first all wood bow pics!

[armymedic.2]

after a lot of consideration, reading, studying, and hard work, ii came out with my first all wood bow. ( i made one before with a weird backing that i think cracked).  Anyway, i used hickory as bow wood, with a bamboo back.  The handle and rest are made of mahogany.  all tillering was done with a cabinet scraper.  rest was with a 4-way rasp.  the finish is clear coat.
Specs: 65# @26"
         72" nock to nock
   seems to like a 5 1/2"brace
i flight shot it today, and it made it 150 yards with my regular hunting arrows (there was about 5 mph wind) shoots to 20 yards just as fast as my 50# martin recurve

being that im a newbie, please feel free to criticise tiller and such so that i can improve next time.  I just hope it holds up so i can take a deer with it in a couple of months! so excited!

[mullet]

  Looks a little over built, but it should be a reliable hunting bow.The tiller looks dead on.

[Justin Snyder]

It looks great.  You should be proud if it is your first or tenth.  Like Eddie said, it looks plenty heavy built. Being boo backed hickory, it should last forever.  Justin

[armymedic.2]

thanks guys, i am very proud.  I left the handle large to accomadate my big paws, but im guessing you guys are saying it is overbuilt because of width?  length?  please feel free to elaborate.  i am very interested in learning more and i promise i won't be upset with criticism.   

[cowboy]

Yesser! that's plenty stout, I think the overbuilt part is in the design combined with draw weight for most people - not something you'd shoot hundreds of times in a day . Pretty much guaranteed to take a deer down if you connect though. Love the bow and tiller - great job!!

[Pat B]

You did a fine job with this bow. The tiller is right on and like others said, a durable hunting bow. As you continue to build bows, you will experiment with width, length and design until you find what suits you best(sometimes you just keep building then just because! ). You will have no problems finding your way from where you are starting. .  I prefer a less blocky handle riser but if that one works for your big paws then thats fine . You shouldn't have to worry about it popping off.     Pat

[Rich Saffold]

Armymedic, you did real good, and deserve to be as proud as you look in the pics.  How long is the arrow you are shooting?
Rich

[medicinewheel]

hey, that tiller looks  R  E  A  L  L  Y   good!

yes the bow seems a bit over-build, the handle looks clumsy for my taste....that's stuff that will come out better/nicer on your next bow and even better on the one after that! what's important for you to know right now is:

that tiller looks  R  E  A  L  L  Y   good!

[Pappy]

Looks good to me,very nice job.Sounds like a real shooter.
   Pappy

[AndrewS]

Looks pretty good, a little bit overbuilt but a durable bow is better than a piece of fire-wood

[a finnish native]

nice bow. I would not use a bow that long for trailing and stalk hunting though. tiller is dead on.

[DBernier]

Great looking bow. I prefer a long stout bow and the boo/hickory is a combo I will try. I like poundage in the 60's and at my 28 inch + pull would give me a 70+ #. I "like" it.   

Dick

[DanaM]

The smile on your face in the last pic says it all. Great job.

[aandu]

Hope someday I will be able to build something like this...! Great job...

[GregB]

Great job especially on a first bow! Like others have said, the good tiller is the most important and impressive feature about your bow. It tells me that you have a great start and can only continue to improve your skills. The 72" is a little long especially for a hunting bow in my opinion, but a good length for a first bow as it is more forgiving of mistakes...not that I see any with yours. The handle area is non-bending and can have the edges highly radiused. I think that was what most were referring to due to a more rectangular shape with yours. What I strive for in a handle is comfort, which usually ends up more rounded especially on the belly side.

It should hold up well for you and make for a good hunting bow!