non-traditional trad bow.

[superdav95]

saying its a non traditional bow is an understatement to say the least.  is the words of gowan, shes a strange animal!.  the reason for building this bow is 2 fold.  first to fit a need and second to see if it can be done.  the need is that im looking for a draw of 30-31 inches while still maintaining an overall length around 60" or less.  this bow will be a 5 piece bamboo bow constructed much like my others which have been good shooters but limited to 28-29" draw.  Let see what we get.   It will be a highly deflexed riser instead of the reflexed ones ive previously made.  I did not measure any angles but eyeballed the angle to be similar to my trad bows.  the levers will be static and fixed.  the bending is all happening between the riser and the base of the levers.   this bow will start out at 60" tip to tip.  I will see if it survives.  the Idea and hope is that the deflexed set of limbs on the riser will reduce some of the strain to enable me the draw length im after.  no laminations just bamboo limbs and all glued and served to bind together.  obviously this is still rough yet and will be a test bow and the next one will be nicer.  Ive included a few pics of my backset jig for 5 piece boo bows when i bake the belly.  cheers

[pierce_schmeichel]

Unique!! How come you don't just make it a bendy handle? At 60" you could get a bow that draws 32" if you sinew back it a little. But the trick is to not go all the way to the tips with the sinew since the tips don't bend as much! I used to think bendy handle bows were silly but I have definitely grown very fond of them and have not noticed a difference in accuracy.

[superdav95]

Yes I may do that also.  I’ve got a short piece of Osage I may try that on. 

[sleek]

I dont know if you are interested in a short self bow that will pull 31 inches, but ive been building long draw short self bows for years now. I finally got it pretty well figured out. Id be happy to help you wuth one.