2014 bow trade works in progress

[DuBois]

Hey Neo, Kid art is awesome! I got a couple painted by my 3 and 5 year olds.

Sweet peep show you got there Hunterbob 

[DuBois]

Fred, I don't mind waitin for the weather for what comes from those billets 

[NeolithicMan]

Josh: I dont think your being a jerk. If I got one of those in the mail Id wear a helmet and safety glasses just to be cautious!  just playing around Ink, the bows look great, whoever gets one had better post pics, I am very curious about the side profile myself

[4dog]

my son has one of INKs osages done the same way...hard to string up but once its done it shoots very fine,its an awesome bow.

[DuBois]

So, I feel kinda like the dumb kid who doesn't know how big a gift to get his date 

What do you guys think-is sinew going overboard? I am leaning toward a decrowned buckthorn sinew backed killer 

And was wondering also-does rawhide affect the sinew if I use it to cover the sinew?

Josh, your input is always welcome in my book. Thanks for trying to make sure we all get great bows.

Doober

[Josh B]

Thanks Doobs.   Since he's been making em that way, maybe it's just my own lack of skills showing.   In my experience,  once you get past 3 or 4 inches of reflex it starts becoming an effort of diminishing returns very quickly.   Again, no offense meant Ink.  Josh

BTW... John, you ain't right!  Lol!

[Ink]

None taken gundoc, the trick is to tiller them extremely slowly. usually takes me a week or more to tiller one bow. Just a few inches a day. They usually only keep about 2-3" of that reflex anyways, but if i hear even one tick of wood when i'm tillering it gets sinew backed. The high reflex is just too much for some trees to take, even osage. If you get really dense osage and use a thick ring for your back, it dramatically increases your chances of not having to sinew back it. But thanks for looking out, i'll never chaste someone for just making sure i know what im getting myself into 

[Blaflair2]

Starting with that much reflex and ending with that little, isn't it like hiding set?

[Ink]

Starting with that much reflex and ending with that little, isn't it like hiding set?

If you wanna look at it that way, then works for me. Its not a Perry design. High reflex bows normally lose a large portion of the reflex right after you get it to brace height. Theoretically it could keep at least half of the induced reflex. Has it done that for me yet? No. I am however always refining my techniques and will be thrilled when i get to that point in my building skill.

[Blaflair2]

I was just curious. I'm sure u have more experience than me. It looks pretty radical

[Josh B]

None taken gundoc, the trick is to tiller them extremely slowly. usually takes me a week or more to tiller one bow. Just a few inches a day. They usually only keep about 2-3" of that reflex anyways, but if i hear even one tick of wood when i'm tillering it gets sinew backed. The high reflex is just too much for some trees to take, even osage. If you get really dense osage and use a thick ring for your back, it dramatically increases your chances of not having to sinew back it. But thanks for looking out, i'll never chaste someone for just making sure i know what im getting myself into 

Well...that's pretty much the point I was trying to make.  I obviously did a poor job of it.  If you heat in a foot(just guessing) of reflex and retain a couple inches.  That's 10" of belly crushing, cast robbing set.   However, if you heat in 4" and retain 2" of reflex,  you will have maintained the integrity of your belly wood and end up with a faster, longer lived bow.  If you think about it, 12" of reflex means you have to bend the limbs 18" just to brace it.  Add in your draw length and you can start to see how unrealistic the expectations are for a simple self bow.   I can appreciate that you want to set high goals for your craft, but all the experience in the world can't trump the physical limits of the wood you're using.   I really don't think there is a wood that can take that without excessive damage.  Most would explode long before you got it tillered.  Again, not trying to be offensive.  Just trying to help you improve your craft.  Josh

[huisme]

I only steamed in about an inch of reflex, and honestly it seems like it's not holding like it should. Does dry heat hold better in working limb or something? I never have trouble steaming statics, but this is annoying me.

[NeolithicMan]

Do you think you could get away with another inch of reflex? if you can test it out and see if its a lot of set or just the loss of reflex. I use dry heat to toast up the belly of white woods in a reflexed position. keeps a good amount of it. I dont know much about your precious locust or osage 

[huisme]

Probably, but mollegabet limbs are under enough stress as it is I think I'll take that approach but dry heat the last half inch or so and see how that goes.

[Blaflair2]

I have a BL recurve I'm working on. I steamed statics in and reflexed the limb with dry heat. It's not to the point of shooting but the reflex is in there, if that helps lol?