Ozbow

Last month I posted a short hunting story when Brenton and I went bush on the way home from the Tully Trad shoot. It was decided that Brenton should be weaned off his training wheels and having a go at trad hunting. We planned out a 64" hunting bow of deflex/reflex shape and set about finding materials. I had some Zebrano cabinetmaking veneer I was looking to try out and we decided on a piece of Queensland Maple for the riser. It really felt too light to start with but that didn't turn out to be an issue. The core laminations are vertical bamboo flooring. A couple of days in the shed showing Brenton the ropes and he was away. Brenton is not new to woodwork and was keen as mustard, so I had a cooling ale (watching like an old mother hen ) while he shaped his bow and sanded it ready for finishing. We made two FF+ strings for it, Brenton built his first one himself while watching me make the other. Impatience got the better of us and we put a few through it before the final sand and clear went on. It weighed in at 54#@28" which was right on the money for a change. The bow is 64" NTN and weighs about 1 lb 4 oz with a string on it. .
8 coats of Minwax wipe-on-poly later it was ready for a kangaroo hide strike plate and some more photos. I knocked up a basic string keeper that takes about 10 minutes to make and costs nearly nothing (if you can pinch a hair band from a lady friend ) We set about making a set of woods with Brenton's favourite orange dominating the colour scheme. Here he is drying out, while I have an ale and keep an eye on progress. The Scott's pine shafts finished up around 585 grn total with 125 grn points and 27" to the back of the aluminium screw adaptors. The end result has stood up well to the first couple of hundred shots, so we think they are almost ready to swap out the field points for broadheads and go hunting.

Hope it been worth the reading. Cheers... Rod

Great to see, well done. Cheers Roadie.

Good looking bow ,that Q maple looks good,do you call him grasshopper now

Rod, that is an excellent result.

The Queensland Maple has some attractive grain variation.

Daryl.

Rod, that's a beautiful looking bow. Well done with getting your mate to have a go with the longbow. Maybe he'll stay with the trad now.

Ranger

Endorse previous comments especially re the Qld Maple. all round great job!

Thanks fellas, your comments are appreciated.

Cheers... Rod

Good onya Rod and great work Brenton!!! I look forward to seeing photos of the first game taken with the new equipment.

Jeff

Rod is always a great feeling helping someone find there way into the Trad journey, lets hope he stays with it and will be forever in your dept, congratulations to you and Brenton.

Cheers Wayno

great stuff Rod.

Thank you for your kind words fellas. It is enjoyable to watch people having a go at making trad gear, I know I have enjoyed a lot of helpful advise from many of you (even if it was indirectly through reading your posts). It is this aspect of traditional archery that I enjoy the most, being handed, and handing on, "the tradition".

Cheers... Rod