Last fall I received a call from a gentleman in Washington State. Mike had seen my ambush style vine maple bow on the Web and asked if I would make him another like it. But instead of a rawhide back he wanted snakeskin and a lower draw weight.

I did not have any suitable vine maple that was dry but I had a hazelnut stave which Bryan Briand had generously provided to me that looked like it might do the trick. Mike expressed an interest in seeing the process of how his bow was made so I decided that I would document the steps in a build-a-long that I posted on a popular primitive archery site. Three months and over 200 pictures later, the bow is finally done. You can't really appreciate how much time goes into making one of these bows until you have to describe each and every step!

Here are the bow's specifications. This bow is 60" ntn, 55# @ 27", rattlesnake over silk backing, and hardwood tip overlays. The limbs are 1 3/8" wide tapering to 7/16" at the tips and 1 ¼" at the handle. The bow bends slightly through the handle. The handle wrap is tanned elk-hide dyed black. The tips and limbs are dyed with leather dye. The tip accents are done with red serving thread.

The bow has a slight amount of string follow at rest and is a sweet shooter. I think Mike will like it. Here are some pictures:

She sure is purty! How does she shoot?

Gordon I always enjoy your attention to detail on all your bows. Another incredible work of art!

Wow! That's a beauty!

If he doesn't like it, send it on up North. It's a real beauty.

man awesome work :0)

Dang you aint fooling when you build a fine bow.Reall, really nice.

               

VERY VERY NICE

Outstanding job!

WOW!!!! AWESOME!!!!        OUTSTANDING EVEN

Wow! Again! you make some of the very finest self bows I've ever seen. Love everything about this new one, down to the German hunting cap. Thanks for sharing.

Wow, now that's beautiful!  Very nice!  Thanks for sharing it with us!

   

Excellent Gordon.
 Gordon did an detailed build-along over on PA site. Ya'll ought to take a look.     Pat

one of the nicest bows i have seen on here in a long time, makes me want to get to work. loyd

Nice looking bow! Thanks for sharing!

Gordon,,in my book one of the very best bowyers around right now !!!!

Gordon, just went to the other site and read your build along, very well done sir! I have wanted to do a bend in the handle bow soon and your tutorial was timely. Thank you very much.

cool hat!