Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: sulphur on November 28, 2009, 10:32:59 am
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after the talk about red oak a few days ago i felt the urge to build another one. I do believe that most people start out on red oak because it is easily attained. however, since i started making them 2" wide the wood has really impressed me. This is the third one i have made like this, i gave the first two away. I may keep this one for myself. 66" ntn 53# @ 28" two inches wide at the fades tapering to just under .5" nocks. walnut and paduk handle lams and paduk tips. i still need to make a new string, but after 50 shots yesturday its only take about an 1" of string follow.
(http://i727.photobucket.com/albums/ww279/sulphur7/DSCF2583.jpg)
(http://i727.photobucket.com/albums/ww279/sulphur7/DSCF2586.jpg)
(http://i727.photobucket.com/albums/ww279/sulphur7/DSCF2584.jpg)
(http://i727.photobucket.com/albums/ww279/sulphur7/DSCF2588.jpg)
(http://i727.photobucket.com/albums/ww279/sulphur7/DSCF2589.jpg)
(http://i727.photobucket.com/albums/ww279/sulphur7/DSCF2587.jpg)
(http://i727.photobucket.com/albums/ww279/sulphur7/DSCF2591.jpg)
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thats a great looking bow,what about a full draw photo?
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here ya go. please excuse the pajama's. i just got back from the woods. if its still early i get comfortable. this is almost full draw. my wife clicked early.
(http://i727.photobucket.com/albums/ww279/sulphur7/DSCF2593.jpg)
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wow man. that handle's so beautiful i wouldn't dare put a leather grip on it. gorgeous work.
if you got the time, can we see a pic of the front of it? i wanna see the taper you used.
also: what was your source wood? 1"x3"?
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innocente, its pretty simple. I draw a line 2.5 past the end of the riser from there i draw a straight line to 1/4" from the center line at the tip. i do this for both side and for both limbs. after i cut it out and clean up the cut with block plane or rasp is pretty much a straight taper from the fades to the tips.
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innocente, yes this was a 1x3 six foot long. in reality its a .75" x 2.5" x 72".
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Very nice bow. I like red oak too. :) Jawge
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Excellent work!
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O yeah, I'm a believer too.
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I still consider myself a novice, but my absolute best bows come from red oak and maple boards of the same design you mentioned.
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nice arc, sulphur
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Great looking bow. Love that Paduak.
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Very nice! I've been doing the 1 1/2" wide and have broken the last three I've started. I finally figured out my problem. I like your 2" wide idea! Thanks. Great looking weapon! ;)
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Red oak is good. Nice work.
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The motion has passed. Red oak is a fine wood for the novice to expert bowyer. I had ignored Red Oak for a long time, that is until I found Jawge's site. I have made five of them this year, and they took less set than three of my White Ash bows.
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oh all right all right
i admit: i also made a really sweet red oak bow once: very short, recurved, strong.
coming up
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So far I've made bows from Red Oak, Hickory, Maple, and White Oak. Several bows from each. I like Red Oak the best. Dressed up with the right touches, like yours, Red Oak is fantastic.
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I started with red oak. I think about going to it from time to time but I really don't want to use the 1.5" pieces but I don't have a table saw to rip the wider ones. :( Beautiful bow though. There's just something about a red oak bow. :)
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ryoon the boards are acutally 2.5 wide (1x3 ) you don't have to rip them to 2" if you don't want. a 2.5" wide pyramid bow is almost tillered after you cut it out. you could also make it a few inchers shorter, say 64" ntn.
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That's it, radius. For your penance you'll have to listen to "I'm a Believer" by the Monkeys at least 3 times. :) Jawge
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WOW radius
you willactualy admit to making a bow from an "inferior wood" such as red oak
with too much yew,you actually made a bow from red oak
unbelievable ;)
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Red oak makes great bows and is readily available. Got your fine weapon all bookmarked for Nov Self BOM fun.
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nice bow sulfur, I too have started making them 1.75-2" wide and hav had better bows with less string follow than the 1.5 inch monstrosities I started out with. Red oak is a great all around wood. Easy to carve and easy on the tools too. :) -josh
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Red oak is no better or worse than other popular bow woods. I think because it is common and easy to get it might be overlooked very often. Making them wide enough to take the strain is the key as was noted above. I have done extensive testing with all the woods we make bows out of and can honestly say that there is no clear cut winner in performance when normal moisture levels are used. Some woods can tolerate lower moisture levels such as hickory and hornbeam and will excel when extra dry. If I am going for performance I tend to prefer hard maple boards from the lumber yard. I seem to average a touch better with it.
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I do not want to hijack this thread from red oak to maple, but I had a question for Badger. How do you do your maple board bows? Dimensions, tillering, etc. I am into maple board bows right now (along with red oak).
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Nice looking bow, I think I'd keep it too!