Long story short, this is the first bow I haven't broken so far. Two were tried with East Texas cedar and the third was a red oak board from a box store.
This is a Crepe Myrtle stave that I trimmed from my yard and have been drying in my barn for a couple of months.
I had split the branch in two but this had so much twist I only got one usable half. This branch had a natural bow at one end (on the left in the pictures). So far I have scraped and floor tillered. I have used heat to bend the right limb to flip the tip similar to the left. I have used some heat on the lright to begin matching the curve in the left limb-mid section. This picture shows pre-long string status.
The next picture is with the long string pulled 12 inches.
So the picture shows the natural curve on the left and probably needing to scrape the mid section on the right, I think.
I exercised the limbs and then did a quick experimental pull to 15" and snapped this photo. Then I stopped for the day.
The stave is 53.5" tip to tip. I am shooting for a 40 lb draw at about 20" or so.
Any input will be welcome. I would prefer not to break another bow. But I understand that there is a big learning curve and I am just getting started. I know I should probably do a 68" pyramid board bow to learn on, but that is not what I'm doing.
I have read all of Ken75's crepe myrtle posts and those are a great help. Especially the one where he says that the bark on these will make cracking noises when bending. I heard that first crack and thought I had already broken another bow just by putting on the long string, but then recalled what Ken had said. I am still in process of removing that light bark, but I don't think that is having any effect on the process.
Thanks.
