Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: leonwood on June 12, 2017, 07:15:28 am
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This was a fun bow to make! I recently broke a mulberry bow in the handle (big hole at handle area but I thought it would make a cool feature, oops) so I wanted to start another bow quickly to forget about the mulberry.
A bowyer who lives near me gave me a small diameter yew sapling. He did not want to mess with it since it developed some sideways bend while drying (see pic below). He roughed it out on his bandsaw already so I could start with it immediately. (I don’t have a bandsaw or any other power tools so roughing out takes me some effort/time usually)
I had it braced within an our or so but of course the string did not line up at all. I clamped it belly up in my heat treat form and heat treated each limb for about 30 minutes. This aligned it good enough to finish tillering to 28 inches. After narrowing the handle a bit the string still did not line up enough so now I clamped it sideways to bend the handle with some dry heat. I got lucky because it worked in one 10 minute session.
The bow ended up 68 inches nock to nock and exactly 50 lbs at 28 inch. If it keeps some reflex I might pike it a bit but it shoots really smooth now so not sure yet.
Because is has a lot of sapwood and the heartwood is really light coloured I decided to give it a little color on the fades to light it up. Took some water colour markers from my daughter and just blended it directly on the wood.
Handle is some leather from an old jacket I got for 2 euros at the flea market. Finished with danish oil and an old fast flight string which happened to be the right size.
Below some pictures, I hope you like the bow!
// unbraced profiles
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4258/35126296821_4595c046c9_h.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/VvZsgg)
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4222/35126296531_4c323a2c13_h.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/VvZsbg)
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4279/35126295931_41f72c3118_h.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/VvZrZV)
// details
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4206/34412204164_3bc0d53018_h.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/UqTxoU)
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4223/34412204124_4b446c7ebb_h.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/UqTxod)
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4258/35126296091_ffd61496ad_h.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/VvZs3F)
// braced
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4215/34412202034_25f59997b0_h.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/UqTwLb)
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4217/34412202164_3e957e66e7_h.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/UqTwNq)
// stave
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4278/35090356592_c637660f98_h.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/VsPfu9)
// handle
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4290/34412203374_4eb155cfbb_h.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/UqTxah)
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4242/35090356372_58a4290d27_h.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/VsPfqm)
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4224/35126295571_71153d9d87_h.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/VvZrTH)
// fulldraw
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4238/34412203824_b87500fc13_h.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/UqTxi3)
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Very nice bow. Like osage I guess it doesn't take much yew to make a good bow. Tiller looks good to me too. 8) :OK
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Very nice bow, well done in all aspects. :)
Pappy
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Excellent bow, you do very clean work. Great photos too.
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That is a great looking bow!
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Sweet looking bow. And the tiller looks spot on. Good on you for turning someone else's not so desirable stave into a fine bow.
Kyle
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Very nice bow.
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Sweet job done on that stick.
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Gotta like that one!
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i got 6 or 7 yew sapling waiting me to do something
Will try to make them look as good as your bow
i like it alot :OK
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Wow thanks for the awesome replies! I must admit I was surprised by the result as well considering there is still sapwood on the sides. I guess the heat treatment worked very well on the narrow limbs
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yes I like it,, :OK
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Nice job :)
Del
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Excellent tiller. Nicely done. Jawge
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That's a beauty! :OK
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Very nice bow
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Thanks again guys, it was really fun to make.
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Well done - two Thumbs up :OK ! Bob
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Very nice bow Leonwood. Nice bend and a interesting touch with your daughter's water color paint in the fades. You do nice work.
Bjrogg
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Thanks! When I showed my daughter what I did with her markers she said she will paint my next bow but then better because the rainbow was not correct ;D
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Leon you sure are pumping out some sweet bows. Cheers
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Leon you sure are pumping out some sweet bows. Cheers
Thanks Wizard, get lots of inspiration from guys like you and everybody else on pa!
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very nice bow and great tiller too, like it
Hans
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You're making really fine bows Leon. Keep them coming!
The back on this one is georgous.
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You're making really fine bows Leon. Keep them coming!
The back on this one is georgous.
Thanks! That means a lot coming from you! Working on another yew branch with some defects that just might make a shooter!
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Nice bow! Arvin
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Sapling and branches from a yew tree are always good shooters. I wouldn't cut it down. Maybe just heat treat it linger than 30 mins. Usually it takes me about 45-60 mins/limb when heat treating yew.
Heat jun roughly 4" from the belly.
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Sapling and branches from a yew tree are always good shooters. I wouldn't cut it down. Maybe just heat treat it linger than 30 mins. Usually it takes me about 45-60 mins/limb when heat treating yew.
Heat jun roughly 4" from the belly.
Thanks Bryce, funny you mention heat treating yew branches so long. Will try that on the next one! I was under the impression most people don't heat treat yew (for looks maybe?) but I find heat treating really helps my yew bows a lot. Now I only have access to really low altitude yew (below sea level here;-) ) so that might be the reason it works better?
I have been shooting this bow thee times a week (for two hours a time) since I finished it and is still holds it's profile as if I just finished tillering it.
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I hear treat all my bows. If any of the wood has little scorch marks on it, they usually come out during the final phases of tillering and sanding.
Low yew still makes a serviceable bow:)
Happy shoot'n
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Very nice bow! Congrats!!
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Great bow! super clean... nice job
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Hey Leon,
I’m currently working on a very knotty yew sapling that I found in the woods several weeks back. I’ve cut it to 70” tip to tip, and laid out the handle. It’s about 1 1/4” diameter on the narrow end and
1 3/4” on the thick end.
Out of curiosity, how wide are your limbs mid handle and at the tips?
Thanks!
- Pat
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I like that bow a lot. Very well done.
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Nice job! Inspiration for us newbies, especially - and incentive to try challenging staves sooner rather than later!
Hawkdancer
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Hey Leon,
I’m currently working on a very knotty yew sapling that I found in the woods several weeks back. I’ve cut it to 70” tip to tip, and laid out the handle. It’s about 1 1/4” diameter on the narrow end and
1 3/4” on the thick end.
Out of curiosity, how wide are your limbs mid handle and at the tips?
Thanks!
- Pat
Hi pat,
This bow is from a sapling about the same size as yours so I think so you are good to go! This bow is a little over an inch wide and the tips are 1/4 inch. (I narrowed them even more after I took the pics) This bow was heat treated to take the sideways bend out and even after a few thousand shots it still holds the same profile.
On your sapling try to layout the back with the least amount of knots
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Your building skills are always great and to my eye its your handle wraps that always stand out .
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Your building skills are always great and to my eye its your handle wraps that always stand out .
Thanks! Appreciate it! I try to do something different to the handle of every bow but at the same time keep it as simple as possible