6 piece Asiatic style bamboo bow

[BowEd]

Not too shabby Dave.Glad to see it came to a really good conclusion for ya.You've got a blue print now for the next one.

[bassman211]

Dave I noticed that the bow laying across the chair in your video has  rather straight limbs now. That is the way mine normally turn out. They still shoot great with that profile. I am curious to see how much harder your horn bow will shoot when finished. Enjoyed you videos. Make one for your horn bow when it is finished.

[superdav95]

Dave I noticed that the bow laying across the chair in your video has  rather straight limbs now. That is the way mine normally turn out. They still shoot great with that profile. I am curious to see how much harder your horn bow will shoot when finished. Enjoyed you videos. Make one for your horn bow when it is finished.

Bassman. Thanks.   Yes that one that is laying across the chair there was one I made last year the 45lb bow I compared this build to.  Similar length and basic design but the profile and angle that the limbs were set at were different from the start.  I set that particular bow pretty straight to begin with and it didn’t have much reflex prior to at all. It was pretty straight really.  I had put maybe a 1/2”-1” reflex in the limbs when heat treated but lost around half.  It still has a slight reflex but mostly straight.  I found that by doing that I would end up with a straight or slight reflex bow either way and not have deflex limbs as some of my first few did.  Speed was the main difference once I did that.  Shoot ability was about the same.  I did a post last year detailing some of my findings and with the heat treatment incorporated the difference was rather surprising in some cases more then 20 plus fps increase.  One of these days I’ll do a write up and some pics for a proper build along on one of these if there is interest.  The horn bow will hopefully survive ok and get to the point of being able to shoot it.  That would be nice.  It’s drying at the moment and will get it’s second layer of sinew next week.  I’m hoping speeds will be good with it and suspect it will.  So much can happen still with this horn bow build that it’s still anyones guess at this point.  Still early.  Up to this point the build has need good and no major surprises.  The tests of my abilities are yet to come with this one I think.  Cheers and thanks for looking.   

[superdav95]

I made another one of these little test bows.  I’ve sinewed the back on this one and gonna just let it dry.  Did one solid layer on each limb of 25gr each.  I plan to put a hog gut skin on it once dried for a couple weeks.  Same dimensions otherwise as the others of this style.  Pre sinew weight on this one was at 408gr. It will be interesting to see if better results compared to the others. 

[BowEd]

Nice looking bow.Your sinew work is looking great.
Never done the hog casing thing on bows yet.It would look cool though.I think before putting it on though a thorough cleaning of all oils and such will have to be removed.Inside and out.I suppose dawn to the rescue here.Good luck with that.

[superdav95]

Thanks Ed. Good advise.  Will do. 

[superdav95]

Update on a new build of this style of bamboo bow.  Not really sure what to call these other then a self laminated bamboo bow maybe….  Anyway… here a few pics of new build which is a complete ea40 glue up with integrated power lam for handle and limb tips for offer more surface area for glue up of v notch for siyahs into top (outer) lam.  The power lams and Siyahs are black walnut I had left over from a different project.  Other then that it’s pretty similar dimensions is other two in the pic.  I had to make a bunch of little 2” concave sections of scrap bamboo lined with leather to get clamp tight enough to ensure tight glue lines.  I’ll make an inflatable laminated press one day but for now this worked.  I just clamped it every 2-3” or so.  Glue up seemed to go fine.  I put a small section of Buffalo horn on the handle section for asthetics.   I’ll clean it up bit more and post some results. 

You can see the difference in reflex of the three bows.  The bottom one is the first successful test subject of the self laminated boo and the middle is the new build I just finished glueing up. Still has green tape on it.  The top one is the sinewed version I posted pics of earlier in this post.  It still has some drying to do.  I had a string on there for about 3-4 weeks while it dried.  I’m happy with the amount of reflex the sinew held. 

Thanks for following along

Sorry first pic is upside down!  You get the idea…

Cheers

[superdav95]

More pics…

[Bob Barnes]

wow... just wow.    That sinew backed version looks like you might need one of those stringing jigs to get a string on it.  It also looks like a rocket launcher.  It will be fun to see them strung, tillered, and shooting side by side.  Well done!   

[superdav95]

wow... just wow.    That sinew backed version looks like you might need one of those stringing jigs to get a string on it.  It also looks like a rocket launcher.  It will be fun to see them strung, tillered, and shooting side by side.  Well done!   

Thankyou sir.  I’m hoping for good things for the sinew backed one based on my positive results with the first one.  It will take a little more effort to get strung up I believe.   

[superdav95]

So my quest continues with these little bows…. I tillered out and shot in the new one I was working on that incorporated black walnut power lam for the handle with matching black walnut siyahs.  Dimensions are the same pretty well between these three test bows.  I was very pleased with my results with the 39lb bow.  I was surprised at the speed of high 170’s to a top speed of 181fps at just over 10gpp arrow.  So,  I shot in this new one the same way and it tillered out to 45lbs at 28” draw.  I was hoping for around 48 but there’s always the next one.  I get 48lbs if I draw out to 29.5-30” which is fine by me.   My speeds were faster being 5 pounds heavier draw as expected. But I did not expect speeds of 185, 187, 189fps.  189 was my fastest reading and had hard time getting readings today with sun I think but was able to get a few.  Using the same 400grain arrows as used with last bow.  So at 8.88gpp is pretty respectable I think.  I’m sure speeds could be little faster even still if I get the bow warmed up good and draw out the 29-30”.  Pretty happy with this little bow.  Still waiting if the sinew version to dry and cure before I compare all three head to head. 

Here’s a quick video clip of me shooting this new bow

https://photos.app.goo.gl/KLC28Mpd7dvaN1Y7A

Cheers and thanks for looking

[BowEd]

Excellent set of bows you've got there with A+ performance from them.
Personally I like the extra draw length option while shooting.It can really get a person to bear down and shoot better.

[Bob Barnes]

congrats on all of the nice bows, but I especially like the refined look of the latest bow.  It's almost scary to see the siyahs attached without the wraps, but I really like that look and it shows you know how to join them properly.  The grip and riser blend well too.  It looks and shoots great.   

[superdav95]

Thanks fellas.  Very nice. 

[superdav95]

So I’ve been experimenting with a unique finish for this last little boo bow and came up with this after some testing.  I used titebond 3 and applied it much the same way you would with rawhide or snake skin.  I did not soak or dampen the leaves prior to applying which would be the main difference.  I used a generous amount of glue and then placed the dead leaves in a random pattern and then wrapped with strums of cloth.  Bed sheet material works good.  Then I wrapped this with bicycle inner tube stretched tight.  I then let it dry for about 30mins then unwrapped it.  I worked out any minor issues with bubbles air holes and raised spots by rolling my finger on the spots to get it to stick down.  After about an hour of air dry I gave it two light coats of glue with my finger.  I had wiped a small amount of green and light brown leather dye on the limb before hand as a base Color.    I’ll spray with a Matt finish or use some Matt spar urethane or something after a day of drying.  I did some bend testing on this test limb to see if I could see any cracking or lifting and all good 😊   Time will tell.  The titebond 3 will offer some weather proofing protection and the leaves will blend in with late fall hardwood forest floor.  Only problem is if you drop your bow you may not find it again.  Lol.   Let me know what you think guys.