Trad Gang
Main Boards => The Bowyer's Bench => Topic started by: Lehtis on April 06, 2021, 11:01:01 AM
-
Greetings from Finland!
Quite proudly presenting the latest Corona time products from my workshop: Bamboo-Apple-Osage & Bamboo-Bulletwood-Osage ELB Stylish Longbows. Both bows have bamboo back (from a hardware store) and Osage Orange belly (grown and harvested in Hungary).
The first bow has apple tree core which I made from ca. 35 cm long log from an old apple tree. That tree grew at my childhood home and has been cut down several decades ago. I have saved and used pieces of it´s trunk for citchen cutting boards, knife handles etc. and this log was the last piece of that tree. I bandsawed it to slices and V-glued it to core laminate. Propably I´ll nominate this bow as Spirit of Apple. This bow is ca. 71,5" and shows 83 lbs @ 28".
The second bow is actually a refurbished or fixed older bow, named as 12 Pieces Stick. It´s belly was made from several pieces of osage and also the core was V-glued at handle so it was really made from 12 pieces of boo, wood and horn. Unfortunately it´s puzzle belly didn´t last and started to break below handle area; a knot and glue joint. It´s back and core were OK so I removed the belly totally and replaced it with a solid piece of osage. This bow turned actually a bit heavy, 86 lbs @ 28", but I think my muscles will learn quickly.
Both bows have water buffalo horn nocks and arrow pass. The strings are 16 strands of BCY 55 (to meet IFAA competition rules). The bows have several layers of Tru-Oil and their handles are leather from flea market.
-
Some more pics...
-
... and the last ones.
-
Beautiful bows, great job! Do you have any full draw pictures? Welcome to the Bench.
-
Sorry, no full draw pics yet because of no extra hands available while I was shooting with these. Later, I hope.
-
Those bows are beautiful, great workmanship.
-
Nice looking ELB's :thumbsup: It looks like you built them with some backset?
-
Very nice, welcome to the Bench!! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
-
Loistava. :wavey:
-
To Flem: Yes, I glued the staves ca. 2" reflex as seen in the pic. After today´s final test shooting they were pretty straight, so I´m very happy with the result. They may get a bit more set later when shot in higher summer temps and kept longer periods stringed.
By the way, the bows got names today; see the pic.
-
Very nice. Was you trying to hit those draw weights? The heaviest I have ever shot was 69# @28".
-
I was aiming 82-84 lbs so the other is a bit stronger than designed. Actually, the draw of these bows feels a bit heavier compared to my previous 82-84 lbs lemonwood bellied bows. I believe it´s because of the new ones are pretty straight when unstringed and the others have ca. 1" string follow. Looks like osage resists compression much better than lemonwood.
-
Why did you inscribe them in English?
-
Good question. English is everywhere, perhaps that´s why. "Omenan Henki" (or "Ompun Henki" in short form) and "Jälleensyntynyt" or "Uuudestisyntynyt" are the Finnsh forms of the names.