Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Josh B on May 17, 2015, 03:01:52 pm
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My wife casually mentioned, hinted, alluded to and made it known that her current bow was not as nice as the bows I had been making for others as of late. She also subtly let me know that it would really be nice if I corrected that oversight of mine. So I set out to rectify the situation. This is a piece of black walnut backed with cherry bark that I got from Carson when I was last out in OR. Thanks Carson. I tillered the bow out to about half draw and then glued the bark on with TBIII and let it cure. Once it was cured I finished tillering it out to 35#@26". The bow is 69" ntn and 1 7/8" wide at the fades tapering to 1/2" tips. The tips are a layer of maple and then burl walnut. I wrapped the handle and bark splices with thread and saturated it with superglue. The bark splice wraps looked a little odd so I added one more wrap to each limb to balance it all out. The string in the pics is just a spare I had laying around. The real string will be pink and white fast flight with black serving(I forgot my string stuff in the truck). The stave had some roller coaster character that made the bark application a real pain. Next time I use cherry bark, the bow will be completely free of character. The arrows are 5/16" POC shafts that have been tapered to 9/32" nocks. I bought these shafts from Matt Wirwicki at last years classic specifically for this project. They are as close of a match to the bow as I have ever made. Thank you again Matt! Josh
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I gave this to her on mother's day and wouldn't you know it, it rained almost everyday that I've been home since. The sun was out today so Miss Dyan and I took advantage of the reprieve and snapped some shots. Thanks for looking! Josh
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And some more pics.
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That's a cool looking bow right there. Nice job Josh
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And some more pics including Momma with her new bow at her full draw. Thanks! Josh
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Love the character and bark!
Great job, Doc!
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Very nice bow, Josh. Its always a good idea to keep Momma happy! ;)
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That is totally sweet! The bow, I mean. Errrr, I'm confident the wife is also. Ahhhhh, ya know what I mean!
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Really really nice Josh. The cherry bark on top of that black walnut looks amazing!
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Well, if Momma ain't happy, nobody is happy. Momma certainly should be happy with that bow. Really nice job. I like it!
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Mr. Doc that's one sweet shooter right there ;) And ya did that walnut and bark proud too.
rich
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Sweet. That walnut and bark combo really stands out.
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very nice, like this composite
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Beautiful bow! VERY nice work!
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Good looking bow Josh and the Mrs. looks pleased to have it. Nice grain in that walnut, did ya go all heartwood on that stave?
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Walnut always looks good all slicked up....to bad its not a better wood for bows...looks like ya chased a heartwood ring on it.
Nice job josh!!! :)
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Great looking walnut bow. Cherry bark looks good on pretty much anything. I agree, character makes things tough
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Very nice Josh!
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Doc,
Beautiful piece of character Walnut and the bark is nice...Bend looks great and your wife's smile says it all...
Don
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Geat looking bow doc, happy wife happy life :)
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Looks great Josh, and having applied cherry bark once myself I understand what a pain it can be. Looks like it was worth the effort.
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Nice stick of walnut trucker! I like that dye job and the waves up top.
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Thank you kindly fellas! It is indeed all heartwood. I chased a ring on a belly split. A lot of you that have never used walnut may be wondering if it really needs to be as overbuilt as this bow is? No...it does not. Momma just likes a really long bow. To get the best out of it, I had to adjust the tiller a bit. It shoots nice enough with the adjustment, that I'm considering making myself one of similar specs for 3d shoots. Thanks for looking! Josh
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What dye job Pearly? I didn't dye anything on it. I do have some French red sealer/filler that I considered using, but what you see is the natural color with tru-oil applied and nothing else. Thanks for the kind words though. Josh
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Nice Job Josh,that a way to rack up them brownie points. :)
Pappy
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Great looking bow Josh.
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Another Beauty of a bow.
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Nice work Josh. The backing looks fantastic.
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That grain is amazing. Beautiful bow!
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Thank you fellas! I appreciate it. Josh
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Sweet bow!
Made moma proud so good job all the way around !
Just wish you could train my old eyes to follow the grain on a walnut stick, thanks for the encouragement any way!
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That grip is pretty cool Josh. I like!
You think you'll make mojam this year since you missed the classic? Supposed to be cool weather again.
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Cherry bark sure makes a pretty backing, but it is a pain to get to lay down properly.
Grady
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She can't be envious of those other bows anymore! That is really fine work. I thought it was stained or dyed too. The color of that walnut is awesome.
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Guy- I thought I was finally gonna make good on my offer to chase a ring on some for you. I was loading in a town not far from you and had a day to kill. Then I remember.d you were in TN....where I wanted to be. Maybe next time.
Dave- I don't know about Mojam yet, but I hope so.
Grady- I'm getting the impression that even with a flat back, cherry bark is not much fun. Lol!
Howard- She does seem to be pretty happy with it. That walnut is some pretty stuff!
Thank you for all the kind words fellas! Josh
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That really is "a cherry on top"....bad pun i know >:D
But a sweet bow it is!
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Josh, when I did that Cherry bark backed Kentucky Coffee Bean I glued it on then I would lightly rub my thumb nail over the back to listen for hollow spots and then I would inject glue into the hollow spots with a needle and syringe to make sure that it was all glued down, it was not fun.
Grady
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Josh, that's another beautiful bow bud! That cherry bark and Walnut really go good together! Patrick
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Thank you kindly fellas!
Grady- I used a syringe and needle to do the exact same thing. The flat lower limb only had a couple voids, but that upper wavy limb was terrible. I'm thinking about unrolling the remainder of my cherry bark and clamping it between two boards for awhile to see if that will help flatten it out. Thanks again for the kind words! Josh
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Josh - That's exactly what I did, sure helps. Bob
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Josh - That's exactly what I did, sure helps. Bob
Thanks Bob! I'll give it a shot. Josh
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Certainly did the job, she's got a big grin on her face. :laugh:
Del
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It sure did Del! That grin alone made the effort worthwhile. Josh
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love that iridescent look of cherry bark, well done
chuck
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Nice! So rare to see a walnut bow with it's natural wiggles. Looks really beautiful at brace.
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Thanks fellas! I appreciate it. Josh
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Holy cow that thing is sweet man!! Love the look of the backing. Those overlays are cut in pretty steep; have you had any issues with those coming off? Good work!
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Thanks Rob! I've only had one break and that was due to inattention on my part. I had several pieces laying about and glued on the wrong piece. This made the grain of the overlay perpendicular to what it should be. It still held up for awhile before it broke. Once I determined the problem, I corrected it and have had no further problems. Admittedly, I've only done tips like this on a half a dozen bows or so. So it is far from what I would consider tried and true. Time will tell. Thanks again! Josh
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Happy wife = good life! Great looking bow!
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That cherry bark is SWEETTTTT.
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Looking very good. :) Markus
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It's ok I guess....some turquoise really would have made it pop imho >:D
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Thank you kindly gentlemen! Oh...and you to Soy. >:D. Momma didn't much care for the turquoise idea BTW. Lol! Josh