Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Lehtis on October 29, 2015, 08:40:09 am
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This BPCM1 bow caused plenty of "headache" while making it. This one started as Bamboo-Purpleheart-Osage Orange stave aimed to be some 70-74 pounder, glued with Unibond800. Unfortunately I used ca. 11 mm thick purpleheart core meaning most of the osage disappeared from the limbs while tillering. The exposed purpleheart didn´t stand compression under bamboo and started to generate chrysals during tillering.
Fixing plan #1 was to sand some of the purpleheart away and glue osage slices on the limbs to block the compression stress. Unfortunately I used Titebond III to glue the slices and that didn´t stand at the fades near the handle.
Fixing plan #2 was to sand all of the osage away and replace it with hickory; glued it with Unibond. Should have known that this is a bad choice; severe chrysals immediately on it.
Fixing plan #3 was to sand hickory away and purple heart down to 8 mm at handle and 3 mm at tips. Then I glued a 5 mm slice of cumaru as second core wood and massaranduba as new belly; cumaru alone on belly would explode due to very curly grains. This combination seemed to work and no more problems arised.
I had to quit sanding and leave the bow stronger than originally planned before all of the massaranduba would have gone. Then I made water buffalo horn nocks and arrow pass and the bow was ready for test shooting. After three sessions on three days the bow was still alive and time to finish it with 6-7 layers of Danish Oil. The handle is made of leather from old boots and the string is Dacron B-50, 16 strands, yellow and red.
Here are the details of this bow:
Strengh: 83 lbs @ 28"
Length n-t-n: 181 cm (71,2")
Width @ Handle: 27 mm (1 1/16")
Depth @ Handle: 24 mm (15/16")
Round @ Horn Nocks: 13 mm (1/2")
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Sweet man!
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Nice bow
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That was a good save, massaranduba is good wood, cuaru and purple heart are both prone to chrysal. Good job!
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Sweet
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Oh, brother! 5his process sounds like every bow I've ever built. I never build the dame bow twice, it seems, so I am constantly reworking midway through. I know how you feel, man! Way to make it work.
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Kudos to your perseverance. ..i woulda gave up n burned it after the first fail..lol 😁 if you can display that type of never say die attitude then you will do well in bowbuilding ;) nice job :)
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Thanks guys for your kind words!
New combo of same woods, but now only 4 mm both purpleheart and cumaru, waiting for tillering. My last slice of bulletwood (= massaranduba) on belly. I agree, bulletwood is great on belly but, unfortunately, I don´t know any source to get more here in Finland. The only disadvantage is that the dust (with oils) are rather "unpleasant" in one´s nose and a mask should be used while scraping and sanding it. I´ve now bought some osage from 3Rivers (bloody expensive to import due to custom fees) for future projects; it´s much more nice to handle.
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Looking forward to seeing more of your work up here. This one's a beauty! :)
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@Lethis
you choose the hard way - but you have mastered it. Congrats to your bow and thanks for sharing "your way"
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Commendable perseverance and a very handsome bow :)
I like your style of nock, a bit like having your own signature :)
83# woo, bet that bangs out a hefty arrow with some authority!
Del
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Thanks guys... and, sure, I´ll add my future projects here. Unfortunately, my "salary work" slows down this hobby, but sooner or later...
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Nice bow! Way to see it through.
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Lehtis,
Nice looking bow and love the perseverance. It's given me the will to sand off some chunky tips I just glued up my current project, in stead of leaving them "as is".
Good job!
thx,
Ed
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the nocks look really good.
10/10
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My muscles are learning to enjoy and master the power of this 83-pounder: 244 by 60 arrows from 20 yards according to IFAA´s rules on 40 cm indoor target faces. Two practice rounds and then 30 on upper target and another 30 on lower.
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I missed this one some how, man that is a beauty and looks like you are shooting it well. :)
Pappy
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Way to go....Beautiful bow and craftsmanship.You should be getting a bulldog of the month certificate for finishing that one.
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Old Howard Hill used to shoot those 80 to 90 pound bows regularly.I know I can feel the difference the next day shooting a 58# bow instead of a 52# bow.Do you make your own arrows too.Very nice job on those too.
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Have to give you and "A" for persistence.......and what a fine bow you ended up with too. Congrats! Very nice work.
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I wanna shoot as well as that one day
Really nice bow too
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Yes, the bow is very nice as well as shooting! Lehtis is IFAA Indoor world champion 2015 in Historical bow -class and he has also won national championship many, many times. The current IFAA indoor world record in Historical bow -class is 247 point (out of 300), which is almost unbreakable. The record was shot by a Finnish guy… So, that 244 points is very good result – but not the best Lehtis has shot! By the way, he has also shot the national record in American round too. And in IFAA Hunter and Animal rounds also… I think that Lehtis is at present one of the best historical bow shooter in the world. World class results with that kind of monster bows!
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Thank you, Tuomo, for your kind words. As a Finn it´s difficult to receive something like that.
Beadman; usually I do use self made arrows, or the shafts are commercially available Port Oxford Cedar, but I do check the spine and weight. These arrows in the last picture are pine with some tropical hardwood front. I bought the feathered shafts w/o points from a bowhunter for who these were too stiff. I replaced the screaming yellow feathers to black and gray and glued on 125 gr points. Good for indoors but too heavy for long distances outdoors.
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You'll get the respect here Lehtis.Don't worry about that,and then some things you may not want to hear.....lol.What weight arrows are you target shooting then?
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I have been using 11/32" cedar shafts, cut to ca. 30", 125 gr points and 5" feathers. They weigh ca. 35-36 g (540-560 gr) and according to my bows they are spined either a bit over 60 or 65 lbs. Due to some extra length they´ll stabilize quite nicely after release and excuse tiny mistakes better than just-to-draw-length-cut shafts. I´m soon going to test 11/32" spruce shafts tapered to 5/16 at the nock end. They should be more stable than parallel shafts.
Those in the last pic are barreled, rather heavy line breakers for indoor shooting and I´ve been shooting with them only few times. They are far too heavy, 40-41 g (ca. 625 gr) for outdoors and long distances. Would work well at hunting distances.