I purchased a Howard Hill Wesley Special takedown blank in February of this year.
I just finished it up a couple of weeks ago. It's 68" ntn, 62#@28", Cocobolo in the riser and the tip overlays. It seems to shoot nearly 700 grain arrows pretty fast and is pretty quiet and doesn't have much handshock.
I made this one into a double shelf as I can shoot either side (prefer to shoot left handed as I'm left-eye dominant). I used a base coat of spray-on shellac and finished with TruOil.
Side
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/JasonJelinek/DSC06457.jpg)
Back
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/JasonJelinek/DSC06458.jpg)
Belly
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/JasonJelinek/DSC06459.jpg)
Upper limb tip
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/JasonJelinek/DSC06460.jpg)
Lower limb tip
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/JasonJelinek/DSC06461.jpg)
Strung
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/JasonJelinek/DSC06462.jpg)
Unstrung
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/JasonJelinek/DSC06463.jpg)
Very nice!
BTW, the deer and dinosaur toys are the downed animals my 3.5 year old hunted with his sinew-backed white oak bow.
The shelf was built up using leather and superglue, thanks Dave Bulla for the tip!
well done!!!!
Nice job! I did a HH Half Breed bow blank last year,it was alot of fun doing it.
That is a beauty indeed! I want one!
:thumbsup:
Thanks guys. It came in heavier than I wanted. I asked for 55#@28" and when I got it, it was 65#@28". From what I was told it could have been sanded down to 55#, but after a couple of hours sanding by hand (not brave enough to sand with power tools) I only got it down to 62#. I figured it was safer to get stronger than to risk getting the glass too thin.
Otherwise, the bow only required shaping the arrow pass and sanding.
That is sweet looking.
You did a fantastic job on that one!
Beautiful job!
I like the Double Shelf....
How wide is it at the shelf....?
Oh and good job.
About 1.75" wide at the shelf.
The string is 12 strand FF with 6 extra strands in the loops.
Jason -
You did real good! :thumbsup: I like the Tru Oil finish.
Really nice - congrats!
Very nice! :clapper:
One great looking bow. Good job. The true oil finish on the cocobolo is outstanding. :thumbsup:
Jason, She is a looker. I am glad you went with the black leather, it looks really sharp with the cocobolo.
Nice Jason.
Glue ups are a good idea, and some are more price competitive than others. I'm thinking 3/4" to 1" wide at the arrow pass? 1 and 3/4" is beaucoup wide even at the widest point midlimb. "Trapping" is a good way to drop weight also, and helps with cast and handshock.
I'm working on a blank now, and have piked it going on the third time to pick up draw weight. Fortunately I still have excellent string angle, starting with a very optimized r/d glue up.
Love that cocobolo! Mine is w/ honey locust limb veneers.
DCM,
The arrow pass is 1" wide with the leather side plates. The limbs are about 1 & 3/16" wide at their widest down to 1/2" wide tips. The wide shelf (1&3/4") doesn't seem to get in the way. I could have narrowed the arrow pass to 3/4", but got a bit nervous with the way the riser is shaped. I can always make it narrower.
Finishing this bow saved me about $200, versus one finished.
BrianH,
Thanks for the advice on this one!
You do nice work Jason. Can not go wrong with that deep dark color of Cocobolo. The tips look like you spent some time on them to get them to meld with the limb like they do :)
Nice work. Marlon
Ooops, sorry. I misunderstood.
If I recall correctly you've made tons of selfbows, then a few glass backing only. I've kinda lost track of everybody, this would have started maybe a decade ago.
Like you I've experimented with glass. Did a couple of bootstrap projects, form and all. Much hassle factor if you are only going to make a few copies off the form. Makes sense to buy glue ups, at least in my case. Particularly with the high cost of the components for a project, and/or the high cost of machines to create same.
There are at least 3 other sources I know of, and different states of completion. For me, just off the form (perhaps run thru a sander and knock off the afterbirth) is just right.
I need to make me a Hill copy, perhaps in bbo. Got stuck on those dang r/d bows after the movie came out. Nice long straight bow can be very well mannered.
DCM,
Yeah I've made a few selfbows (since 2000). I've got a couple ideas swimming around in my head but not much time to get to them lately.
I like the idea of the blank lately, mostly because I don't have a heated room for the glue-ups and I hate grinding glass.
I stick with straight limbed glass bows because they are easy to make forms for, they take up litle space when done, and with enough taper they can shoot pretty efficiently.
I'm tinkering with the idea of making an 80+# warbow with no raised handle and glass back and belly. Continuous glass on back and belly. I want this mainly to use as a strengthening tool, but it would be fun to shoot.
It's been fun to see all the projects everyone has taken over the last 10 years and see how our skills have progressed.
Jason, that's one pretty bow!!!
Did you have any trouble with the leather shelves?
Glad someone was able to use that method successfully.
Jason that is topshelf...marco
Dave,
The leather shelves work great, it made it possible to wrap the shelf around the rounded edges of the sleeve. When the superglue is applied the leather hardens up. I've used it before on other bows over the past couple of years.
very nice bow, being myself left handed I was drooling with your pics,
GREAT JOB!!!! :thumbsup: