Primitive Archer

Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: RyanY on February 14, 2010, 04:45:44 pm

Title: Finally - 48" hickory recurve selfbow
Post by: RyanY on February 14, 2010, 04:45:44 pm
So I posted pics of this bow while it was unfinished and here it is finally. Hickory selfbow, 48" ntn about 50#@28". Drawn to about 31" in the pics. It is stained with ebony stain. This bow was extremely fun to make. It took a lot of string follow so it has very little tension at brace height so its actually slow. But it looks pretty sweet and thats good enough for me. Thanks for looking.

(http://i327.photobucket.com/albums/k455/ryoon4690/SDC10408.jpg)
(http://i327.photobucket.com/albums/k455/ryoon4690/SDC10409.jpg)
(http://i327.photobucket.com/albums/k455/ryoon4690/SDC10410.jpg)
(http://i327.photobucket.com/albums/k455/ryoon4690/SDC10415.jpg)
(http://i327.photobucket.com/albums/k455/ryoon4690/SDC10414.jpg)
(http://i327.photobucket.com/albums/k455/ryoon4690/SDC10413.jpg)
Title: Re: Finally - 48" hickory recurve selfbow
Post by: El Destructo on February 14, 2010, 04:58:34 pm
That Tiller is Scary Good!! I like the Bow...it's way cool....... :P..Looks like a Korean Bow ...drawn back that far!!
Title: Re: Finally - 48" hickory recurve selfbow
Post by: KenH on February 14, 2010, 05:23:20 pm
Really nice work.. Did you steam or dry-heat bend the tips?
Title: Re: Finally - 48" hickory recurve selfbow
Post by: RyanY on February 14, 2010, 07:15:41 pm
El Destructo - Thanks. The whole point of this bow for me was to see if I could get a selfbow to look and draw like a korean/turkish bow. I'm just glad it turned out.

KenH - I boiled the tips. Thanks for looking.
Title: Re: Finally - 48" hickory recurve selfbow
Post by: Del the cat on February 14, 2010, 07:31:30 pm
Are you sure you are pulling it back far enough?  :o  :o  :o
Cool bow (and not just cos you've stuck it in the snow ::) )
Del
(BTW I like the "don't mess with me" expression on your face in that bottom pic  ;D )
Title: Re: Finally - 48" hickory recurve selfbow
Post by: Keenan on February 14, 2010, 07:36:03 pm
Wow Ryoon, that is amazing how far that is bending. The tiller looks very good and to be together at the draw length to bow length ratio is incredible. Did it have some deflex to start with?.
Title: Re: Finally - 48" hickory recurve selfbow
Post by: NTD on February 14, 2010, 07:45:44 pm
 :o :o :o  That is a really neat little bow...It's a little bit of a shame about all that string follow but I guess you need a trade off with all that bending it's doing.  Great Bow man I'm really impressed. 
Title: Re: Finally - 48" hickory recurve selfbow
Post by: jessepeltan on February 14, 2010, 07:55:29 pm
If you want the bow to take less set you should temper the belly.  The temper allow the bow to pull further, reduce set, and will increase draw weight a bit.  Hickory takes well to tempering.  If you're up for more work on the bow (or for the next one) it'd be an easy fix to heat the whole working area and put it in a form (I'll explain that in a min).  Once in the form and cooled down, you temper the wood until it starts to change color.  The form is basically a 2by3 or 2by4 cut to the length between the big bends before the statics, with a block of wood in the middle.  You clamp the handle to the block of wood (cut off of 2by4) and the weight of the tips should bring the ends down to the ends of the board with heat.  If it's not enough you can add pressure with weights or even clamp the ends down. This should give you 1.5in of reflex before the static tips right at the big bends.  It will take some set again but the tempering will help with that.  So it should end up .5in +or- of straight.  An important thing to remember is to not temper the back.  Unlike the belly it will make the back brittle.  Also remember to temper the whole belly of the bow not just the working area.  It will add strength to the whole bow not only the bending parts if you do it that way.  Tempering will make the bow perform better and in my opinion makes it look cooler too.
Title: Re: Finally - 48" hickory recurve selfbow
Post by: sulphur on February 14, 2010, 09:17:47 pm
throw some sinew on that thing!!!  should get some reflex or less deflex in it.
Title: Re: Finally - 48" hickory recurve selfbow
Post by: Scowler on February 14, 2010, 10:33:40 pm
Amazing that you got a self bow that short to have such a long draw.  Very impressive.
Title: Re: Finally - 48" hickory recurve selfbow
Post by: Gordon on February 14, 2010, 10:40:42 pm
Holy crap! I can't believe the amount of stress that wood is withstanding.
Title: Re: Finally - 48" hickory recurve selfbow
Post by: ken75 on February 14, 2010, 10:45:49 pm
awesome bow !! and they used to think hicory was not a good bow wood. great looking and good craftmanship !!
Title: Re: Finally - 48" hickory recurve selfbow
Post by: Pennhawk on February 14, 2010, 10:48:33 pm
Verry impressed.
Title: Re: Finally - 48" hickory recurve selfbow
Post by: RyanY on February 15, 2010, 12:18:55 am
Thanks guys. There was no deflex in this stave when I started. Pipe straight.

jessepeltan - I actually did heat treat this bow. TWICE! Still took this much set.

sulphur - I didn't want to sinew it even if I had some. I just wanted to see if I could make it a selfbow.

Title: Re: Finally - 48" hickory recurve selfbow
Post by: jessepeltan on February 15, 2010, 01:16:34 am
Wow it still took that much set after heat treating!  Was the wood too wet?  Hickory is sensitive to moisture.  I understand that that's a lot of stress on the bow, but that's a lot of set for a heat treated bow.  The tiller is spot on so it wasn't that.
Title: Re: Finally - 48" hickory recurve selfbow
Post by: El Destructo on February 15, 2010, 01:55:31 am
with the way that Bow is Bending...you are lucky it took set....and not took flight...... ;D
Title: Re: Finally - 48" hickory recurve selfbow
Post by: Gordon on February 15, 2010, 03:05:01 am
Quote
Wow it still took that much set after heat treating!  Was the wood too wet?  Hickory is sensitive to moisture.  I understand that that's a lot of stress on the bow, but that's a lot of set for a heat treated bow.  The tiller is spot on so it wasn't that.

No wood can take that kind of abuse without breaking down - even with heat treating. The only thing that's holding this bow together is the perfect tiller.
Title: Re: Finally - 48" hickory recurve selfbow
Post by: medicinewheel on February 15, 2010, 04:36:36 am
Scary looking arc!!! - The tiller is as good as it gets, no question about that!
If you'd build that same bow with osage it might have a lot less stringfollow!

ps: As Gordon says!
Title: Re: Finally - 48" hickory recurve selfbow
Post by: Pappy on February 15, 2010, 07:14:22 am
What can I say ,you got that looking good.Tiller looks great.Lots of bend for such a short bow. :)
   Pappy
Title: Re: Finally - 48" hickory recurve selfbow
Post by: radius on February 15, 2010, 08:25:08 am
amazing, man!  You're really good at this...didn't you make a short little holmegaard last year?  With chinese writing painted on it?   I know what you mean about "low tension at brace"...a 57" yew holmegaard i made last summer felt the same...but still drew to 52# @ 27" and still snaps out arrows. 

Now, do it again!  This time with osage or locust or something like that...
Title: Re: Finally - 48" hickory recurve selfbow
Post by: Ryano on February 15, 2010, 09:16:27 am
Lets see some close ups of the belly.  ;)
Title: Re: Finally - 48" hickory recurve selfbow
Post by: RyanY on February 15, 2010, 11:58:34 am
Thanks a lot guys. If I ever get a hold of a short piece of osage I might try it.

Ryano - The bow is at home right now. I'll try and remember to take more pics next time I'm home.
Title: Re: Finally - 48" hickory recurve selfbow
Post by: Lombard on February 15, 2010, 12:04:43 pm
Wow, 48 inches, being drawn that far without snapping. That is a testament to your tillering skills.
Title: Re: Finally - 48" hickory recurve selfbow
Post by: Aries on February 15, 2010, 05:36:44 pm
That is awesome, probably bout the most bend i've seen in a self bow :o. you guys think osage would be able to pull this off??  Ty
Title: Re: Finally - 48" hickory recurve selfbow
Post by: George Tsoukalas on February 15, 2010, 06:26:37 pm
Well done! Jawge
Title: Re: Finally - 48" hickory recurve selfbow
Post by: OldBow on February 15, 2010, 08:32:36 pm
That is some accomplishment! Very nice and bookmarked under Feb Self Bows for BOM, too.
Title: Re: Finally - 48" hickory recurve selfbow
Post by: michbowguy on February 15, 2010, 09:31:06 pm
...great googly moogly. look at that wood bend! :o :o :o :o
Title: Re: Finally - 48" hickory recurve selfbow
Post by: Timo on February 15, 2010, 10:23:29 pm
You got a u-joint in the handle of that thing? Dang! lots of bendin. :o
Title: Re: Finally - 48" hickory recurve selfbow
Post by: kerryb on February 16, 2010, 12:35:39 am
WOW
Title: Re: Finally - 48" hickory recurve selfbow
Post by: profsaffel on February 16, 2010, 09:09:50 pm
Very unique, and as everyone has mentioned, the extreme bending is an amazing sight. I think the unusual decoration with the red coated limbs stands out as well.
Title: Re: Finally - 48" hickory recurve selfbow
Post by: RyanY on February 17, 2010, 12:56:15 am
Thanks a lot guys. I'm hoping that I can use the experience from making this bow to make my next shorty even better. Hopefully we'll be able to make wood bows that look like composite bows and perform decent too. Ultimately I think that's what I'll be going for next time.
Title: Re: Finally - 48" hickory recurve selfbow
Post by: LEGIONNAIRE on February 17, 2010, 02:34:47 am
great selfbow! I like the short ones too, they are always a challenge. Very skilled tillering.
Title: Re: Finally - 48" hickory recurve selfbow
Post by: Parnell on February 17, 2010, 01:18:51 pm
Those full draw pictures are just unreal!  It looks like you stretched the picture in the paint application.
Title: Re: Finally - 48" hickory recurve selfbow
Post by: RyanY on February 17, 2010, 04:41:16 pm
Thanks.

Parnell - In the last pic the bow is rotated so it looks shorter than it really is. I own a mac and don't have paint though. ;D
Title: Re: Finally - 48" hickory recurve selfbow
Post by: kiltedcelt on March 19, 2010, 02:13:08 am
Not much that I can say that hasn't been said already Ryoon - but, hey GREAT JOB! Man, to get that much bend out of that little piece of hickory. Sure, it may shoot slow, but at least you now know you can do it. Next time do one with some sinew for a little more zip and then before you know it you'll be adding horn to the belly as well. Anyway, great job!