My Lam Bow more picks added

[otis.drum]

so it took me a while but i finally got one out. an all wood laminated flat laid longbow.

ironwood core backed with stringybark. 65.5" 40#@28 tillered to 29.5"
it shoots hard and fast and i'm very happy with it so far. it is backed with nylon as the first three ironwoods snapped. i plan to back it with hide or skin of some kind in the coming weeks.

hope you enjoy

glued up flat with techniglue ready to rough out.

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i found the ironwood very brittle and extremely hard to work. but it has a nice grain.

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the tips are deep at about half an inch, but narrow, at about 3/8".

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a very small piece of stringy stuck on the handle for looks more than anything, but i will probably cover it in leather anyway

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at 28" on the tillering stick. i think the upper limb (right of screen) is posibly a little stiff.

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[pdccr]

That looks good mate!

[greybeard]

Hi Otis,

If you feel condifent the bow will survive with the nylon backing it may be better to leave it that way. Depending on the skin/hide backing you could rob the bow of some of its performance ie; extra limb mass.

If you do go down this path try clamping the bow down and induce a couple of inches of reflex by putting blocks under the tips and then apply the backing.

Daryl.

[Glenn]

The bow looks good Otis. As Daryl said you could rob your bow of performance by adding too much on the back...Glenn...

[longbow steve]

I'm impressed Otis, I look forward to seeing more. Steve

[TomMcDonald]

That tip looks bloody good as.

[ichiban]

there are alot of diffrent "ironwoods" out there but correct me if im wrong but thats cooktown ironwood right? man if so thats what my bokken is made from and is heavy and very very tough, good work

[Brumbies Country]

Great job Otis. Second Tom's enthusiasm re the tips.

Simon

[Gringa Bows]

looks good mate................Rod

[otis.drum]

thanks guys,

ichi, the wood is cooktown ironwood at about 1.2 tonnes per cubic meter.

glenn/daryl

re. the hide backing, i was thinking of using barra skin as it would only be light. but i might just paint it or something. it's just that the nylon does look authentic or trad, it's ugly.

i have found the ironwood seems to take a lot of set. or the four i've made (all with different limb design) they have all had string follow before they were finished. this one has almost two inches of string follow after about 30 arrows.

i am looking foward to playing with some more stringybark. i found it much easier to work with.

[pdccr]

You could always paint it black or something, but it think they look better when you can see the wood.

[otis.drum]

you can't see the wood through the backing anyway.

[pdccr]

Thats true, if i was in your boat i would paint it black with a pattern running down it.

[otis.drum]

here some more picks of it with a clear finish.

i decided to paint the back of it in a camo patturn, which i don't really like. but i can always add a backing later or repaint it in a solid colour.

[Brumbies Country]

Generally I'm not mad about camo on these type of bows but your camo really suits the environment.

Simon

[pdccr]

Haha nice! I lost it there for a second I probably will try an aboriginal art one with a black background.

[Gringa Bows]

dont leave that bow on the lawn Otis ...........................Rod

[otis.drum]

no Rod i wont. my other half would probly aim straight for it with the lawn mower, and try to say she didn't see it

the camo suits this area this time of year, but the dry season will be different.

[GrahameA]

Afternoon

re. the hide backing, i was thinking of using barra skin as it would only be light. but i might just paint it or something. it's just that the nylon does look authentic or trad, it's ugly.

If what you want to do is "back the bow" then may I suggest Queenfish skin.

[otis.drum]

i must agree grahame, queeny would be a beautiful skin with its bright silver colour, but i have a barra skin almost ready so i will use it. the barra skin isn't probably as pretty, but for my first go it will have to do... don't worry there will be plenty more bows to come

i got the idea from outbackarcher's post

http://residents.bowhunting.net/stickns ... bbyp7.html

i actually nearly used spanish mackrel, which would have been nice. i was just day or too late asking a mate to keep me some skins, and i haven't been out fishing for ages, since becoming interested in bow building. much to my partners disgust