Ozbow

This is a fairly easy bow design that a novice should be able to make without any problems. Power tools are not necessary however they do make the task less labour intensive.
You may notice the upper limb is a little stiff from outside mid limb to the tip but I will wait until a lot more arrows are shot before making any changes.
To further test the design the next one will be in the 50 to 55 lb range.

Daryl.

Looks good mate

Nice and simple - looks good!

Jeff

Looks great!

I like it Daryl. Well done.

You may notice the upper limb is a little stiff from outside mid limb to the tip

It is barely noticeable, Daryl.

I think you have done a superb job there, especially in keeping the amount of reflex in the bow. Your tillering has to be pretty good to have kept it even with that very slight outer limb stiffness. I reckon no more than about a cigarette paper's worth of scraping would fix it if it really needs it.

Who needs big handles.

Majestic, streamline and practical Daryl.

I quite like it.

Hazard

Ol' Maestro strikes again eh Daryl? Very nice, clean lines and great tiller.

That is a very nice bow there greybeard. Are you making the next for me? One could only hope. Oh you are a nice bloke, LOL.
Just so you know the longbow you made me years ago is still going strong and I still love it.
woodie

Thank you for your kind words.

I hope that these types of posts are not becoming boring but I put them up hoping that they will encourage members to have a go.
The materials are not expensive and a workshop full of tools is not required.

Dennis,

The tiller of the bow is virtually how it came off the form.

Firstly I taper the main stave by marking out weigh points at six inch intervals from the centre. Vernier callipers are used to check the limb thickness. From previous experience I have a pretty good idea as to how much taper is required. When the limbs are even I put the stave on the tiller board to see if they are bending evenly, if not minor adjustments can be made. At this stage I do not take the stave past brace height.

The bamboo backing is cut to the plan of the bow and marked out at six inch intervals. Once again the bamboo thickness is monitored by the use of callipers. The bamboo and stave are glued into reflex using an adjustable form.

In the photo of the bow at full draw you can see that the pivot point of the bow is in the web between the thumb and finger.

Daryl.

Very nice Daryl.
Will it be making a public appearance at Gympie Trad?

cheers
sue

I had one today made from that Mass --etc and straight off the workbench and shaping whacked it on the tiller board and near perfect no prop twist, without doing anything more. Didnt have a suitable long string so used a bit of builders line, which of course stretched so much the limbs were still flat. Gave it a few limbering draws observing the limbs bending then put it on my scales -40# 2@ 28. Not bad so had a few more draws then in a moment of madness full drew it ----BANG' Split parallel to the limb edge for half its length and broke out.Such is life which is why its always good to see a successful board bow on show.

Not boring at all

The more I read, the more I learn, the more chance of a successful bow.

Nice job yet again.


rgds

Rob

Lovely! What is the length ntn Daryl?

Thanks John,

The bow is 68" n to n.

I tend to like this length and it seems to suit most bow styles that I play around with.

Daryl.

A really nice piece of kit. What I always found a challenge when I got more breakers than shooters (and I've gone rusty on selfies because my laminated ones worked pretty good) was getting the width and thickness taper right. Clearly your dimensions are working because you get a good tiller pretty much off the form.

John,

I was getting tired of making glass laminated bows so going back to selfbows and bamboo backed bows has been a welcome change. Fortunately I remembered the important things from past experience.

Working to close tolerances with the bamboo backing and the main core makes life easier. When I have tapered the main core [over size] I put it on the tiller board to see if the limbs are bending evenly. Making adjustments at this stage makes final tillering easier after the glue up.

Daryl.

I'm inspired to do a selfie (not like Stephanie Rice). Just need to finish that horsebow I started and I'm into it. Bamboo backed Osage I reckon. Or hickory backed.