Walnut stained "Commonwealth" hickory D bow

[Black Moshannon]

I finished this bow recently. It's sixty pounds at 27"  right now. I've only shot it around eighty times and expect it may lose a little weight which will be good. It's from a small hickory tree, 64" long and 1 1/4 wide, D bow profile, flat belly and naturally crowned back. I heated in a little reflex and heat treated after I got the bow to brace. It has just under an inch of string follow. I attempted to get the outer limbs working more on this bow and I think it's better than some of my priors.. I stained the back, which I left some of the cambium on, with walnut stain I made from hulls.

The arrow pass is a keystone for my Commonwealth State, Pennsylvania of course. I filed a nail head into a keystone shape and burned it in. It didn't come out perfect as you can see. I will try to reshape the nail head a little and see how the next one goes. I was happy that a few people did recognize it as a keystone though. I finished it with tung oil and tru oil and put a linen string on. Shoots snappy so far.  Let me know what you think of it. Thanks for looking

[Black Moshannon]

Some more photos.

[Allyn T]

Nice curves

[Black Moshannon]

And more..

[Black Moshannon]

Nice curves

Thanks Allyn

[Morgan]

I like it. How’d you make your stain?

[Black Moshannon]

I like it. How’d you make your stain?

I had a bunch of old black walnuts in a bucket. I let some water in there and it sat awhile. I drained it off and it was real dark and thick, like motor oil, and a bit rancid smelling... I ended up mixing it with some vodka and storing in canning jars. Smells better now

[bownarra]

Cool bow Well done. Great stain job.
I think the outer limbs could come around a little more, more so on the upper limb. Just let the set guide you

[Black Moshannon]

Cool bow Well done. Great stain job.
I think the outer limbs could come around a little more, more so on the upper limb. Just let the set guide you

Thanks. Yes I’m getting closer to the right shape but I guess just not quite there. Seemed like I scraped so much off the last twenty inches off limb but it still wasn’t enough. I’ll get bolder on the next one. I notice the middle bending handle section seems to start bending of its own accord without taking off much wood.

[NonBacked]

Kenneth, you sure got a lot of bow out of that Hic Sick! Good looking all the way around.
Have you had a chance to get the mass weight? That would be an interesting number.
H

[Black Moshannon]

Kenneth, you sure got a lot of bow out of that Hic Sick! Good looking all the way around.
Have you had a chance to get the mass weight? That would be an interesting number.
H

Thanks! I have not weighed it. I haven’t looked into bow mass yet but i’ve been thinking about it lately. I will start weighing them. Are they supposed to be weighed in grams? Also curious how the wood itself would affect that, like red elm is so much lighter than hickory

[Santanasaur]

Awesome bow Kenneth! Love how the cambium camo looks with the walnut stain

[Pat B]

Thats everything you need for a hunting bow. Very nice.   

[Black Moshannon]

Thanks Pat and Santana. I'm going to hunt with it next year, just a little heavy yet for me now. I'm comfortable with my 53-55# elm bow.

[Pappy]

Nice job, Hickory makes a fine bow.
 Pappy