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Main Boards => The Bowyer's Bench => Topic started by: Pat B on January 01, 2009, 02:48:00 PM
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This is one of the 2 bows I built to hunt with this year. It is 60"t/t, 48#@26", 1 5/16" at the fades out most of the limb then tapering through the static curves to 3/8" tips, and with deer antler overlay. This bow bends through the handle and the handle wrap is hemp twine set in Massey finish with a floppy rest. This is a self bow and I backed it with cherry bark from Oregon for decoration. Most folks scrape the lichens and mosses off this bark to show the coppery bark underneath. I opted to to leave the extras on for a true "tree bark" camo effect. The wrap at the end of each bark backing strip is red silk thread set in super glue.
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/PatBNC/forPA025-1.jpg)
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/PatBNC/forPA029-1.jpg)
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/PatBNC/forPA030-1.jpg)
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/PatBNC/forPA032-1.jpg)
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/PatBNC/forPA033-1.jpg)
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Very nice work love that osage.
Charley Brown.
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Pat, you sure make cool bows!! :thumbsup:
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Great work Pat!
Like the tiller. Keep the pictures coming!
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Thanks guys. This bow has "another story" but I will get to that later.
Yea, osage is the best. I like other woods...but osage is the best. Pat
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Very nice. I love the static tips. Hoping to try one of those someday...
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Dang Pat, you make some purty bows.
Dennis
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Steve, static tips are pretty easy to do, especially with osage.
Thanks Dennis. Making them purty covers up the bad workmanship. Actually this bow has a boo boo that needs some attention.
It developed a hinge after hundreds of shots and a few fine chrysals. I will have to reduce the effected limb to relieve the chrysals and retiller the bow lighter. The wood for this bow was cut a month before I bought the stave and the bow was shooting not too long after that. I believe if it had cured longer this might not have happened.
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wow Pat....that's a sweet looking bow
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Thanks Elkshooter.
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Mighty pretty - both in looks and in lines, Pat. Your bows never fail to make me hungry.
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Pat, newbie question. In the last photo the upper limb appears to be bending more than the lower limb. Is this just the angle of the photo or did you tiller/design it this way and if so why. If this is the boo boo, sorry to bring it up :o
I am going to be attempting my first osage bow soon so want all the info I can get.
Tony
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Tony, the boo boo is about 4" above the arrow pass. If we can learn from our boo boos then they are nothing to be ashamed of.
The lower limb should be a bit stiffer than the top. Pat
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Pat that bow Rocks!
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Thanks, Ron.
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Very sweet bow, Pat. I am currently working of a stiff handle osage recurve. They take a bit of work to do it right but you sure have it down "pat"!
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Thanks Christopher. They can be a pain to get everything lined up. This is my first full sized bendy handle recurve. Most of the others I have made bend right to the handle or with a bit more stiffness. They are all fun to work with. Pat
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:notworthy: :notworthy: :notworthy: Nice job Pat
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Thanks Sal.
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Hi Pat,
I'm glad to see the cherry bark was put to good use. That's a gorgeous bow!!! When you need some more, you know who to contact.
Joe
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Nice bow, Pat. The tiller looks good. I can't understand why it chrysalled in that spot. Jawge
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Cool stuff, Pat! You sure make some neat bows. I really like that cherry bark backing...must make great camouflage. Matt
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Thanks Joe. I've been thinking about another. You may hear from me soon. Have you seen the bark used with the moss and lichens left on. Seems to hold up fine.
Thanks George. I think it is because the wood had been cut less than 2 months before I built the bow. Even though it felt dry and acted like a dry stave, it was too "young" for the task.
Thanks Matt. The cherry bark does add quite a bit of P-zaz! Pat
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Pat, I really like the cherry bark backing. Does it add any strength to a bow or is more for camo/looks? How is it harvested and applied? Dan
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Dan, I use the bark as a decorative backing but because of it's consistency, I wouldn't doubt if it added a bit of extra weight. The bark is usually harvested from dead trees and it grows around the tree instead of longitudinally so larger diameter trees are necessary for longer strips. Under the mosses, etc. the bark surface is a beautiful, shiny coppery color that most folks use on their bows.
The western Natives used this bark as bindings and decorations on bows, arrows and other items. Pat
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Thanks for the info. One last question, what species of cherry is the bark from? Here in PA we have mostly black cherry which gets a very rough bark on trees above 3-4" in dia. We do have a few of what I refer to as choke cherry that does not get the rough scales and have seen some as large as 12 - 18 inches in dia. The fruit on these trees are much larger than the black cherry and some what sweeter in taste. I assume this is what you are using for the backing. It also is very coppery, almost clear. I'm currently working on a mulberry stave that I nicked the tops of a few pin knots when chasing the growth ring, would this be an acceptable backing for this bow, and what glue do you use to bond it? Ok, thats more than one question. Dan
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Dan, I don't know what specie of Prunus it is. I do know it is not black cherry(Prunus serotina). Choke cherry sounds right but depending on where you live that common name could be any of a few different cherries. This particular cherry bark came from the Pacific North West. We have a similar cherry growing here but at higher altitudes along the Blue Ridge Parkway.
The first bow I backed with cherry bark I used 2ton epoxy because that is what was recommended by the guy that sent it to me. This time I used TBIII. I believe that is what Joe(Klink) told me to use. He sent me this bark. Pat
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Pat, again thanks for all the info. I plan to post some pics of my progression on this mulberry stave, once I figure out how to post pics.
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I just figured that out myself after many years here on TG. One word! PHOTOBUCKET!!!
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Beautiful bow and ingenious use of materials (once again) !
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Thanks snakewood. I enjoy playing with fun stuff and natural materials are the best. It's hard to beat Mother Nature. Pat
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Yes, and there's alot of snakes crawling around out there that are glad to see those backings !
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I LIKE it! Nice job..
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you make some sweet looking bows and I'll bet they shoot great also. Nice work
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Wow that is about as cool as it gets!!
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Thanks guys. Pat
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Great bow, Pat. I am glad I looked here, because I did not see this one on the PA site. I love the bark, the tips, and the tiller. Well done, sir.
Dan
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Thanks Dan. It was posted in late summer on PA.
Hope to see you again at Pappy's in May. I'll bring this bow along with me. Pat
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Funny, Pat, as I just reread the chapter of on "Other Backings" written by John Strunk in the TTB this morning. That you this post has me thinking about trying this idea in the near future.
I, like the fella from Pa, have quite a bit of black cherry available. I am wondering if the large flaky scales were scraped off if it would work? I may have to harvest some to see. I'm sure it won't look like what you have there, though.
Again, beautiful bow.
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Christopher, I don't think black cherry bark will work. I believe it is too brittle. The choke cherry bark is very strong. The NW Natives use it for all sorts of bindings. John Strunk has made some beautiful bows with cherry bark backing. Pat
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LOOKS NICE
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Pat B,
Do you have any pictures of the form you used to recurve the tips?
I want to build one of these next and can't find a good form design for bending the tips.
Thx
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This isn't the same form(different curve) but the same basic idea.
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/PatBNC/forDon002.jpg)
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Good work, Pat. That is a nice weapon!!!
Wells
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Thanks Pat...
This helps...a couple of additional questions for you.
1. What dimensions do you rough the bow to before you put it in the form...specifically what width and thickness on the tips? I've read that leaving tips wider and thicker helps with handshock.
2. What length of the stave do you start with - something in the low 60" range for a 28" draw?
3. What's the radius of the curve that you usually use? In other words, what have you found to be the best curve from a shooting perspective and not raising splinters, etc?
4. Tillering...I assume you bend the tips before you tiller. Is that an accurate assumption? Is there anything I need to be aware of during tiller that's different from tillering a longbow.
5. Backing - do you usually recommend backing these bows with rawhide, or something due to the more limited "working" part of the limb.
Sorry for the newbie questions, but I'm interested in doing this and want to learn as much as I can before I jump in.
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I usually take the stave to floor tiller stage(tip movement of about 4")and leave the tips 1/2" to 3/4" wide and about 1/2" to 5/8" thick. After the bow is tillered I reduce the tip width to 3/8" at the string grove and about 1/2" through the curve. By reducing the width you can eliminate some of the physical weight of the tips thus reducing hand shock. It is the weight of the tips that contribute to hand shock, among other things. By leaving them thicker you still have the strength to support the curves. I try to get the working portion of the limb right up to the curve and right up to the handle. This particular bow bends through the handle.
I have made recurves(mostly osage but a few hickories too) from 60"t/t up to about 66"t/t. I pull 26"(but tiller to 28") and usually between 55# to 60#. You want your stave to be the length of the ultimate bow before you bend the tips.
I never measured the radius. I just play with it until I find what I like. I have used a large coffee can to trace the radius but I use different radius for different bows depending on how I feel at the moment. Very scientific. If your bend is too tight, boiling is probably the best way to go to prevent splintering but it still happens sometime. If you boil or steam dry wood, you should seal it first with shellac to prevent the moisture from entering the dry wood. I prefer to use a heat gun with oil.I mount the tips in the form, clamp the belly support strap to the limb and heat until gravity begins to pull the bow down. Then I know it is hot enough to bend.
You have to realize that by recurving the tips you are putting the working portion of the limbs under more stress. You want the best wood you can find to make recurves. I have backed recurves with rawhide and sinew but not all of them. If you have a good, clean back ring, backing is not necessary.
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Pat I always ck your post , I just love looking at all the bows you build . Great job
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Thanks Wahoo. Fun ain't it?