I have two staves that I REALLY REALLY want to get good bows out of in the next few months. I want your input and feedback on the project.
One is a 78" yew stave--I will get to that one in another post.
Here is the story. Many of you will remember Fred Arnold. He helped me and a great many others as I was first starting out with bow building. Two years ago he ran the bow trade. In that trade, he sent me a beautiful yew stave (from his B-stash, he said) that I was able to turn into a really nice bow. It would have really hurt to give it away, except Mike, (Swampman) was so thrilled with it, that sending it to him made it all worth it.
Unfortunately, Fred passed away suddenly the following winter. When I found out, I sent a note of condolence to his son David, who posted of his father's passing on this site. I told him how much I admired his father and what he had done for me, and how hard it had been to give that yew bow away. So I was surprised and thrilled when David offered to send me one of his father's staves. I shamelessly accepted. Just before Christmas I received a nice long package in the mail. . .
So,
now I absolutely have to build a beautiful and durable (and fast if possible) bow from this stave. Failure is not an option.
Here is what I have: the stave is a 66" osage stave, about 2"wide, and with no knots in the back--not even pin knots. It has been chased to one growth ring--except for the last 4" on one end that has been taken down another 3 rings. about 1/4" below that begin some thicker rings with better early/late wood ratios. The only flaw in the stave is a side knot/branch right on the edge of the stave at about mid limb on one side. It terminates about 1/2" below the current back , but it looks like the rings narrow at this point and might cause some challenges when chasing further rings.
Here is what I am looking for in the bow: I would like to aim for 55# at a 29" draw. I think I want short static recurves--but something a little more conservatively reflexed may be okay too. In short, I want to build a bow that when I finish it and shoot it, it reminds me every time what a great guy Fred was and how lucky I was that my path crossed with his even a little bit.
send me your suggestions, and I will post progress regularly.