This is my first attempt at a laminated R/D bow. The backing is bamboo, with a black walnut core and a yew belly. The yew was cut from a log that Joe Klink kindly gave to me (thank you Joe!). The bow is 64" ntn, 60# @ 27", 1 ¼" wide to the mid-limbs tapering to ½" at the tips. Handle wrap is dyed elk with kangaroo lacing and the bow is finished with Tru-Oil. I'm not entirely satisfied with the result – I glued in too much deflex and I lost more reflex than I had hoped during tillering. So I ended up with some string follow. But I learned a great deal from this bow and I expect to do better on my next attempt. I hope you enjoy the pictures.

That looks really nice.
Great landscape you have going on there,too.

The walnut gives it character plus. Good job.

For a 1st attempt, I think I'd give you an A+!         Well done! That's a very nice looking bow!  

It´s a beauty!

Outstanding effort and results! I am thinking of attempting my first...I'm am very impressed. It really has graceful lines. Looks like it fits you well!

Gordon, this may be a stupid question...but I'll ask it anyway...did you use black walnut because it is so hard and would allow you to get the weight of the bow up to 60#? Seems like a lot of selfbows are in the 50# or less range.

David,

Black walnut seemed like a good choice for the core wood because it has good elasticity and it is fairly light relative to other hardwoods like osage or various tropical hardwoods. But more importantly, I happen to have a bunch of it in my garage and I need to figure out how to use it.  :D  

You can definitely build selfbows in the 60-70# range and more - I've made several. This particular bow, however, is not a selfbow. I am fairly certain you do not need a core lamination to make a higher poundage laminated bow.

Gordon,
I understand just what you are saying about the deflex overtaking the reflex but it is still a good looking bow.  I just finished my first R/D bow, too, and had the same thing happen to me.  It is a boo backed hickory/hickory for a friend and my goal was to keep a strong reflex to it.  But after tillering it looks just like yours.  My friend is still very happy with it, though, and it should serve him well.  Next time I will not induce any deflex at glue up and allow the tillering process to create it, unless the core is osage or ipe.  
I imagine after you shoot it in you won't be too disappointed with it.  Thanks for sharing.

Gordonf,

I like the looks of the bow. I found this past weekend a draw full of western ceder. I was thinking sinew back selfbow, and my first try at bamboo backed ceder. I hope my first attempt at a composite bow looks as good as yours.

Nice work

Chris, I have shot the bow a fair amount since completing it and am actually quite happy with the way it shoots. I agree with you about not inducing deflex the next time.

Jack, backing Western Cedar with bamboo would certainly yield a bow that is light in the hand. I would be concerned about the durability of such a combination, however. Thank you for the compliment.

Awesome bow Gordon!  You sure are a stickler for the details and it shows in beautiful bows!  Thanks for sharing!  Matt

Wow

Wow that is certainly a beauty. I am a sucker for bows like that. Excellent job.
Jack

Very nice looking bow,I like them to follow the string a little, it makes for a sweet shooting bow.

I hope when I decide to make my first laminated wood bow it turns out that good.

Looks good to me

Beautiful as always Gordon!!

Thank you all for all the nice compliments. It is such a pleasure to be amoung folks who appreciate this kind of work. You guys rock!

Gordon, Another good looking bow.