Some time ago I traded Manny some vine maple for a guava stave. I finally got around to doing something with it and here is what I ended up with. The bow is 66" long ntn and 55# @ 27" (sorry Manny I just can't handle those 70+ lbs beasts that you crank out). The limbs are 1 ¼" wide at the fades tapering to 3/8" at the tips. The tip overlays are some sort of tropical hardwood that I cut from a scrap of flooring. The handle is made from dyed elk hide and I dyed the guava tan to help bring out the wood's beautiful grain. The stave had some worm damage that threatened to compromise the back so I wrapped the affected area with serving and sealed it with superglue. The finish is Tru-Oil. I heat-treated the belly after the initial brace and tried to flip the tips up, but it didn't really take.  Not that it made any difference because I don't think the bow took any set at all.

I must say I really am impressed with guava as a bow wood. I would rate it right up there with osage except it does not respond to heat bending quite as nicely. The wood is very dense and scraps nicely. It does, however, tend to clog the teeth of a Nicolson 49 quickly. I found the best way to hog off wood is with a farrier's rasp. One more thing, be careful not to get a splinter with this wood, they are murder!

Overall, as a bow wood I would rate guava just behind osage but in front of vine maple.  Manny, thank you for the opportunity – your wood rocks!

 

Another beautiful bow, you always amaze me. By the way what ever happened to Manny.No posts from him in a long time.

Awesome!
Manny helped me to build my guava bow. Mine is no where near that nice though! Great job!

Ryan

Wow!

Beautiful bow!!

Very nice!!!

Beautiful bow, pure art.

Wow, that is a beauty. Excellent craftsmanship!    

Thank you Ron. Manny is still around, but I don't think he posts much on this board anymore.

Thank you Ryan. It's good to know there are other self-bowyers hanging out on the islands. You have an excellent mentor.

Thank you Shaun.

Thank you Greg.

Thank you Steven.

Thank you for the compliment James.

Thank you for the nice words Tim.

That is a fine looking bow. Hope you get to put it to good use this coming season.

Beautiful Bow

Beautiful bow! I really like the look of the guava, especially the fades out of the riser area.

awesome bow. Manny will be proud...

I like the way the belly came out, seeing the core/pit grove is nice and adds to the look of the bow IMAO.

That's a nice looking bow!

Another work of art!

Well done Sir!

Cool!!!        

Very nice! Manny would be proud.

Lookin' good!

nice job.  looks about as straight as osage too  

rusty

Boy, that is a good one!