Linen Backed Hickory Flatbow

[Sabinus]

full draw.jpg (70.12 KiB) Viewed 1467 times

unstrung.jpg (42.23 KiB) Viewed 1467 times

braced.jpg (47.8 KiB) Viewed 1467 times

Hi Guys!

Thought I'd show my latest- actually an overhaul of a previous effort. I removed the old Jute webbing backing and replaced it with 100% linen canvas. The old riser block hadn't glued properly so I replaced it as well, And I heat treated the belly side of the limbs to obtain about 1 3/4"of resting reflex that had not been there before. The unbraced photo included here is immediately after restringing- more like about 1/4" of reflex. I like to flex it across my chest back into it's full reflex after unstringing- don't know if this has any rational foundation, just seems like the right thing to do!

After my experiences of heating hickory bows, I'd strongly recommend the practice to anyone who was going to use hickory. It's just so crazy strong in tension that the belly needs a bit of a hand if you prefer a bit less string follow, let alone a bit of reflex. I was impressed when I tried Dennis's version of heat treating a little while ago, and with this bow I took it a bit further- actually 'toasting' the belly wood, as described in TBB4.

My only problem with this bow will be getting good enough for it! It shoots where I point it really well, and nice and quiet with 500 grain+ cedar arrows. It shoots 50lb@28" and is 69' ntn. I just noticed how uncomfortable my form looks in the full draw photo- I'm standing up straight and un-canted to try and show the tiller- not my normal thing! Felt at the time like I was about to fall over backwards

Darren

[hunterguy1991]

Nice looking bow Darren! Tiller is spot on I reckon.

[greybeard]

Darren,

The re furbished bow looks good. Did you use a PVA type glue to apply the linen.

As a point of interest what temperature setting did you use when heat tempering the belly of the bow?

Daryl.

[Sabinus]

Thanks Hunterguy!

Daryl I used TB3 for the linen backing and the jute before it- removing the jute backing only increased my regard for TB3, it was extremely hard work! I've learned that with linen it's important to wet it and wring it out before gluing- the dampness sucks the glue into and through the linen, essentially making it as one with the back of the bow.

I used a heat gun for the tempering mate, so the setting was 'Full'! I judged the results more by eye and by nose- heating one spot from about 4" away until it turned a mid 'toasty' brown and I could smell the process- then moving along the limb and repeating. Took me about an hour.

Darren