Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: nlb34 on September 28, 2013, 04:30:19 pm
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Hello, I am not new to this forum but decided maybe it is time to share some activity. I have been building bows for the last few years, mostly selfbows with a few wood laminates and oh I have spent the last 4 years trying to build a turkish hornbow all ending failure so far. I currently live in Sioux Falls, SD.
Two new bows to share, I think I got a little sloppy on the tillering, some of it I will blame on kinks in the stave but I could have been a bit more careful. The maple bow is armstrong maple which is a newer designer tree where they crossed a norway maple for its strength and beauty with a silver maple for its quick growth. I would classify this wood as "poor" and probably not much better than silver maple. As nice as horn nocks are I was forced to use some kind of overlays as during the tillering the wood was so soft that the string cut into the tips and they splinter off, this brought the bow from a starting length of 70" down to its current length of 66". The limbs are 2" wide and narrow down to 1/2". The final weight came in at 45 pounds at 28 inches.
The second bow is buckthorn which around here is on the invasive and noxious weed list. I cut down the tree late last fall and imeadiatly striped the bark off and reduced down the stage to roughly the final dimensions. As I understand buckthorn it is horrible at splitting during drying. I would guess that cutting it down late in the fall was key. The stave was quite straight with one large bend, I did my best to steam bend the kink out of the upper limb. The bow is 68" long and 1 1/2" wide just past the handle fades, with ipe tips. The bows weighs 50 pounds at 28 inches.
For both bows I applied 3 coats of my own varnish. The varnish is 2 parts linseed oil to 1 part dammar resin. I started by cooked the resin until it turned liquid, then I added preheated oil. I continued to cook this mixture at approx 300 celsius until the mixture became homogeneous. I let it cool down to under 150 celsius and added in the turpentine for a final ratio of:
60% (240g) Linseed oil
30% (120g) Dammar resin
10% (40g) Turpentine
I will try to post more about the varnish sometime, so far I really enjoy working with it, I used a good quality turpentine which gives the varnish a beautiful smell. Enjoy the pictures, please share any comments, and thank you for this great forum.
(http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m426/bheggeseth/Bows/maple_buckthorn_handles_zps94934413.jpg)
(http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m426/bheggeseth/Bows/maple_buckthorn_back_zps8dcb3786.jpg)
(http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m426/bheggeseth/Bows/maple_buckthorn_side_zpsaa0069a0.jpg)
(http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m426/bheggeseth/Bows/maple_buckthorn_tips_zpsd05d8738.jpg)
(http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m426/bheggeseth/Bows/maple_fulldraw_zpsd05194f2.jpg)
(http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m426/bheggeseth/Bows/Buckthorn_fulldraw_zps7ed1dddc.jpg)
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Wow those are two great looking bows. Love the color of that buckthorn. Would you say it's a notable wood? if so it would be nice having an invasive bow wood lol.
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Good work! Those are fine looking bows. Welcome aboard and I look forward to seeing more of your work.
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Incredible work
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Real nice tiller and finish work on the type of bow woods you used there.Nice handles.I used to live about 70 miles southeast of Sioux Falls for most of my life.Been through all of the river bottoms a coonhunting in that area and can vouch for ya about the availability of wood around you.On some of the bigger river bottoms there is oak. Ash pretty much everywhere.Also white elm.If you ever get in the area of southern Iowa about 70 miles straight south of Des Moines I can set you up with some osage if you want.Good hickory too.Good job on your bows.
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Nice work! Hope to see you post more of your work!
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nice job brother.i have a buckthorn character stave.i am just not good enough to tackle it at the moment.
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Great looking bows, real nice work nlb.
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Nice finish work on those puppies :D. Welcome.
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Looks like you did some good work there !!
Welcome to the forum !
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Very nice bows and welcome to the forum.
DBar
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Very nice start! I wouldn't fret too much about the Maple . If they crossed it with Norway maple they might have wanted to do a little more research. In my experience , the Norway Maples around here aren't much different than the Silver. Quick growing and soft. Beauty Job on the Buckthorn !Looking forward to seeing some more posts!
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Thank you all for the warm welcomes, as for buckthorn I have read somewhere that it is the poor mans yew. I am not so sure of that, It is hard to find a good straight tree as it grows almost like a bush it also has lots of knots to work around. I would say that the wood is above average. Dimension wise I designed this bow similar to the mulberry flatbows I have done. I in the past have gone wider for ash and narrower for osage.
Beadman, yes there are plenty of good bow wood here in southeast South Dakota. I have made several ash, elm, and mulberry bows, and now a buckthorn bow.