Author Topic: Bamboo-black locust takedown recurve  (Read 6424 times)

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Offline BoltBows

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Bamboo-black locust takedown recurve
« on: March 01, 2021, 07:44:42 am »
What's up primitive archers,  Let me share some of my recent work; a bamboo backed black locust bow.
This specific one was made for a customer who mainly does target archery. I couldn't be happier when he told me his very first shot was a straight ten!
After much experimentation with bamboo backed locust I finally came to this design I call 'The Kronos'.  When I was designing the bow I really wanted to push what I could do. Needless to say I wanted the bow to perform well (high arrow speed, smooth draw, little shock in the hand), but I also wanted to put a lot of effort in the aesthetics. Clean fluent lines, sanded to perfection and a nice natural finish. Fiberglass mentality? Maybe! I wanted to make a primitive bow that doesn't look primitive.
Now the black locust - bamboo combo is perhaps not the most obvious choice for such a design. And as many here know, black locust is relatively low in compression elasticity. Many ''experiments'' ended as firewood because the locust began to fret. Although that caused some headache, the locust told me exactly how to tiller this design and what the limits were. For example 8'' of reflex was just too much for the locust and it showed light fretting over the entire length of the limbs somewhere halfway through tillering. I could've designed the whole bow wider, but I didn't want to sacrifice the looks.

Anyways, here is the result!
- NTN length:              67''
- Draw weight:            46lbs
- Draw length:            28'' from the belly of the grip (about 29,5'' from the back)
- String(s):                 12 strand B55 & 10 strand Spectra 652
- Max width:               42mm
- Stain:                      Osage/ammonia
- Finish:                     Tung oil & beeswax/carnauba wax
- Arrows:                    5/16 pine shafts, 100gn points, 4'' feathers.








Cheers,
Jaap
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Offline RyanY

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Re: Bamboo-black locust takedown recurve
« Reply #1 on: March 01, 2021, 08:30:21 am »
Good to see your work on here. Don’t see many working recurves these days. Looks flawless!

Offline Pappy

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Re: Bamboo-black locust takedown recurve
« Reply #2 on: March 01, 2021, 08:55:49 am »
Beautiful bow, very nice in all aspects. :)
 Pappy
Clarksville,Tennessee
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Offline Yooper Bowyer

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Re: Bamboo-black locust takedown recurve
« Reply #3 on: March 01, 2021, 09:28:17 am »
It seems you made exactly what you wanted, the tiller and craftsmanship are amazing!

Offline GlisGlis

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Re: Bamboo-black locust takedown recurve
« Reply #4 on: March 01, 2021, 11:08:12 am »
Oustanding bow !!
yes, primitive is not an adjective that jumps in my mind looking at it

Offline Flntknp17

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Re: Bamboo-black locust takedown recurve
« Reply #5 on: March 01, 2021, 11:14:36 am »
This is probably the coolest looking bow I've seen posted here!  VERY nice!

Matt

Offline scp

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Re: Bamboo-black locust takedown recurve
« Reply #6 on: March 01, 2021, 11:53:27 am »
Fantastic work. Almost too polished for my taste. I guess for target shooting accuracy matters more than speed. But I sure like to know the speed. There is a challenge going on here.

As I am making some bamboo backed bows now, I would love to know how the recurve tips were glued up. Thanks.

Offline Kidder

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Re: Bamboo-black locust takedown recurve
« Reply #7 on: March 01, 2021, 12:08:35 pm »
Unreal! This is a bow that I’m going to go back to over and over again I’m sure, and if I get courageous enough I might someday try to emulate aspects of it. This is just plain “wow”.

Offline eastcreekarchery

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Re: Bamboo-black locust takedown recurve
« Reply #8 on: March 01, 2021, 02:29:36 pm »
Does the bamboo backing help relieve pressure on the black locust belly?

Offline Zugul

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Re: Bamboo-black locust takedown recurve
« Reply #9 on: March 01, 2021, 02:50:28 pm »
absolutely astonishing work, I'm so jealous of your skill... Hope I'll get there someday!

Offline organic_archer

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Re: Bamboo-black locust takedown recurve
« Reply #10 on: March 01, 2021, 03:00:01 pm »
Wow! Gorgeous weapon. The extra attention to detail is always worth it!
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Hand-Crafted Longbows & Wooden Arrows

Offline Mo_coon-catcher

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Re: Bamboo-black locust takedown recurve
« Reply #11 on: March 01, 2021, 04:49:11 pm »
Fantastic looking bow!! I love it! It has a great shape to it, I bet it shoots very nicely. I’m gonna have to try that combo sometime.

Kyle

Offline PaSteve

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Re: Bamboo-black locust takedown recurve
« Reply #12 on: March 01, 2021, 06:40:14 pm »
Flawless x 2. First words in my mind, "simply gorgeous"!!
"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 simk

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Re: Bamboo-black locust takedown recurve
« Reply #13 on: March 02, 2021, 03:02:38 am »
Outstanding in all aspects! It will make the FG-Boys' eyes wet for sure  ;D Definitly looks like I have to get some boo for future backings instead of ash  ;) Is the handle glued on? How about durability of these bows, especially kepping reflex and drawweight over the time?
Lookalike I now also have THE suggestion to my wife for my next birthday  (-S
cheers
« Last Edit: March 02, 2021, 05:41:40 am by simk »
--- the queen rules ----

Offline BoltBows

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Re: Bamboo-black locust takedown recurve
« Reply #14 on: March 02, 2021, 07:12:01 am »
Thank you guys for your nice comments, I appreciate it!

Fantastic work. Almost too polished for my taste. I guess for target shooting accuracy matters more than speed. But I sure like to know the speed. There is a challenge going on here.

As I am making some bamboo backed bows now, I would love to know how the recurve tips were glued up. Thanks.


I've got something a little less polished coming up I'll post in a while, curious to see what you think of that one  :D
I didn't measure the speed of this bow, but previous bows of this design shot around 180fps.
I bent the wood and bamboo separately in shape first, then glued them with epoxy. I kept the wood wide to prevent misaligned curves. The bamboo was just a tad wider than the final width. Hope that helps!

Does the bamboo backing help relieve pressure on the black locust belly?
No on the contrary. The bamboo almost dictates the tiller so it's important to keep it thin and trapped. Very small tiller adjustments will show instantly on brace height. Small mistakes can easily be ''fatal'' so it's quite a delicate matter tillering these bows! I'm assuming a flat belly would make it a lot easier, but that's not what I live for lol.

Outstanding in all aspects! It will make the FG-Boys' eyes wet for sure  ;D Definitly looks like I have to get some boo for future backings instead of ash  ;) Is the handle glued on? How about durability of these bows, especially kepping reflex and drawweight over the time?
Lookalike I now also have THE suggestion to my wife for my next birthday  (-S
cheers

Thanks a lot! Yes the handle is glued on. About durability: The thing with this design is that it's either spot on, or it's rubbish. If the tiller is not exactly right it will be clear to see and most of the time also shows in the fretting of the BL. Also the bow returns fully to it's original unstrung profile after shooting, so I think that alone is a good indicator of durability. I've made a shorter version about a year ago that I've shot at least 1000 arrows through. It takes about 1cm set right after shooting and returns to half that after a while. So I'm happy with that  ;D

Haha I hope your next birthday will be fulfilling then  ;)

Cheers everyone,
Jaap
Hit me up & see more:
Facebook.com/boltbows
Insta: @BoltBows