I haven't thrown a finished bow up in a while on TG, so I thought I'd throw this out. I'm a selfbow guy and I don't do too many backed bows, but I glued up this hickory backed osage last summer, largely just to get rid of excess material in my basement. It took me until "this" summer to get around tillering it.
Here's the in-progress shot that I "did" throw up recently.
http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/ww48/Alpinbogen/OsageHick6-25-1102.jpg
I masked the stark hickory back in black India ink, which looked to me like trout speckles. Hence the name, osage + speckles = "Yellow Trout". I sewed the grip on today. I was going to do something elaborate, but the bow is so light and slender, that I decided to do something simple and unassuming; just plain black goatskin with a matching glass bead for good measure.
http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/ww48/Alpinbogen/YellowTrout001a.jpg
Buffalo horn overlays. Hey, why not?
http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/ww48/Alpinbogen/YellowTrout005a.jpg
It's 60" ntn x 1-1/8" wide, with a working handle and round bellied. It holds 1.5" of reflex and draws 60" @ 25".
http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/ww48/Alpinbogen/YellowTrout002a.jpg
If only tomato stakes would grow bows like this...
http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/ww48/Alpinbogen/YellowTrout003a.jpg
Please resize pics, no pics over 600 pixels
Full draw. You know, there's a delicate balance, if not an art form in drawing a bow on cue with a self-timed camera without slinging an arrow through your screened in porch... I was lucky and got it right. Guess my karma's all good. :rolleyes: I wasn't particularly keen on this bow while tillering (again, selfbow guy), but this thing grew on me during shoot in. Sure is a speedy little sucker, and so light and tiny. It has some of that dense, dark orange osage, especially on the lower limb. I dunno, I may get some hunting time with it.
http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/ww48/Alpinbogen/YellowTrout004a.jpg
No pics over 600 pixels, Thanks
WOW!!!
beautiful.
That is one very fine bow! Love the circle tiller and the light clean lines. I am also a self bow guy but simple all wood laminates are very nice too. I could hunt with that and feel good about the deer that it took. Also like the trout spots. Thanks for sharing.
Nice bow,
Really cool Bow! I like that "bend through the Handle" Style!
Nice!
Greets
Herm
that is a really fine looking bow. nice work. don
Very nice and those tips are outstanding.
Outstanding job Adam.
graceful and deadly looking predator bow...much like a trout....thanks for sharing!
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Glenn
That is one fine tillering job. AWESOME BOW!
Real nice Adam! Agree with Shaun, I'd be killing something with that! :thumbsup:
Garden looks great, too!
Good shootin, Steve
Nice graceful tiller, Adam. What is the thickness, width and taper? I have an osage stave that wants to be a bend through the handle bow.
Nice.
Stan
Very nice bow, AK. Full draw is beautiful. We need to see more of your work in the future!!!
Very cool. I like the rounded belly.
Sweet bow, tiller looks great and I really like the paint job. :thumbsup:
Tracy
Adam,
The bow looks great, but I'm looking at your bench. As a beginner I need to build a work bench. Could you send some pictures from different angles. This one looks like it could be portable. I have a very small workshop and working outside would be nice.
Thanks, George
Fantastic looking bow.
Jeff
Very slick looking selfer...
wow very nice work, thanks for sharing
very very nice bow.
what is your process for shaping the horn over lays?
You did a fine job....... :thumbsup:
Thanks all. Vampire, Here's a shot of the workbench right after I made it a few years ago. It breaks down into two sections to travel or move into the house. (Crazy heavy bugger to move around, but VERY stable.) Three long bolts/wingnuts hold it together. Two through the top and one through the center leg. The end of the vise section rests on top of the double leg section, and two bolts run down through. I winged the construction with scrap wood. I only recently added the tillering tree, which is attached to one of the legs with half a dozen long screws. I keep it outside year round and spray the vise down with WD-40 on occassion. I've also had a permanent version mounted in my basement for years, but without the wooden legs, being mounted on a steel post that is lagged to the concrete floor.
(http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/ww48/Alpinbogen/BowBenchBrokenDown.jpg)
Oneraindog, For the overlays, I mark points on each limb tip for grinding a bevel with my disk sander. Then I freehand the bevel bevel grind with a 30 grit disk. I cut a wedge of horn, grinding one side flat, which I glue it on with superglue gel using 3 or 4 tiny C-clamps. From there, I grind the worst of the excess horn off on the disk sander, before using a #50 Nicholson and 4-in-1 file to round the top of the overlay. Last, I sand the overlay to 400 grit, then use steel wool to polish. I also tear small chunks of steel wool off and twist them into a fat thread that I use to work back and forth in the string grooves. The most difficult part is grinding the flat bevel on tip of the bow. It's a little tricky to keep even, left-right, so I work slow and stop and check it often.