Primitive Archer

Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Shadow Walker on October 08, 2009, 01:20:09 pm

Title: all bark and a lot of bite!
Post by: Shadow Walker on October 08, 2009, 01:20:09 pm

O.K, I attempted to post this earlier but I don't think it worked, so, I'm trying again.
This is the 5th bow I've made. It is hophornbeam with hophornbeam bark back and belly.
The bark is amazingly strong in tensile strenght as well as compression.
The bow is 48" long ( 46" n to n ) It pulls 52 pounds at 26' draw. It can handle a 28" draw, but being a small man, I am still practicing to handle that last 2" with comfort.
Pics arent the greatest, but I'm no photographer!
Hope the pictures post this time. I resized them, so maybe it will work now.
The tiller on this bow isn't perfect, but it is incredibly fast and accurate, so I'm not going to "fuss" with it.
Hope you all like it! and thanks for looking!

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Title: Re: all bark and a lot of bite!
Post by: Shadow Walker on October 08, 2009, 01:22:49 pm

It appears I'll have to post the pics individually, sorry guys!
Here is the full draw pic.

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Title: Re: all bark and a lot of bite!
Post by: GregB on October 08, 2009, 01:23:47 pm

It's got a nice shape, but sure would like to see more pictures. Can't see the bark that you mentioned...brace pic, and full draw pic would be good as well.  ;)

Title: Re: all bark and a lot of bite!
Post by: GregB on October 08, 2009, 01:25:13 pm

Looks good, could you post a close up of the bark some time? :)

Title: Re: all bark and a lot of bite!
Post by: Shadow Walker on October 08, 2009, 01:26:16 pm

here is brace pic

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Title: Re: all bark and a lot of bite!
Post by: Shadow Walker on October 08, 2009, 01:27:45 pm

here is pic of bark, sorry for the crappy shot, but I'm no photographer!

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Title: Re: all bark and a lot of bite!
Post by: kylerprochaska on October 08, 2009, 01:41:36 pm

looks great I like it...should be a good tree stand bow being that short.... Bambi Killer??

-Ky

Title: Re: all bark and a lot of bite!
Post by: Shadow Walker on October 08, 2009, 01:55:55 pm

this is the tip

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Title: Re: all bark and a lot of bite!
Post by: Shadow Walker on October 08, 2009, 02:00:38 pm

and finally!

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Title: Re: all bark and a lot of bite!
Post by: Shadow Walker on October 08, 2009, 02:04:10 pm

I'm only 5' 6", so I like the short bows. Besides that, I don't hunt from a tree stand, I stalk hunt through some pretty rough brush and swamp so the shorter lenght is less likely to get snagged a lot.

Title: Re: all bark and a lot of bite!
Post by: DanaM on October 08, 2009, 02:06:36 pm

Looks like yo scraped most of the bark off and left a lot of the cambium layer, be interesting to see if
it stays put or pops off. Thats a lot of bend for such a short bow :) Congrats and hope ya make meat with her :)

Title: Re: all bark and a lot of bite!
Post by: Shadow Walker on October 08, 2009, 02:18:10 pm

Yes, all the "rough" has been taken off. It has an almost "birdseye" type of swirling pattern in it.
I have shot probably in the nieghborhood of 150 arrows through it and it seems to be holding quite well.
I used hide glue for all the applications. I don't believe there's a better glue in existence!
I am really pleased with the properties of the bark.

Title: Re: all bark and a lot of bite!
Post by: Hillbilly on October 08, 2009, 03:10:40 pm

Sharp looking lil' bow. Looks like a good hunter.

Title: Re: all bark and a lot of bite!
Post by: Kent D. on October 08, 2009, 04:30:34 pm

I love it. 

Title: Re: all bark and a lot of bite!
Post by: Shadow Walker on October 08, 2009, 04:42:59 pm

Thanks for the kind comments,, next spring, I'm really going to go out on a limb and try a bow out of strictly the bark.
I honestly believe the bark is strong enough and has enough camber to make it work.
I'm definately going to make a bark quiver to match though!

Title: Re: all bark and a lot of bite!
Post by: adb on October 08, 2009, 05:58:41 pm

Very cool little bow... nice tiller, too.

Title: Re: all bark and a lot of bite!
Post by: MaceG on October 08, 2009, 06:02:19 pm

Yeah. I like wide and thin.

Title: Re: all bark and a lot of bite!
Post by: sailordad on October 08, 2009, 06:06:25 pm

very nice looking bow

now i gotta ask ya how ya managed the curves in the hhb?
i have several staves sesoning and would like to try a recurve with atleast one of them.

when you say you left some bark on it.do you actually mean that you left some cambium on it?
i dont see the actaul bark on the back.

regardless its a sweet looking stick

Title: Re: all bark and a lot of bite!
Post by: Shadow Walker on October 08, 2009, 06:46:07 pm

thanks guys!
sailordad, I work exclusively in the hhb, becuase that's all we really have around here other than maple. I have used dry heat as well as steam heat to bend the wood. I always temper it.
The bark is mostly cambium. When you cut hhb in the early spring, the bark can be peeled in one piece from the log.
I actually dried, flattened and heat treated the bark.
The rough part of the bark, I actually filed off wich left me with wide flat strips that I laminated (with hide glue) onto the back and belly of the bow. The bark seems to add about 3pounds of pull for each layer.
 Hope that helps!

Title: Re: all bark and a lot of bite!
Post by: Justin Snyder on October 08, 2009, 07:27:13 pm

Nice looking bow.

Title: Re: all bark and a lot of bite!
Post by: OldBow on October 08, 2009, 10:10:12 pm

Really neat bow and bookmarked for Oct Self BOM fun.

Title: Re: all bark and a lot of bite!
Post by: hawkbow on October 08, 2009, 10:21:43 pm

That is one nice looking bow... would be great for horseback bird hunting.. great job.. Hawk

Title: Re: all bark and a lot of bite!
Post by: Shadow Walker on October 08, 2009, 10:32:42 pm

LOL...thanks for the compliments, but, I just got a mental image of me shooting on horseback...It aint pretty!! At least 911 is easy to dial even with broken fingers!

Title: Re: all bark and a lot of bite!
Post by: Marc St Louis on October 08, 2009, 10:49:02 pm

Very nice.  You did a good job with that bow

Title: Re: all bark and a lot of bite!
Post by: medicinewheel on October 09, 2009, 02:56:06 am

COOL BOW!
That's some serious bend for a wooden bow!

Title: Re: all bark and a lot of bite!
Post by: PeteDavis on October 09, 2009, 07:04:46 am

Great use of the old Iron Wood. I'm amazed.

PD

Title: Re: all bark and a lot of bite!
Post by: Shadow Walker on October 09, 2009, 12:19:27 pm

Thanks Pete and Medicinewheel.
I really like the old ironwood, it takes a lot of abuse and it's ideal for short bows ( for short people) and it sends an arrow like a rocket!
I am very thankful as well to all the fine boweyers on this forum. Before I found this forum a year ago, I knew nothing at all about building bows. I am proud of to say that when I have success with a bow, it is the success of everyone on this forum, as I surely could not do it without their expertise and guidance.