2012 Red Oak Board Bow Trade

[ionicmuffin]

Sweet bow oscar! as of now i have just glued up my last bit of redoak. so tomorrow i might get some tillering in(crosses fingers) i cut it down to half an inch before glue up since this one is going to be a pyramid as well. So, first things to remember to tell myself. always use stringer(have yet to make it) and another thing, dont rush, lol. I will probably add a backing to it(linen?) as to avoid any nasty little suprises like splinters. I dont think one will come up, and because im going to round the edges super smooth before tillering and will be doing everything to keep it from having splinters i think it wont have one.

[hedgeapple]

Ionic, the area under the riser of the stave needs to be thicker than the limbs of the bow.  Otherwise it will want to bend, causing the riser handle to pop off.  Having never build a board bow, I'm just going by what I've read over the years. 

This is the build-along I used as a guide.  Warning: be VERY carefull when you cut the belly strip out. One or 2 stokes of the saw cutting into belly of the limb will have you under weight.
http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,35312.0.html

[ionicmuffin]

well...ive already done the glue up and taken a bit off, hopefully it wont matter. well have to see how this goes. If not then im buying a hickory handle and making a bow(or maybe find a nice board.)

[ionicmuffin]

Received! I got oscar3b's bow! a hefty 55 lbs at 30 inches One beautiful bow too! One question though oscar, is the brace height supposed to be around 3.5 inches? After receiving this bow i know its time to get my rear end it high gear!  Either way, this bow beats my hickory by a bunch, the most set i see is 3/4 inches. very impressive! This WILL be my hunting bow! 

[ionicmuffin]

more of this awesome bow! 

[oscar3b]

Thanks Iconic, Matt, and Hedge!  I appreciate the kind words.  Oh man!  I was looking at the picture and it looks like the tip broke in shipping.  I'll know better than to make one that sharp ever again.  Feel free to reshape that and make it prettier if you'd like. 

Also, I had taken the string off this past weekend to play around with another bow.  I was thinking that it wouldn't hurt anyways to make sure the string would hold together.  After finishing shooting, I took both strings off of both bows and both looked the same laying there.  Anyways after sending you the PM I went back and looked at the pictures and it kind of looks like I sent you the wrong string too, though I could be wrong.  Anyways I guess if it can go wrong it probably will.  If the serving is in the wrong place it is because I was rushing and wasn't careful to check the string again or make sure the brace height was set.  Either way you are welcome to pull that serving off too if it isn't in the right place.

Lol!  If I did mess up that bad I'm sorry but I still appreciate the kind words.  Happy shooting and thanks again! 

[ionicmuffin]

Thought id share what ive done with the bow i received, thought that since there was Dacron lacing, i would remove it and add leather, making the bow look even better. Heres the results. I dont think i in any way degraded the original, instead, i think i accented what was already there. I even kept the same lace pattern because i though that would be proper.

[Josh B]

Muffin man, I am sort of at a loss for words on that change you made.  Don't take this as chastising , but for some reason that seems a bit awkward to me.  It sure looks like he put a lot of effort into that bow for you and to go changing this and that seems, I don't know, a bit like saying it wasn't good enough for you.  I could be all wrong on that.  I can say that I'm truly glad that you won't be inheriting the Sistine chapel.  I have a mental image of you on a scaffolding, can of krylon in hand, merrily adjusting Michelangelo's finest work to your suiting.  Maybe I'm speaking out of turn here.  It just seems like bad form to me.  Josh

[hedgeapple]

I work on my trade bow a bit this evening.  I need some final tweaking on the tiller.  It looks good, but I think it could be better.  And I have 1 1/2 to go.  The weight is right on target.  After resting it comes back to nearly flat through the limbs.  The tips are flipped a little so the tips are about 1 1/4 reflex from the plane of the handle.  All and all, I'm pretty happy with it.  I can't wait to shoot it in.

[ionicmuffin]

Gun Doc, the reason i made this change, was mainly because the handle wrap was loose, i refuse to change the tips though, even though they were a bit damaged in shipping. Basically, i did not do it mostly for astetic reasons, it was perfectly fine the way it was. However, since i needed to tighten the wrap anyway, i figured since i have the material to do the change. If oscar doesnt like it im more than willing to change it back.

[ionicmuffin]

Also, i should say that i appreciate EVERY bit of work he did on this bow. He put a lot of work into it, i really appreciate that.

[Josh B]

I never meant to imply that you had any malicious intent on making the change.  This is one of those situations where actions speak louder than words and as such, the action can be misinterpreted more easily than words.  When you get one of them boards to cooperate and get to the finishing part, I imagine that you will start to sweat the details and really start second guessing every step you make on that bow.  I know I sure do when I make one for somebody.  That stress doesn't quit at the post office.  I keep sweating every bow I make for someone for months after they receive it.  When and if you start to feel that way, stop and think about this situation.  I think you will start to understand what I'm talking about.  I hope you don't have any hard feelings about this.  Every once in a while I get on somebody's case about something and it's usually one of you young fellas.  I hope you guys understand that its done with your best intentions at heart.  If I didn't think you guys had potential, I wouldn't bother saying anything.  Yes, even them two squirrels.  I hope you pick up at least a little of what I'm layin down.  Josh

[ionicmuffin]

Thank you. I understand what your saying.

[Matt Heppe]

Finishing up the polyurethane and should ship by Friday. I just didn't like the finish and wanted to touch it up.

[hedgeapple]

I've read on here at least 100 times, "without pictures it never happened."  haha  Well, I've been talking about my building process but have not posted any proof/pictures.  Here it is.  The tiller isn't perfect but pretty good I think.  I'm calling her done.  I just need put the lipstick on her and shoot her in a bit.  It take about 1 1/4 inch string follow after unstringing her; goes to about 1/2" after resting.   She's drawing 50 @ 28".  I expect it a drop a little after shooting her in.

Oh, I linen backed her.