Kentucky Jeff, that is one fine looking bow!!

QuoteOriginally posted by tadpole:
Kentucky Jeff, that is one fine looking bow!!

I agree... that's a nice piece of myrtle wood in the riser.

Howdy everyone, I got asked a question about my Big Five and I don't know the answer. Someone asked what my riser wood was on this and I have no idea. I just picked this bow up, shot a few arrows and bought it solely on performance.

Here are a couple pics if you guys don't mind me posting them here incase anyone can help.
Thom
 

 

I would say that is bubinga.  Pretty bow.

I've heard two other people say bubinga at different events, but I wasn't sure about it. Thanks John!
Thom

Thom the easiest and surest way to know is to call or e-mail Craig with the serial number.

They keep excellent records.

God bless,Mudd

Bubinga, I think also.  It's used a lot by Craig for Big Five models.

Definately Bubinga.

Maybe Padauk in that riser.

2nd for paduak.

Last Friday while getting some instruction from Dave Miller he showed me some things.  But the thing that blew me away was his "Expedition" bow.  

He showed me one of Howard's personal bows.  It was signed but didn't have a pet name on it.  Dave said it was 69" nock to nock.  One of the laminations was coming up so we couldn't string it.  Couple things I noticed about the bow.  Howard's handle was about 1" wide but much deeper than any Hill style bow I've handled including Dave's Shulz style bows.  It also had a very distinctive teardrop shape that Howard preferred.  It looks like it won't work but let me tell you...you put the bow up and there's no question that narrow ridge on the back of the handle is either where it belongs in your hand or not.   The other thing I found interesting is Howard didn't use a strike plate or rest.  He preferred the plain wood shelf of the bow because, as Dave explained, Howard thought that the bow talked to him with a plain shelf and felt he could feel if he was doing something wrong right away.  Interesting.

The other interesting feature was the use of a cap plate on the back of the riser to tie in the fibeglass where it comes to a peak on the back of the riser where the handle starts.  He essentially glued a small strip of wood over the top of the fiberglass.  Never seen that before.

The other thing that is striking about Howard's bow is how thin the tips are (narrow) relative to the current production HH Archery examples and to  degree even Dave's Shulz style bows.  Dave said Howard had a habit of snapping off his limb tips and rather than make another bow he would simply reshape the tip and make another string groove.  But the example I saw had fairly smallish limb tips.

Finally, the BIG difference, according to Dave. is the way Howard made his limbs.  They are not simple laminations of flat bamboo.  The back of the bow is concave on its Belly side and the back side is convex on its belly side.  Futhermore, Howard left the bamboo nodes mostly intact on the back side of the bamboo resulting in small bumps under the surface of the fiberglass--you can see and feel these bumps--the limb surface is not flat like you see on bows today.  Dave said that Howard felt that grinding down the nodes flat took away the power fibers of the core.   He also used a woven fiberglass mesh not the more uniform product we see today,

So Dave set out to reproduce Howard's bows in as much detail as possible.  That resulted in his Expedition model.  I can tell you, having held them side by side...if I was a blind man I'd have a hard time telling them apart.  Howard's bow uses green and white woven fiberglass and Dave can't source those colors now but he can get black.  But Dave has painstakingly reproduced Howard's method of convex/concave laminations.  He uses mesh fiberglass and yes--leaves the bamboo nodes on the back of the bow.  His tip geometry is almost identical.  And the bow bends like Howard's bows.  It also has the cap lamination on the back of the riser to lock in the fiberglass.

Like Howard's bow the riser is bare wood but of course you can get a leather strike plate if you wish.  Lastly, it a stunning bow.

When I first saw it the only thing I could think of is the first time I set my hands on a really fine hand crafted Bamboo fly rod.  Its impeccable.  

I couldn't stand it and ordered one on the spot.

Wow Jeff, very cool! I'd love to see those bows in person. Your bow is beautiful, btw.

Pakude is the riser wood i have that as well and love the looks.

Kentucky Jeff, thanks for the neat report.  I have had an extended chat with Dave as well and he showed me those things about Howard's bow.  My ShrewHill is much truer to Howard's preference than any Hill I have.  The ShrewHill is modeled on a bow John Lee made for Ron LeClair many years ago when he (John)was connected with Howard.  My ShrewHill riser is only 1" wide--in fact the entire bow is no more than 1" wide at any point and the grip is slim and peaked and you're right--you have to grip it right or things won't work.  It's really a bow in the Hill style.

Jeff, the Expedition sounds like a very nice longbow.
How would you describe how it shot compared to Dave's flat lamination bows... or other Hill style longbows.
Does he use the woven glass on the belly.

I know Dave will also use black trunk paper for backing... like Howard used to.

How much backset was in Howard's bow.

Just discovered the slide show... I want to play!
 
 
 
 

1967
       

Play away Charlie !!!

More pics mate ! more pics !!!

I am often asked what in my opinion is the number one game animal on earth and people scoff when I say Rabbits ... sure I like hunting deer and hogs ... but give me a crisp winter morning and back quiver full of blunts and broadies and bunnies to chase ... heaps of shot opportunities ... a wary critter for sure and perhaps the toughest game animal on the planet !

How many other animals can take a hit in the vitals or head from an arrow that weighs nearly a full 1/5th of its own body weight and still run away down a hole escaping ya ?

Longbows and rabbits are the hunting archers match made in heaven !