04, 2013, 06:32:42 am »
Good one.

Offline Badly Bent

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Re: Hickory bow for a young lady
« Reply #6 on: January 04, 2013, 09:35:45 am »
Another nice one K-hat, looks like your making a couple kids week.  :)
Greg
I ain't broke but I'm badly bent.

Offline k-hat

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Re: Hickory bow for a young lady
« Reply #7 on: January 04, 2013, 10:27:23 am »
Thanks Roy, Randman, Pappy.

Appreciate it Del, and yes i'd rather do an adult bow than a thin kid's bow any day!  Those thin limbs will really test your patience and skill!

Thanks rps3, Greg.  I hope so!  This is part of their Christmas (they went to Europe for the past two weeks :o, so they're just now doing Christmas gifts).  Looking forward to their reactions. :D

Offline PEARL DRUMS

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Re: Hickory bow for a young lady
« Reply #8 on: January 04, 2013, 11:39:59 am »
Very nice Kevin.
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.

blackhawk

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Re: Hickory bow for a young lady
« Reply #9 on: January 04, 2013, 11:56:57 am »
Looks like the thorn in your side will now be the rose in her hands ;)

Offline k-hat

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Re: Hickory bow for a young lady
« Reply #10 on: January 04, 2013, 12:00:21 pm »
Thanks PD, Thanks Blackhawk, wish i'da thunk of that!  Should've named her "thorn"!!