Author Topic: Bergahorn fun project  (Read 5367 times)

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Offline leonwood

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Bergahorn fun project
« on: January 25, 2020, 01:50:38 pm »
Two summers ago a friend of mine bought some "bergahorn" staves from Matthias Wiltschko on a trip to Austria. He gave me one to try, but I had no idea what it was. I did some research and found it is a soft maple (acer pseudoplatanus)
Apparantly they use the stuff in Germany to make bows but I couldn't find much examples.
After reading the bowyers bible series a few years ago I always wanted to try one of the "andaman/holmegaard" bows they talk about in one of the volumes and I figured the extreme light soft maple would be the perfect stave to experiment.
For the people who did not read the bowyers bible, this design is a combination of a stretched out extra wide paddle bow and a mollegabet.
I sketched a rough design on the stave and started the profile. This bergahorn is so soft you go throug it with a sharp drawknife like butter!
After floortillering I noticed the inner limbs got real thin at the edges. I wanted to keep the width there so started hollowing out to reduce weight but keep the width.
Finished the tiller at 48@28 and started shoooting it in. The mass of this big bow is extremely low! It looks reallly big but is so light in the hand. It shoots real smooth too, low mass works well for low handshock I guess.
Added some stain and serving wrap to dress the white wood up a bit.
Not a common style but this bow was a lot of fun to make!


Wood: acer pseudoplatanus
Draw weight: 48@28
Length: 66"
Max width: 3"
String: 6 strand 8125g


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Offline bradsmith2010

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Re: Bergahorn fun project
« Reply #1 on: January 25, 2020, 02:22:19 pm »
Congrats )P(

Offline Hawkdancer

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Re: Bergahorn fun project
« Reply #2 on: January 25, 2020, 04:12:38 pm »
Nice bow!  Hope it keeps shooting well!
Hawkdancer
Life is far too serious to be taken that way!
Jerry

Offline Pat B

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Re: Bergahorn fun project
« Reply #3 on: January 25, 2020, 04:30:49 pm »
Sexy!   8)
Make the most of all that comes and the least of all that goes!    Pat Brennan  Brevard, NC

Offline Will B

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Re: Bergahorn fun project
« Reply #4 on: January 25, 2020, 05:06:23 pm »
Great looking bow!

Offline Hamish

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Re: Bergahorn fun project
« Reply #5 on: January 25, 2020, 05:56:31 pm »
I love the attention to detail you have done on this bow. Very Professional. Awesome.

Offline RyanY

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Re: Bergahorn fun project
« Reply #6 on: January 25, 2020, 06:25:26 pm »
Beautiful! Reminds me of a maple bow I made years ago.

Offline PaSteve

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Re: Bergahorn fun project
« Reply #7 on: January 25, 2020, 06:26:24 pm »
Your bows are always quite impressive. Great job on this one, too.
"It seems so much more obvious with bows than with other matters, that we are the guardians of the prize we seek." Dean Torges

Offline bjrogg

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Re: Bergahorn fun project
« Reply #8 on: January 25, 2020, 08:27:55 pm »
Nice contrast all around. Leon. From the wide limbs to the narrow levers. The white wood and the dark outers. And as always beautiful workmanship.
Bjrogg
A hot cup of coffee and a beautiful sunrise

bownarra

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Re: Bergahorn fun project
« Reply #9 on: January 26, 2020, 01:10:37 am »
Acer  psuedoplantus is sycamore :)
Great looking bow and well executed in the tiller department :) That will shoot beautifully.

Offline sieddy

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Re: Bergahorn fun project
« Reply #10 on: January 26, 2020, 01:32:15 am »
Jeez dude that's amazing!  :)
"No man ever broke his bow but another man found a use for the string" Irish proverb

Offline Lehtis

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Re: Bergahorn fun project
« Reply #11 on: January 26, 2020, 03:42:33 am »
Cool!

Offline George Tsoukalas

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Re: Bergahorn fun project
« Reply #12 on: January 26, 2020, 07:43:47 am »
Beautiful! Jawge
Set Happens!
If you ain't breakin' you ain't makin!

Offline SLIMBOB

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Re: Bergahorn fun project
« Reply #13 on: January 26, 2020, 07:51:41 am »
Sweet!  Nicely done sir.
Liberty, In God We Trust, E Pluribus Unum.  Distinctly American Values.

Offline leonwood

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Re: Bergahorn fun project
« Reply #14 on: January 26, 2020, 10:39:11 am »
Thanks for the compliments! And thanks bownarra! Sycamore makes sense now that you mention it! Crazy light stuff but shoots snappy. Shoots better with my lighter arrows,