Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Pat B on June 13, 2007, 09:39:04 pm
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This is the "leopard skin tissue paper bow"! ( my wife calls it " Daddy's little kitty" :o)This bow is more than just a pretty face. The stave for the bow was from an osage hunt with Chris Cade. I was splitting the log from the middle of its length, the wedge slipped and this piece came off. It was about 3" wide, 1 1/4" thick in the centered and tapering both directions to the ends. I knew there was a bow in there somewhere and knew then it would have sapwood in it because of the lack of good heartwood. The bark fell off while it was green but spray shellac saved the day.
Jump ahead a few years and I have reduced the stave to a decent 1 1/4" stave, 60" long. I brought the 1 1/4" out to mid limbs and tapered to 3/8" tips. The top limb has 3 clusters of pin Knots(above the handle, about 2/3 out and just below the tip) that I snaked around and the bottom limb is a little snaky. I used my Nicholson #50 to round everything off, the edges, pin clusters and belly so the cross section is basically oval. I added some deer rawhide(withTBIII) to the back for obvious reasons. You will see in the pics how thick the sapwood is...probably 1/3 the limb thickness.
The handle wrap is hemp saturated with Massey finish with a Ferret's Floppy rest. The tip overlay and handle underlay are shoe leather saturated with super glue and antler cap on the very limb tips.
She is 60" t/t, 57#@26". She shoots well but is a little heavy in the hand and has a definite thump when shot. I imagine the excess wood needed with a sapwood backed bow is where those things come from. I'll shut up now.... Pat
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...now for the BLING! :o These are some close up of the tips and handle area so you can see the sapwood. Also one sighting from the bottom limb looking towards the top. Pat
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Really a nice looking bow Pat, I like the tiller on that, I might try the sapwood on the next one I get where I don't have enough heartwood for the handle. That tissue looks great on there. Steve
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Wow Pat, the tiller on that thing is perfect. There is quite a bit of sapwood on it isn't there. I must say, although it is backed with tissue, it is nothing to sneeze at. ;D Justin
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Thanks guys. Sapwood does work! Not as zippy as an all heartwood osage bow but not bad for nasty old sapwood. ;) After being braced for about 3 or 4 hours and drawn a few times she took a little set but straightened back after a while. I'll shoot her more and see how she holds up. Pat
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nice bow :)
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Thanks David. We will be saying that to you soon enough. ;) Pat
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I kind of like bows that THUMP! Not too good for standing Montana WhiteTail bucks, though. Skittiesh things that they are.
Got you set up for June Self BOM unless you decline >:(
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Don, I'm in it for the GLORY!!! ;D Pat
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Pat that looks great. I would have never thought to use tissue as a backing. You are a genius. OH by the way that looks like another nice string. ;D
Ron
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Thanks Ron. I am particularly proud of this string. I think the yellow and black really compliment the leopard skin on the bows back...and the camo serving is just too, too much! ::) ;D
The tissue backing is interesting but not as easy as it seems. It is so thin, when it gets wet it falls apart easily. Once it is down in the glue it will tear if you try to remove a wrinkle.
I have a Cherokee style bendy handle bow I'm gonna put tiger stripes on. Ought to look quite cool. Pat
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AH.............."genius ?" ::) ;D ;D ;D....bob
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Looks like my kind of bow! I like 'em short and with some character. What did you glue the tip overlays on with, i'd like to try that sometime? SW
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You rock, Pat B!
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Very nice Pat,love the character and a very good Idea on the sap wood,never thought of doing that. :)
Pappy
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Beautiful bow Pat. I didn't know you could use the sapwood like that.....
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Real good job on makin a shooter out of what most would consider scrap wood Pat
Its interesting and something different and not even Justin can complain about yer
full draw pictures. ;D And I couldn't help but notice it has a mighty fine string ;)
Well done Pat
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Nice Pat. That's a lot of bow for not much (heart)wood.
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looking good.
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Nice bow Pat
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Thanks everyone. Osage sapwood is at least as good as most white woods. I have made others with some sapwood on them and others with nothing but sapwood. They don't preform as well as all heartwood but there are cases when all heartwood just ain't possible....so take what you got and go for it! ;)
Dana, He'll find something to complain about. ;) Maybe even this fabulous string. ;D
SawFly, I glued the leather overlays with super glue and then saturated with the same. I have used TB glues to glue leather on other bows. Pat
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Cool bow Pat, and I never went back and looked what the leopard was made of so you answered that for me too. Your example comes at a fine time for me, I had a couple of pretty nice staves with intact dry sapwood still on them. One is about 60". I was toying with the idea of using it for a back, now you come along with inspiration at just the right time.
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hey pat that is a cool bow. very nice job man. thanks for posting. bobby
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Thanks Bobby.
Lennie, As long as the sapwood was handled properly from the start you should have no problems. I backed this bow with rawhide because I violated the back rings when I rounded everything over. With a good, clean back I don't think that is necessary but a little insurance never hurt. Pat
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Nice bow Pat. I agree with Ron. That is a mighty fine looking string.
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Another good'un, Pat, and nicely pimped-out, too. ;D
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Thats a cool bow! Nice idea! Me like. :)
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Sweet! I have a stave w/ 3/8" of sapwood that's in fantastic shape. I have already knocked down 3-4 GR's and I'm also going to build a bow with a lot of sapwood.
Do you recommend backing the sapwood regardless of how flawless it is?
Thanks! Joe
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Joe, I've built a few light weight osage bows that were either all sapwood or had sapwood left on the back that did fine. On the 2 heavier bows(this one and an ELB style) I left the sapwood on I did back them with deer rawhide. Whether they needed it or not I don't know but I did it for insurance sake. Pat
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Thanks for the information!!!
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Hey Pat thats a nother good lookin bow, I like osage sapwood, it is as good as any of the white woods,I think, Ive built alot of bows out of it, but as you all know, I back everything with sinew, and beleive me the osage sapwood goes good with sinew, the reason I ask the question was to see if anyone else used it. Thanks for posting Pat, Ive got two sapwood bows in the roughed out stage right now, startin to tiller on one of them. Trapper
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Super cool looking bow Pat :) Congrats, and keep up the great work. Really like the string, its the same colors as ALL my bows ;) David
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Great Bow Pat. You gonna drag your prey up in a tree, too. ;D
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That really came out nice Pat! Great job! 8)
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Pat thats a cool looking bow marlon ;D
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Thanks everyone. This was a fun project and a little thought provoking. ;D
Ain't that what its all about! ;) Pat
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hi pat! - ahm...i'm not too excited about the backing (looks to artificial for my taste...) but i'm certainly impressed by the bow itself!
frank
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Hey Pat!!!
That bow is outstanding my frienf!!...BEAUTIFULL INDEED!!.. 8) 8)..
I like the backing pattern, tiller colour and that sap-on is beautifull!!..the tip overlays are great... :D :D...
A question Pat:
In the handle detail pic, I can see like the ring count in that stave is rather high, ŋIsnīt it?...thats the reason to get it backed I wander....
Thanks for sharing!!... ;)...
Cheers...
Asier.
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Asier, As long as the back ring isn't violated I usually have no problems with high ring count on osage bows. I have made some very nice bows(osage) with high ring count. The main reason I backed this bow is because I left the sapwood on the back, but also because I rounded off the back, violating rings around several pin knot clusters. I wanted this bow to have a rounded belly and back for aesthetic reasons. I used rawhide on the back for security and the leopard skin patterned tissue paper just for decoration.
Thanks for the nice remarks. Pat
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That tiller is outstanding. Really a beautiful bow. Jawge
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Thanks George. I shot her today and was pleased with how she performed. ;D Pat
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Hey Pat!!...thanks for your fast and detailed answer fellow!!... ;) :)...
I asked you about any relation ship between high cout ring and a backing in Osage, because I got from e-bay some osage staves.
One of them is quite high count ringed stave, and I was thinking in make an English longbow out of this one.
I was warried about this high count ring for several months as Iīve eard alot about "problematic results" having such a high count ring on osage bows without a backing.
What would you recomend me to do Pat?...
Could I make an English longbow out of such an Osage stave without a backing?
I spect about 60 to 70#@28", and the stave is about 67" long, 1,25" wide and 2" depth... :)...
I think only must chase a back heartwood ring and continue as with any other bow wood.....
Thanks fellow...
Asier.
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Asier, I made an osage ELB type bow a few years back. If it were yew, it would have had perfect ring count ;). Very thin rings! I wanted a bow that looked like yew so I left a few layers of sapwood on the back and covered that with thin rawhide. That bow is 67 1/2" long and pulls( I believe) 55#@26" and had horn nocks. It won BOM a few years back in January or February(I think) but I can't find it under BOM. ???
I gave this bow to a friend that admired it earlier this year. I very rarely shot it so why not give it to someone that would. ;D
You could easily make an ELB style bow with only heartwood osage to your desired weight or higher. ;) Pat
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Yeah Pat!!!.. :D :D...I ofcourse remember that EXCELLENT BEAUTYFULL Osage ELB you made mate!!!... 8) 8)...
In fact, I had it in consideration for my, in that moment, first bow proyects... ;)...that bow you made influenced me ALOT!!..
(http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b388/Asiertxu/13149.jpg)
Then canīt wait to give it a try, and make an Osage Elb "replica" from that you made, and I think Iīll back it with thin rawhide too... ;)...just in case!!!...hehehe...
Thanks Pat!!..:D...
Cheers...
Asier.
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Asier, Looking forward to seeing your osage ELB when you're done. Pat
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John Strunk just sent me an osage bow with a full on sapwood back. The sapwood pulled the bow into about 3" of reflex, which it has not lost at all after about 90 shots. It is noticeably faster than a comparable osage bow, and of course it has a lot of pre-draw. John liked it so much he nearly kept it for himself.
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Pretty bending bow Pat and I like the artistic impression also. I see what you mean about the little extra thickness and how it could cause a bit of a thump on release. I am getting in the mood now to finish the little limb bow stave. Just need to glue on some thickness to build up the handle and get to tillering. I was going to try to decrown the back for a flatter profile, it might get down thru the sap wood and show yellow down the back with sapwood on the edges and back of the tips or would this be too much ring violation? Will try to keep the outer 1/3 or 1/2 narrow and eifel tower shaped as in my other bows .What do you think? Kenneth
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Kenneth, I didn't decrown my pole and it still holds the original backset and is quite a shooter. I was amazed how well that pole help up and how well it shoots. I did remove a few sapwood rings but left 3 or 4 on it. Glad to see you are getting more time to make bows and stuff.
I was remembering what I was doing last year at this time. Hiking around with 60# back pack trying to get in shape for our hunt. Marcia only remembers how much of a pain in the butt I was them! ;D Pat
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Yea Pat I have been pretty buzy but part of the reasons that I havent finished this bow is that I feel a bit over matched and under experienced. This pole just seems hold a few challenges that are not encountered in normal bows, I am having a hard time following one ring as they are hard to see but I guess if I really bear down I can do it. I guess If I dont decrownthen I should round the belly and go for an oval cross section??? I don't know, maybe I am trying to plan it too much and should just get to removing wood and let the stave choose its own course and just hpoe I dont make any grevious mistakes.
Speaking of back packing and getting in shape, I am going on a mountain climbing expedition in a couple of weeks, one of our local 14ers. I want to do some canyon climbing this weekend for training and conditioning. Latst winter I did a back pack camping trip into my honey hole area and found the water source. I knew there had to be water for the cattle and elk that use the area, this weekend I want to make a trip in there and see what all is using the water, there is also a large ruin that I want to look at with out the snow. Kenneth
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Take some pics! If you have found water, make a few blinds, depending on normal wind directions and go back after the season. Is hunting allowed in there? ??? ::)
I left the back crowned and made the belly flat. That seemed to work well with my pole. If you can't get to one back sapwood ring, back it with rawhide. I have some very thin deer rawhide I could send you if needed. Pat
ps. Hey to Kathie! ;D