Primitive Archer

Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: warpath on July 17, 2012, 10:34:34 pm

Title: bamboo backed purpleheart
Post by: warpath on July 17, 2012, 10:34:34 pm

O.K. guys, this is my first post with pics. This is a bamboo backed purpleheart longbow. 72" overall, 70" NTN, 67" when strung. 1.75" wide and the fades and 5/8" wide at the nocks. The shelfless handle is 7" in length, 1 1/4" wide, and 1" thick. It pulls 50# @ 28". The arrows in the pics are for a 32" draw. I have monkey arms so i didn't want to overdraw the bow. At 40yards I was grouping 8 arrows within 6 inches consistantly. I started hitting the nocks so I stopped shooting as seen in the one pic. After about 200 shots this bow only took about 1/2" of set as seen in the unstrung pic.
 Please tell me what you guys think. I'm going to post it on my site unless someone wants to trade. I'd hate to let this bow go since I fell in love with it, but I have to make money to pay the bills and pamper the Mrs.. After finishing this bow up, I realized that the purpleheart is lightly figured and has a nice sheen to it.

   G

Title: Re: bamboo backed purpleheart
Post by: missilemaster on July 17, 2012, 11:22:30 pm

Very nice bow! I havent used purpleheart yet ,  I have heard that it likes to chryssal sometimes. Did you have this issue?
                                              Cody

Title: Re: bamboo backed purpleheart
Post by: warpath on July 17, 2012, 11:43:37 pm

Cody, I usually use purpleheart as a core lamination and I barrel taper it. It seems to work great that way. This is the first time that I've use it on it's own with a simple backing and I'm very pleased with how it turned out. I'm hoping that it's not just luck so when I get the chance I'm going to attempt another one with a higher draw weight. Maybe 65-75lbs.

   G

Title: Re: bamboo backed purpleheart
Post by: Rufledt on July 18, 2012, 03:43:40 am

Looks awesome!  I made a hickory backed purpleheart a long time ago (before my long break from bow making) that did chrysal a little where there was a slight hinge, but it never took too much set (it was a minor chrysal-ly area).  It's just not as strong in compression as the SG would suggest, but it certainly makes a deadly and exceedingly beautiful weapon if made properly.

Title: Re: bamboo backed purpleheart
Post by: mikekeswick on July 18, 2012, 04:11:19 am

I've used hickory backed purpleheart with no problems. It looks good on a belly doesn't it!

Title: Re: bamboo backed purpleheart
Post by: Del the cat on July 18, 2012, 04:44:22 am

Handsome bow
Del

Title: Re: bamboo backed purpleheart
Post by: warpath on July 18, 2012, 09:21:01 am

Thanks guys. I did a hickory backed purpleheart years ago and they always kept breaking on me. This time I went with Bamboo and I'm pleased with the results.

   G

Title: Re: bamboo backed purpleheart
Post by: Stefan on July 18, 2012, 02:47:43 pm

Beautiful, I always love to see purpleheart as a belly wood. I have some lying around but I want to improve my tillering skills first beacause I have heared it chrysals easy.