I'm bending 2 Guava bows untill they break !!! ( pics)

[NOMADIC PIRATE]

72# @ 32

[NOMADIC PIRATE]

35" 

[NOMADIC PIRATE]

37" ...getting really shakey





gonna take a breack and than go for the big 4-0

[NOMADIC PIRATE]

Lennie, no extra frets, no change in the original one from what I can guess under the wrap, and no I never fixed the tiller

Gordon I think your vine maple is just as tought


are the firts pictures still showing,i cleared photobucket without thinking

[1/2primitive]

WOW!! It's amazing how far you got that first one to bend, 42"?!?!?! MAN! That's LONG!
       Sean

[Hillbilly]

Have you noticed them taking on any more set after that torture?? damn, don't think I've ever seen a bow pulled anywhere near 42"

[NOMADIC PIRATE]

Ho yeah, it took some set ; I'll take pictures

[NOMADIC PIRATE]

....well, the selfbow broke a hair before 40

[duffontap]

Finally!  that's quite a bend.  I don't think vine maple is that strong in tension.  I broke the bow pictured at just about 32". 

          J.  D. Duff  (real men break their bows by hand  )

[Marc St Louis]

Very interesting. You could tell it was going to break where it did. If you could have made the outer limb bend some it would have gone further

[SimonUK]

Best thread I've read in a long time! Thanks    Is guava wood from the same tree as the guava fruit?

[medicinewheel]

.....UNBELIEVABLE!

[tom sawyer]

Awesome.

Just think how overbuilt your bows are.  You could probably make them significantly skinnier and/or shorter, knowing what you now know.  Your bows were certainly not "90% broke" at full draw.

[NOMADIC PIRATE]

not even close to 90%


It surely makes me feel good as a hunter knowing that the equipment I take in the woods is just about bombproof


yeah Marc, that's where the 2 big fractures where.


almost makes me want to try one of my good bows ......better not think about it

[D. Tiller]

Manny, can you make a English Warbow from Guava wood? Have you tried? If so let us know how it went we may be hitting you up for staves if it can bend like that in a warbow with good cast!