Juniper-sinew kid's bow

[WhistlingBadger]

Finished tillering.  I made this bow for my hunting buddy's kindergarten boy, from a scrap of Rocky mountain juniper I had lying around in the shop. Backed with bison sinew, with elk antler tips. Draws 10 pounds at 18 inches: A mammoth killer for sure!    First arrow through a new bow is always fun.

Juniper wood is such a joy to work with. It's so soft it's almost like carving chalk (I usually work with hickory), it makes the shop smell absolutely wonderful, and the heartwood has an absolutely stunning, purple-red grain. I'll post some closeups once I get it sanded and oiled. Hoping to find a nice snake skin to cover up the sinew, too. Anyway, here it is.
https://youtu.be/019DMUSTA6M?si=0dmSCP7UPhM6BDi2

[bjrogg]

I always enjoy making kids bows. I think everything about them is fun.

Including shooting them

Bjrogg

[Will B]

Very nice kids bow!  He’s gonna love it. I have made and given away a number of kids bows and it is such a joy to see them shoot them. Great job!

[WhistlingBadger]

Thanks, guys.  Yeah, it's been a lot of fun.  I really want to try another juniper-sinew hunting bow, but the last one broke.  So I decided to build a little one out of this scrap, just to try and get a little bit better at the techniques. 

Getting on with the finish work.  Elk antler tips.  I plan on smoothing down the sinew with a bit of warm hide glue soon.  The grain on this stuff is unreal.  Should be even prettier once I oil it.

[WhistlingBadger]

Man, it's hard looking at photos on this forum now, with a moving ad in between each one.   

But anyway.  The Badgerling found me a garter snake the other day that donated its skin to cover half the bow.  Need for find it a buddy for the other half.  It was about to shed--milky eyes, really dull, disappointing lack of pattern.  But as I was cleaning the skin, I discovered that the old skin peeled right off, leaving a shiny, new, beautifully patterned skin underneath.

Here it is laid on just to see how it will look.

[bjrogg]

Man, it's hard looking at photos on this forum now, with a moving ad in between each one.   

But anyway.  The Badgerling found me a garter snake the other day that donated its skin to cover half the bow.  Need for find it a buddy for the other half.  It was about to shed--milky eyes, really dull, disappointing lack of pattern.  But as I was cleaning the skin, I discovered that the old skin peeled right off, leaving a shiny, new, beautifully patterned skin underneath.

Here it is laid on just to see how it will look.

When I was going to trade school I had a tarantula. I remember one morning I woke up and there were two of them.

One the dull worn empty shell of one. It was just standing there like it still had a body in it.

And a shiny new full one. That did have a body in it right next to it. Amazing how they can do that.

Bjrogg