Hello All,

I have been experimenting with a string follow design for the last couple of months and thought it was time to get some opinions and input.

Seems like a lot of bowyers are coming out with SF bows but I was a selfbow guy long before I started building laminates and always liked the asthetics of a simple D-bow, along with the smooth draw and gentle "thump" that comes with a bit of string follow.

There are a lot of bowyers out there that have forgotten more about Hill styles that I will ever know.  

That being the case I was not interested in trying to copy any of the more well known Hill style bowyers, I just farted around with the design until I found something that drew smoothly, had reasonable cast and retained that classic look.

Please take a look at the photos and let me know what you think.



Unstrung profile, 66" bow on left, 68" on right. 68" has 3/8" follow, 66" a touch less.

Handle dimensions are: 4" long, 1 7/8" deep, 1 1/8" wide before leather.



Black or Brown glass with a single overlay.




Risers, bow on left is Bubinga, right is Black Locust.

Risers are 16" long, shelf cut 1/8" short of center.

Limbs 1 1/4" wide with 4 lams of White Elm, one taper and three parallels.



And finally the strung profile.

Had a good time coming up with this design. I think what suprised me the most was the the "feel" of the smooth draw.  It just does not feel like you are drawing the weight you actually are.  I handed the 66" Bubinga bow to my kid and asked him to guess the poundage. he gave it a pull and said, "42-43 pounds", the bow is actually 47# @ 28".

In any event I am looking forward to any opinions or input.

I think I have found the bow design I will be hunting with this fall.

Take Care,

Chris H
NewWood Longbows

Ok, I just flat out like those bows! Congrats on a great looking design and functional shooting stick. If I could afford one, I'd have you build me one of the 68" in a 45# weight.   :D    

dang!   something else to spend money on, you need to make a matching set of the vanguard and the string follow....the best of both ends of the longbow spectrum...

You selling them or just going to torture us.  lol

Awesome looking to my eye

I like it! Want some guinea pigs?  

Very, very nice. I love the clean lines. That is my favorite style of bow. I love that locust one.

I really like the black locust bow, Love the native woods as much as fancier ones. 68 with a little string follow, hope to try one some day. Looks like some great craftsmanship on the both of them, Congrats!!!!

Fantastic looking bow. Looks to me that you nailed the look, and my buddy Bob said they were great shooters.  Great job.

Both look great, but, I agree, that Black Locust bow  looks awesome.....got any lefties?

I have a bow with a Black Locust riser! Great looking bows!

The black locust is definitely a looker!!!  I'd be happy to give you a review after shooting them.  Are you going to be offering this style on your website?

Very nice.  Chris can you share a picture of the limb tips?  Did you go with wedges or overlays?  Thank you for sharing and well done.

With out shooting one I can't say.....but looking at the photos I would say you did a fine job. I would love to try one out.  

beautiful.

Great looking bows, Chris! Bring them to LCSC some Thursday evening this summer. I'm sure you'll get a couple of takers to try them out. Tom

Thanks for all the comments/compliments fellas. I really appreciate the feedback.

I will be making this model for sale but it is not on the website yet.  It will be offered it black or brown glass a one wood riser. There will be no upgrades available in this model. The price will be $450.00.

The tips don't have wedges. I will be using a 1/8" piece of black phenolic for the tip overlay.  You can barely see it on brown glass and it pretty much disappears on the black glass.  

Tom, I don't have a left-hander done (yet) but I will bring one along to a Thursday night shoot. When are you guys starting?

Thanks again guys,

Chris

Hi Chris! Dale Klug and I will probably start next Thursday. Would have today, except the weather s**ked. See ya later. Tom

Great looking bows. I would be interested for sure.

Sweet looking bows Chris!  

Oh man wouldn't ya know it ... I have been away a while a Chris posts a thread on his new string follow!  :eek:

Ok, I do not know how many have had the opportunity but I have shot his proto-type this year at the WTA.  I did write a post about that a while ago.  That said, I remeber I was impressed with a few things about this bow.  First, I loved the grip!  Chris thought it might be a tad large, but I love it man.  He has refined it some since then, but it still looks to be pretty nice.  Also, I was real impressed at how quiet and dead in the hand his bow is.  The bow I shot had no silencers.  Also, it was not tuned for me.  The brace was not really dialed in etc.  However, I was grouping arrows so tight I had to make sure to shoot at different spots to make sure I did not destroy his arrows!  Like all SF bows, the draw starts real easy and this bow is still crisp on release.  I think the bow I shot had boo cores ... kinda hard to remember that far back ... but the bow was very light in the hand.

So a quick review, great grip, dead in the hand, real quiet, smooth on draw and release as well as having a very low mass weight ... plus his incredibly low price - What's not to like?      

Bob.