2021 Bow Trade - build in progress

[Fox]

Scotch broom?

[stuckinthemud]

Yes, Scotch Broom, apparently, according to the  list of bow woods, it can make an "evil little bow".  It is very dense and very springy, so looking forward to seeing what it can do.

[Fox]

Yes, Scotch Broom, apparently, according to the  list of bow woods, it can make an "evil little bow".  It is very dense and very springy, so looking forward to seeing what it can do.

Cool! excited to see what you come up with

[Fox]

This darn piece of walnut is making me go in circles! I can't for the life of me get this bow up 5#.... it is shooting faster and faster but no weight gain!

holding almost 2" of reflex after a shooting session! I've reflexed the tips, heated in reflex over the whole limb still just 40#!!!

now I'm taking out the deflex in the handle and going to add a little reflex... if that won't do it ill fire harden it and then that's about all I've got for ideas... I don't want to pike it because if I do ill lose a good bit of reflex, and I can't recurve the tips again because the last time I did it with a little heat I got some little cracks not a problem as is but definitely cant recurve them again.... we'll see how it is tomorrow after adding reflex in the handle....


Untitled by Livvydog, on Flickr

[simk]

Fox, if it hold's that reflex it's awesome. I cannot logigally explain but it's my expierience that heat treating and reflexing a bow does less to raise the final draw weight than to raise early string tension*. In fact it makes the bow faster and more efficient...exactly what you are experiencing now. Not sure if it's a good idea to further follow this route tough; you are  walking a ridge that get's narrower and narrower. Finding the limits is always fatal in this case. As stated earlier piking probably would raise drawweight because its effects overruling the effect of loosing  a tiny bit of reflex. Still not sure if t's a good idea because it will cause more stress to a bow which maybe is close to its limits already - with every step of bow tuning you risk failure. Maybe better be pleased and enjoy this one and start another for the bow trade. still plenty of time. justmy2c 

*(maybe early string tension is more determined by reflex, whereas final draw weight is more determined by length and limb-tickness? Thoughts?)   

[Digital Caveman]

+1  It sounds like you're building a roman candle of a bow.  if the draw weight is not increasing something must be giving.  why don't you shoot it in for a while and see what happens.

[Digital Caveman]

So I have two HHB staves that should work.  One is 66" and deflexed, the other is 54" and slightly reflexed.  The 54" is shorter than any other serious bow I have built, but I am shooting for 50# @ 26".  I'll give it antler english knocks to maximize the length.

[TimothyR]

I glued up 3 bows today. One is a R/D hickory backed Ipe that's 57"x 1 1/8" wide at the fades. Don't know how that one will turn out. One is a bamboo backed paduak with perry reflex gluing in the other is a maple backed makore also with perry reflex gluing in. I'll keep y'all posted. I'm going to let the stay on the clamps till I'm off Wednesday them work them down to dimensions. 

[Digital Caveman]

I got a good bend in the 54" HHB and heat tempered in 2" of reflex.  I am thinking of adding a sinew backing to, but that would be a first.  I just glued on english knocks out of antler, I hope they won't mess up stringing.  I am shooting for 25" draw, and am a little concerned about stacking, what do you all say?   I would try recurves except that there is a knot 3" from one tip.

[Digital Caveman]

Here are photos. It is 1.5" wide in the center two feet.  It has 2" reflex.  Should I put down a thin sinew layer?  I'll be moving in 3 weeks, and humidity will only climb through September.  Heat tempered HHB seems to do fine with humidity, but still ...

[Digital Caveman]

I just realized that this bow is actually a decent plains replica, I had just thought of it as a made up short D-bow, but I am glad that this has been done before.   

So I added sinew to the crown of the bow today while pulling 4" reflex.  The consensus seems to be that slow cured hide glue adds the most performance, but I hope that the TB3 will make up in some way with better moisture resistance.  It should defiantly protect the back.  I wish I had the time to use hide glue, but if this holds reflex I will consider it a successful substitute.

[Mafort]

I’ve heard of watering down tb3 to use it with sinew but I have yet to actually try it

[Digital Caveman]

Yea, I did water it down, it would have been crazy messy trying to use full thickness.

[Stickhead]

Well I got off to a slow start due to some drama in my life, but I’m moving right along now.  My plan A was going to be a take-down Crepe Myrtle, but I didn’t like the looks of the limbs after I got them roughed out.  So in keeping with the style, I dug up one of my best 20+ year old short Osage staves.  I cut it into billets and fitted sleeves onto them.  This sleeve set has 2 copper inserts, so I think I’ll make it as a 3-piece take-down.  That way, it could be 2” shorter to transport.  My recipient could always epoxy one limb to the sleeve if he chooses.  She’s 63” NTN.

So at this point, I’ve straightened the limbs some, flipped the tips slightly, and got all the pieces fitted and lined up pretty well.  Tillering is well underway, and I added some elk antler tip overlays once I got it off the long string.  Tiller is not great yet, but I still have 10+ lbs to lose.

[Digital Caveman]

Looks very nice.