Broke all the rules in the book on this one!!
Posted: Wed Jul 29, 2015 8:42 pm
Evening all,
Just wanted to share this bow with you, mostly as a testament to Red Ash as a bow timber, and second to show Perry one of my "Ugly" ones ...
Stats on the bow : 74" ntn, 65lbs@26 " (bloke I made it for is rather short but wanted a hard hitting hunting ELB) Goes about 70lbs @ 28 tho.
The Stave I started with however was FAR from perfect... It was roughly 2 inches in dia, maybe a little smaller with an S bend close to one end and reflex in the other (great combo!... ) with knots, branches and pin holes all along it...
I looked it over and figured why not, didn't have anything better to do at the time, so I got stuck in and flattened the edged to narrow it to a hunting bow size (about 30mm I think), but left the S bend in it, will sort that out later.
Next up I shaped the profile, all done with a draw knife (love this thing on stave bows!!) to get the tips thinned to get the bend I wanted later.
Then I marked on the belly taper and roughed it out (not too exact on the stave bows, tillering gets them bending anyway)...
It was then that the excitement began!! took the bark off the bark with the spoke shave (very clingy on this particular stave) which revealed several worm tracks in the back... Definitely NOT what you want to see on a stave bow... but I figured bugger it, come this far anyway so I just blended them in to make the back smooth.
Having done that I was set that the bow was going to explode but continued to the tiller anyway... long string down to brace then short string to a short brace... no problems... interesting...
Short string down to 20... 45 or so lbs... WHAT!!
Upped the brace height to about 5 1/2, short string down to 24... 55lbs .. ok this is ridiculous, why didn't it blow up? I cut through the back!! down to 28"... 68-70lbs!! Ok lets shoot the bugger!!
WOW is it fast!!! This thing puts my 65 tri lam to shame!! Its like a rocket...
This is the bow at Brace, right limb is top limb. Will try to get some drawn photos next time I see the bow but the tiller is a little whipped just how I like them to my eyes. (hard to see only pulled to 26 tho)
I thought having so many issues in the stave and breaking some pretty key bow-making rules in its construction that this bow would blow up for sure but to my surprise and extreme satisfaction it held up and made a very nice shooter.
I will get some more photos looking along the stave as well so you can see the bends, knots, holes, etc as well.
Would love to get some opinions on why it held up from the more experienced guys on here if they care to hazard a guess.
Colin
Just wanted to share this bow with you, mostly as a testament to Red Ash as a bow timber, and second to show Perry one of my "Ugly" ones ...
Stats on the bow : 74" ntn, 65lbs@26 " (bloke I made it for is rather short but wanted a hard hitting hunting ELB) Goes about 70lbs @ 28 tho.
The Stave I started with however was FAR from perfect... It was roughly 2 inches in dia, maybe a little smaller with an S bend close to one end and reflex in the other (great combo!... ) with knots, branches and pin holes all along it...
I looked it over and figured why not, didn't have anything better to do at the time, so I got stuck in and flattened the edged to narrow it to a hunting bow size (about 30mm I think), but left the S bend in it, will sort that out later.
Next up I shaped the profile, all done with a draw knife (love this thing on stave bows!!) to get the tips thinned to get the bend I wanted later.
Then I marked on the belly taper and roughed it out (not too exact on the stave bows, tillering gets them bending anyway)...
It was then that the excitement began!! took the bark off the bark with the spoke shave (very clingy on this particular stave) which revealed several worm tracks in the back... Definitely NOT what you want to see on a stave bow... but I figured bugger it, come this far anyway so I just blended them in to make the back smooth.
Having done that I was set that the bow was going to explode but continued to the tiller anyway... long string down to brace then short string to a short brace... no problems... interesting...
Short string down to 20... 45 or so lbs... WHAT!!
Upped the brace height to about 5 1/2, short string down to 24... 55lbs .. ok this is ridiculous, why didn't it blow up? I cut through the back!! down to 28"... 68-70lbs!! Ok lets shoot the bugger!!
WOW is it fast!!! This thing puts my 65 tri lam to shame!! Its like a rocket...
This is the bow at Brace, right limb is top limb. Will try to get some drawn photos next time I see the bow but the tiller is a little whipped just how I like them to my eyes. (hard to see only pulled to 26 tho)
I thought having so many issues in the stave and breaking some pretty key bow-making rules in its construction that this bow would blow up for sure but to my surprise and extreme satisfaction it held up and made a very nice shooter.
I will get some more photos looking along the stave as well so you can see the bends, knots, holes, etc as well.
Would love to get some opinions on why it held up from the more experienced guys on here if they care to hazard a guess.
Colin