Awhile back, I obtained a Howard Hill Rogue Limited Edition longbow. It was a fascinating piece, labeled "#48 of 50" and "Made for Tred Barta". However, ol' Tred apparently used it hard and put it away wet, as they say. It was in bad shape. Both ivory limb tips had been broken off, there was a glass crack at the end of one limb, it was scratched all over, the edges had nicks, no string... just generally very rough. The guy who had it didn't want to have it restored and keep it, but knew it was special and offered it to me. I sent it to Craig to put back in new condition, and it came back yesterday. He repaired the glass crack and replaced the ivory tips, reduced the weight to about 55# (that took the nicks out of the edges), added a silver elephant inlay and gave it a gloss finish. These are the pix.
(http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h186/CaptainDick/rogue3.jpg)
(http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h186/CaptainDick/rogue2.jpg)
(http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h186/CaptainDick/rogue4.jpg)
(http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h186/CaptainDick/rogue1.jpg)
nice!!
Nice bow! Good shootin too!
Craig's a heck of a nice guy ain't he, as well as an excellent craftsman.
Beautiful restoration, Dick. Makes you wonder how such a special bow got in such a shape, though, doesn't it?
I guess the "Barta Way" includes beating up his equipment, huh?
forgot to mention that the grip is elephant hide.
Yes, Craig is the greatest. I've worked a lot with him this last year, on special bow projects and in getting the Howard Hill Longbowmen going. Couldn't ask for a better experience.
I've had some direct inquiries about the weight reduction on this bow. It was 75# @ 28" when I got it. That would have been about 64 - 65# at my 25" draw. I couldn't weigh it yesterday as I had taken down my scale setup, but I guessed at 55# from the feel, that being about my top draw weight. I put things back together this morning and pulled it on the scale... right on 55# @ 25". So, Craig reduced it about 10 lobs. I understand that that is about the maximum that can be done, and then only on some bows, not on all.
If I have it worked out right, when they lay up a bow, they aim for a weight range that will accommodate the customer and also give them a little leeway. It's possible for a given layup to tiller out at the light end of that range, or at the heavy end. If it tillered out light, they wouldn't be able to reduce it much, if any. If heavy, then they have some wood to work with.
Hope this helps some folks...