Salt & Pepper Bow/plenty of pics

[BowEd]

That’s a beauty Ed!!! You are really testing the belly of the inners on that bow with that design. Very well done. Arvin

Thanks Arvin....
Yes I do realize that.I wanted to show one without horn that'll come very close to what they can do.
If it was black cherry I'd be a lot more worried about that.
Only time will tell.I usually always put my bows through half dozen 3D shoots and much shooting inbetween to test them.I've been thinking about reducing the poundage to counteract things that could occur.Midway on working the limbs is already a shade below 1/2" thick.Sinew occupies somewhere between 25%-30% of the limbs thickness.
The speed will still be more than enough to hunt deer with and a more comfortable draw yet.
Not quite ready to proclaim winged elm is the king yet though,but it is some tough stuff without the extra mass weight osage will carry.

Thats a great looking bow Ed. You got this sinewed bow thing figured out pretty well.

Thanks Dave....
I guess a bit anyway.Always room or improvement though.Might see you at MoJam later.

[RyanY]

Really incredible work and a wild amount of reflex. I’m curious where bows like this lose efficiency. Wonder if the hysteresis is different with it being sinew backed and pulling back into reflex. Would like to see a F/D curve too. Amazing how so many different designs can break into that super high performance area. Should definitely test it at 10gpp.

[bradsmith2010]

great work,, congrats,, 

[BowEd]

Thanks Ryan....I would'nt call the bow here super high in performance Ryan,but enough to take note of.It's been done before in the past and believe it can be duplicated again.Storing energy and releasing it seems are 2 different things.The lacrosse player stick effect I think has something to do with it also.
The bow was tested at 10gpp.You did'nt read everything like it was suggested.Unless it did'nt come up for you which happens on this site on occasions.I made sure things were legit while testing.Otherwise what's the sense in it.
Sometime I would like to test it with a 6 strand string.
Like most of my bows.I do follow up on them later.Something that does'nt happen a lot of times.Like I said to Arvin time will tell.
I did'nt see much [a few 10ths of a pound] lose of draw weight checking at 20"/pulling to full draw and rechecking at 20" again.Same thing when checking multiple times draw weight at full draw either so I'd say there was very little hysteresis.
The thing about a sinewed bow to me is that when rested unstrung from shooting the sinewed bow is like shooting a fresh bow in a sense again because the sinew has had a chance to recover back from stretching and shooting previously.It all takes time.
The practical side of me will put the bow through the motions of being a bow.I can assure you of that.A hunting season will truly reveal how well this bow will hold up.
It is smooth to shoot.The only thing a FD would show is where.

[BowEd]

Thanks Brad.

[Don W]

Impressive. I like all the details. It sounds like a lot of work went into both the design and execution. Is there a design decision in the different kinds of sinew, or was it just what you had?

[BowEd]

Thanks Don....
Actually the design layout and alignment to floor tillering is'nt that difficult and faster than other designs IMO.Deciding how much stiff and how much bending area you want comes from making them.
I try to keep plenty of sinew around of different types.Any type of it will work for sinewing bows.I like to use sinew for performance reasons.Usually in 3 courses then.
It's the outside crown or layer that will do most of the work on a bow.Sinew can take an enormous amount more stretching compared to wood at a lot less width also.So crowning it down the center line on the limb as you apply it makes it work the most.

I'll describe my usual procedure.The bow is sized well prior to sinewing with multiple thin coats of hide glue till it's glassy smooth after partially drying.

Using a little thicker glue the first course is layed/pressed down lightly over the whole width of the limb using various lengths overlapping the ends close to 1.5".Let dry for a good week or two.

Lightly sand dried first course smooth.Apply a good sizing of hide glue for second course.Second course is layed the same way but narrower in from the edges of the limb overlapping again but not in the same places as the first layer.Let dry for a week or two again.

Lightly sand dried second course smooth again.Apply a good sizing of hide glue for third course.Third course is layed on narrower yet [usually only 3/4" wide or less by then] using the longest sinew I've got the full length of the working limb.Let the bow cure then.

You can comb these strands before applying to the bow or lay them as perfectly straight as you can.I usually lay them on 3 strands at a time avoiding any twisting of strands.It can look swelled up and like a mess at first after applying it but if you can get it to look nice and smooth just after applying,it will look very nice and smooth after drying.

Most peoples' first attempt at sinewing can look horrible.I'm no exception to that either.With experience you can get it looking very nice.

[simk]

Thanx for posting Ed. This is a stunning bow with a stunning finish! Once again remarkable what wood can do under your hands!
cheers
 

[BowEd]

Thanks simk...You do an excellent job of getting the best out of a wood bow yourself over there.With a little luck I might get to show a pick up box of logs of this winged elm in the future.I'm working on it.

It seems when ever a bow is shown of this type reflex that is,noone really asks how a person gets a string on one of these.A problem that took me a while in the beginning to make easier and more convenient.I'm sure there are other ways but this way has worked well for me.
I went to using a peg board.To me just a little more intense floor tillering stage.From there you can get the bend even,if necessary and get the exact length of string to use and then get it braced to see what you've got.
I don't mind sharing as it's something anyone can do.The bend will be more from the fades like this on the peg board and will change once a string is on pitting one limb against the other.More bend then into the outer part of the working limbs at brace.Just like any other bow.The string alignment can be checked good also then.At full draw the outers stay stiff and the bend shifts to the inner limbs.Where the real power is.This process takes me less work than long stringing a bow.

I like to keep the belly of the handle fade limb width and flat at this stage.Of course getting it locked into the first peg is always a revealing adventure.It's then I'm always amazed [besides while tillering it] as to what sinew can do and to see if my sinewing work was done correctly also.
From there it's a couple inches at a time letting it rest stretching an hour in between stages to a braced position of the tips.
This one took a just few scrapes with a cabinet scraper to get right.It's still a little stiffer in the right limb a bit.It's very sensitive throughout this process.So slow and steady.The string is ready to be put on this one.
Some question the stability on these.This one had no issues at first bracing.
I usually put the higher reflexed limb to the bottom on most bows but this one not.My decision was made that way because of the way it looked and felt in the hand at brace and drawing on it.The slight opposing propellers had the string slightly off to one side of the handle.It shoots the best that way too.

[Zugul]

I'm a total newbie, but that bow looks scary to me! it seem very hard to string even if the poundage isn't that high... very well done btw, that's a magnificent bent stick!

[BowEd]

Thanks Zugal....It may seem that way but after a while it really is'nt.The easiest and safest way I've found to string these is with a primitive stringer.It can seem to look scary even to veteran FG bow makers out there.

Honestly I've never had one harm myself in this manner.
It may be hard for some to understand but it's all a test of ones' materials/designs and abilities.Confidence builds with success and further builds move on.There are others on here that feel the same way and do magnificent work.They all are inspirational in what they do.

[Pappy]

Beautiful bow Ed, very nice work in all aspects.
 Pappy

[M2A]

Thats some reflex! Looks great. Real nice bow all around!
Mike

[gutpile]

Ed your bows are incredible.. gut

[Stixnstones]

Thats crazy reflex, just looks fast sittin still.... great work