60" Siyahed Osage Static Recurve - Finished Pics!

[4est Trekker]

Hey, all.  Here's a little bow I've been working on.  It's not finished yet, but I'd thought I'd show some pictures and share the story nonetheless.  It's for my brother-in-law, who's a big hunter, has a generous heart, has given me lots of osage, and is expecting his first son in February.  All that combined, I thought he deserved a custom bow for this year's Iowa deer season.  Here's what I've come up with:

It's 60" tip to tip, has 5 1/2" ash siyahs attached with Urac and wrapped with a glue-soaked binding , and pulls 48# at 27".  It holds 1" of reflex at the tips when static, and just over a 1/4" when first unstrung.  I would have like a little less set, but this bugger has very short working limbs and is unbacked to boot.  It's quick, smooth drawing, and quiet. 

I surprised him tonight by showing him "my new bow" that I needed to shoot in.  I shot it a little bit, then asked if he wanted to give it a go.  He put about 50 shots through it, grinning the whole time.  I asked how he liked it, to which he grinned some more and said it drew smooth and was quick and light in the hand.  I said, "Good, because it's yours."  Wish I had a picture of his face, but these will have to do.  Again, it's a work in progress...

[bubby]

nice 4est, what did ya wrap the syahs with, silk string?

[4est Trekker]

Yes, bubby...thick silk thread, and lots of it.       I tillered it out and shot it in unwrapped at the siyahs just to be safe, then bound them for the last couple hundred shots I'll put through it before finishing it.

[n2huntn]

Always enjoy your work , another nice one.

[Aries]

This is the first time ive seen an osage self bow with siyahs, I love it! it looks great man good job cant wait to see your finished pics too

[Pat B]

Very cool 4est. Tiller is spot on. Did you use a "V" splice for the syiahs?  I'd like to try a similar bow with sinew backing and horn belly.

[jwillis]

wow, that is a neat bow. Jim

[PatM]

Nice to see someone else making this style. If you go a hair longer and heat treat you may be able to lose a bit of set in a finished bow in this stlye.
 I  especially like how you can lengthen a perfect shorter stave with this technique. A four foot piece of flawless wood starts looking like a good starrt for a normal length bow rather than a shorty or too long billet.

[Pappy]

Cool bow,very nice job on all of it.
   Pappy

[half eye]

Way nice, all the way around

[mullet]

 That bow is really cool looking. I bet your friend was supprised.

[Del the cat]

Yeah, that is sooo pretty, I'd have loved to have seen his face too.
It must've taken a while for the grin to subside.
Nice to see something a little different too.
Del

[4est Trekker]

Thanks for the kind replies, folks.  Pat, I didn't use a v-splice.  I tried that once on a bow and just couldn't get the hang of it, plus I didn't want to back this one (although I still may still with rawhide before all is said an done.)  Plus, by angling the mating surface I got a 4" long glue joint and more mating surface area than I would have with a v-splice due to the thickness of the limbs.

Again, thanks for the kind words.  I'm looking forward to finishing this one out.  My brother-in-law is a very good shot and an excellent hunter, so hopefully we'll have a nice follow-up picture of the end result (and a few backstraps in my freezer ). 

[Del the cat]

by angling the mating surface I got a 4" long glue joint and more mating surface area than I would have with a v-splice due to the thickness of the limbs.

Yeah, I think a V works best if there is a belly lamination of some sort (horn in a classic composite bow) applied after the splice is done that way you get the best of both types of joint (lap and V)... I did one like that using f/glass (spits on floor) belly and back over a maple core. (My excuse is I had the lams left over from many years ago when I was into making crossbows )
Del

[Justin Snyder]

Very nice bow. The profile is great.