Ozbow

Damn, just stuffed up a privet longbow I had nearly finished by twisting it while heat treating the belly…. It was nearly finished but was taking a bit of set so I thought I would bend a bit of reflex into it by heat treating the belly while reverse stringing it. The bending seemed to work a treat, heaps of reflex stayed in after I took the string off, BUT … I was a bit sloppy and tied the string on a bit crooked, and it twisted the bow right out of shape. So much so that I couldn’t even string it normally the next day. I might have been able to heat it again and take out the twist but I was a bit over it by then and turned it into kindling...

Oh well, I guess it was a good learning experience and I will be more careful next time. I reckon that privet can make a good bow if treated right and I have a few other straight lengths here to start again with as well as the obligatory red oak board from Masters, so I am not going to be bored…

Bugger!, hope she made a nice fire though!
Was it a flat bow or did it have a round belly? Also any pics?

It had a roughly elliptical cross-section - with a sort of slightly rounded belly. The back was just the underneath of the bark, and I had worked down the belly. No pics unfortunately - I was planning on posting a couple after it was finished... Good point though - next time I will take some photos as I go so that if it all goes pear shaped I might be able to post a couple of pics and ask if anyone can see what I did wrong.