Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Kegan on June 17, 2008, 07:28:44 pm
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Well, finally got a new bow done for myself, to my liking. It's been about eight months since I've gotten one done that I liked, so I've had very high expectations.
It's bamboo backed crabapple. I got the bamboo from nokswimmer I believe (thanks by the way :)!). I had started it a few weeks ago, but it came out to brace much too light, and just drawing it I ddin't feel it had much in the way of cast to it. So I set it aside and waited.
Finally I got the urge to make a bow so badly I grabbed it from the corner and set to work. I pike it, heat treated in 1 1/2" of reflex, and redid the overlays (whcih it turns out, were very necessary to keep the string from splitting the boo). I also narrowed the handle, having had such good success with the "Ishi style" handle I did on "Sparrow Hawk".
Once retillered it came out under weight again, after breaking in. I attirbute this to the fact I didn't leave the bow wide enough (this will be my last attempt at such narrow whitewood longbows that I want to pull in excess of 65#). Fortunately, it performs much better than I had hoped, and is only a few paces short of the cast of my 80# hickory longbow.
So here it is. She's 70" overall, 70# at 27". 1 1/2" wide at the widest, 1 1/8" at the grip. The tips are red bulleta, and it's braced about 6". I did most of the final tillering with sandpaper, as the crabaple was cut, not split, and so wanted to gouge with the use of any tool except the scraper. I finished it up with 440 and then lightly burnished it, and topped it off with floor wax and a leatehr grip for comfort and looks. I have no complaints with this bow- it is fast, accurate (I've already managed a Robin Hood with it) and is a perfect hunting bow. I'm very pleased. This is the first bow I have finished that I have tried to make it look as nice as it shoots. I still need some work, but it does look much ebtter than my others ;D.
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Last ones. Oh, and it shows only 2" of just unbraced string follow, despite having such a rounded belly.
I've detemrined since that crabapple does work well with bamboo, but should be left nice and wide to avoid set and excess mass.
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Dang kid, you got to much time on your hands. ;D Great looking tiller. You sure toasted the heck out of that belly. :o Aren't you scared to draw it with the nocks that rough. I would be scared it will cut the string and slap me upside the head. Justin
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Thanks :). The nocks look a whole lot worse than they are. They're smooth, they just aren't pretty.
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the bamboo is very thick at the tip: did you do that on purpose so you could bring the weight up?
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Nice, Kegan. Interesting wood/grass combo and you pulled it off nicely. Pat
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Kegan,
Very cool I have been waiting to see this bow, :)
when I did a search on Crabapple I found your old posts at the start of the bow.
A very nice looking bow
I had wondered about backing crabapple since its supposed to be a really good compression wood,
your bow is very inspirational!
Keep up the great work!
sc
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hey, did you find that toasting the belly caused any problem with the glue joint? I just tried that the other day, and the glue separated on me...G2 epoxy, normally works great...waht did you use?
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Radius, any heat treating should be done before glue up, in most cases. Par
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Well done Kegan, tiller looks good :)
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Nice job Kegan,good looking bow.Nice tiller and 70lbs.wooooo
Pappy
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I'd lighten those tips up a bit, if I was you. It'll improve cast, and reduce hand shock. Nice tiller.
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Great bow, i'm seeing all these crab apple bows and remembering the one i chopped down and used for fire wood 2 years ago that would have been perfect as it was tall and very straight. GRRR. Nice bow though.
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Thanks everyone :)! adb3112, I nornally would have lightened them up a great deal, to get as much cast as I could, but this crabapple just refuses to respond well to the rasp/drawknife that I just settled for the slight drop in performance. Radius, I used Titebond II. Normally I do have trouble treating afterwards, but the rounded belly let me toast mainly the middle, and I never had to endager the sides. I also left the boo so thick because I had the core bending properly before gluing it up, and, this being my first laminate, I figured that bamboo with even thickness the whole length wouldn't throw it off.
Thanks for the kind words everyone ;D.
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Nice job. I like seeing these different woods used for bows. The tiller looks really good. You love those gorilla weight bows. :o
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Kegan,
I know exactly what you mean by rasp and draw knife don't play nice with the grain.
I ended up hand sanding with 24 and 36 Grit sandpaper (4 1/2 in.disks) for a lot of my reduction and a lot of scraping too.
I really like your bow and have been thinking of backing a decrowned stave in the future.
Great Job!
sc
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Thanks everyone :).
This bow is absolutely a doll. Long range, short range, it's just a great weapon. More than that, it also showed me what's capable from a bow even with amrginal design (I've learned to stop overstressing the woods :D) and how nice a bow is when you put the care into the details.
Funny, a name never occured to me on this one in construction like some of my other bows do. Odd ???.
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Beautifull, no nonsense bow there, I like it,....... it has my vote for laminated bow of the month ;D ;D
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Where did you find crabapple? Great bow and set up for June LBOM ;), too.
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That means alot Manny, your bows are absolutely amazing :)!
Don- it was twenty feet in front of the garage. I guess I'm really lazy when it comes to getting bow wood :D.
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Kegan.
Do you know if the Crab apple you made this bow from is a domestic tree with fruit 1 1/2 to 2 inches
or if it is a wild Crab apple with really small fruit that is only about 1/2 in?
Or maybe it is another type that I'm not familiar with. I have been using Oregon Crabapple (Malus fusca)
Just curious :)
Great bow,
I really want back a ca bow myself
The bowyering bug bites hard ;)
if ya know what I mean.
sc
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Didn't I read on another forum that this bow busted?
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Didn't I read on another forum that this bow busted?
Yup :'(. I'm busy repairing it at the moment. No more super narrow bows :-X.