Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: joachimM on January 25, 2023, 03:30:15 pm
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It's been a few years since I last made a bow. I had this bunch of drying staves lying around in my workshop and attic, but it was a straight grained chestnut leftover bias-ringed board that I sawed recently that just yelled for attention.
The 1” thick board came from lumber that I’ve sawn on my sawmill. I let it dry for a few weeks inside, and starting working it.
Sweet chestnut is a wood I use a lot for outdoor construction work as it’s very resistant to fungus attack, and I a pile of logs waiting to be sawn. It resembles a bit white oak or pedunculate oak, but it’s 20-25% less dense than a typical oak. No idea how well it would hold up as a bow, so I kept it really wide. It looks more like a windmill than a bow ;)
Nice straight grain, so I just planed the back of the board, cut out an elongated diamond shape 1 cm to 9 cm, allowed for a handle section and started tillering. It took me a lot of painstaking scraping to get it where I want it, and I had to correct one section with dry heat just before the tips that bent a tad too much when it was at 50# at 20” draw. No further heat treatment so far.
Specs: Sweet chestnut, 69.3” (176 cm) ntn 52# at 28”, pyramid board bow 8 cm wide at the fades to 1 cm at the nocks. Even thickness across the working sections of the limbs of 12.8 mm +/- 0.5 mm, at the outer 15 cm 14-15 mm thickness. Slightly rounded trapezium back. The mass of the bow is 582 g, which is spot on with Steve Gardner’s expected bow mass. I can still narrow the tips down a bit, though they do bend a tiny amount.
After shooting the bow has 1.5 cm of set.
It shoots really nicely and seems pretty fast, still need to sand it, and finish it. Not sure about the nocks, I might just leave them as they are.
Will post FD pic later.
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nice. I´ve had years of not making a bow. It´s like riding a bike, you never forget how to do it. Good to hear you trying out a fairly common European wood. Looking forward to seeing full draw pics.
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Good looking bow.
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Very nice bow. I like the lines.
But that is not straight grain. The limb that we can clearly see has many run outs.
Perhaps a backing of silk, linen or burlap is quick and easy to install.
More on my site including a photo of a straight grained board.
Jawge
http://traditionalarchery101.com
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Yes there’s a bit of runout, bit isn’t that inevitable in a pyramid design? Anyway, I shot it a few dozen times and got quite some small chrysals on the belly, evenly distributed across both limbs. Seems it’s holding its ground in tension more than in compression…
I mostly wanted to test how this wood behaves in a bow, I can’t recall having seen anyone use it for a bow. That’s why I made it so long and ridiculously wide.
Here's a FD pic. On the tillering tree the limbs seemed pretty evenly strained, maybe it's just a visual effect of the angle at which the photo was taken, or maybe it's just the way I'm holding the bow that changes how the limbs are strained.
It's not gonna be a prize winner, but it shoots nicely, and I'll just keep tinkering with other woods and staves.
Joachim
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Nice build . Can’t beat a pyramid.
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I like the way you left the outers a bit stiff, should shoot sweet!