a rowan shortbow.

[a finnish native]

I found this Rowan stave from a construction area that the city was working on, so I decided to save it. The stave was really curved, and this bow is from the deflexed side. The natural defex that the stave had was about 5". Now that I worked a bow out of it the bow has around 4½" of deflex. It reflexed it's self a bit guring the drying period. So basically the bow has ½" reflex compared to the original stave. no string follow at all.
The stave was a tricky one to tiller, hence all the natural curves that were real dramatic. So I followed the wood, and tillred it as I saw best. No chryshals, no splinters, no set. this is by far one of the best bow's I have made. I know it might not look so special to you, but I have a shortbow fetish  . I also find them very pleasing to the eye.
The handle is wrapped with hemp and the bow is finished with cotton oil and beewax mixed with soil colour. I just call it red dirt. kinda like clay, but not quite.
Here are the specs: it's 42" NTN and draws 47#@20".
I had to keep the outer limbs a bit stiff to keep the string angle from being too big. It bends slightly from the handle and is a sweet shooter.
It's also decrowned.

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[a finnish native]

more. Oops.. that one pic came in twice.

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[OldBow]

Got your truly primitive selfbow all bookmarked for Nov Self Bow of the Month.  Thanks for the post.

[orcbow]

Nice work on that little bow. The full draw pic makes it work! Interesting, I'm working on a 42" long bow too. How is rowan? Hard or soft? It is not a native tree to Indiana, but my grandfather planted one in his yard as an ornamental.

[DanaM]

Very nice little bow finnish, congrtas on such a shorty eh

[a finnish native]

compared to hickory, rowan is soft, but I would call it between soft and hard. you can make a noticable mark to the wood with you fingernail though.. From what wood are you making your shorty? if it has thin rings and a roundish belly, I would say decrown it. makes the back work wonders.
This rowan grew on the arctic circle, so I have no idea how the wood would be in India. Probably a lot bigger and with growth rings real thick. But if you live near the Himalaya it could be a different story. Could you post a picture of that tree?
DanaM: thanks! got plenty of snow in the UP?

[Jesse]

Great bow. Im always impressed when I see those shortys. Its dificult enough to make a long one without problems.Nice work! 
                                    Jesse

[orcbow]

Finnish Native- I'm sorry, but you got my location wrong, I'm in Indiana, not India. It's a not very glamorous state in the USA. Most people who drive across the middle on their way to someplace else, remark about how boring and uninteresting it is. No snow topped mountains here!!  But we do have hardwood trees by the millions.....Great place to find lots of good bow woods. Many trees from other temperate places will grow here, but maybe not thrive, including Rowan.

[a finnish native]

doh! I was in such a hurry when I wrote that. I believe that Rowan in Indiana would make a fine bow, you should try.

[Pappy]

Very nice job on a short piece.Well done.
   Pappy

[GregB]

That's a nice bow with good looking tiller. Good job on a challenging short bow.

[JackCrafty]

Cool ...I don't know what took so long for me to see this one?  Looks you did a good job with a challenging piece of wood.

[a finnish native]

Thanks guys. I'll have to see if I get the materials to make a set of arrows for this one. If so, I will use it to hunt with this winter.

[PatM]

American "Rowan" or Mountain Ash is actually native to many parts of the USA including Indiana.