Sudbury Style Oak Board Bow 57lb @ 26"

[Threy Cameron]

Hey everyone!

Completed that Sudbury style bow I briefly displayed in my last post. Found a remarkable difference between the heat treat by heat gun vs coals, I found the coals did a much better job at penetrating further into the wood. This could be due to a number of factors perhaps my heat gun isn't up to task or the more radiant heat from the coals over 3 hours slowly baked the wood rather than pinpoint hardened areas?

The bow isn't exact to the original merely inspired by its shape and design. The bow finished out at 57lb @ 26" of draw being 68 1/2" long 2" wide at the midlimb tapering to 3/4" nocks, 1" wide in the handle.  The bows currently holding at zero set after 100 shots, I believe this is due to the relatively short draw and heat treating the bows blank after floor tillering rather than after finishing. As I've read elsewhere its easier to prevent set rather than try to correct it.

The bows a great shooter with good early draw tension and a near shockless release, quite a remarkable design and a very aesthetic one too.

[Del the cat]

Nice work, clean, simple, not overstressed, just what you'd want out hunting.
Del

[GlisGlis]

very nice
less is more 

[bentstick54]

Very nicely done.

[RyanY]

Very nice. Reminds me of pictures from the PaleoPlanet Pasadena gatherings way back.

[willie]

Completed that Sudbury style bow I briefly displayed in my last post. Found a remarkable difference between the heat treat by heat gun vs coals, I found the coals did a much better job at penetrating further into the wood. This could be due to a number of factors perhaps my heat gun isn't up to task or the more radiant heat from the coals over 3 hours slowly baked the wood rather than pinpoint hardened areas?

that looked to be a nice red oak board you used. maybe a lot different from whats commonly available in North America. possibly not as dry to begin with?

Beautiful work on that bow

[Hamish]

Textbook example of a Sudbury. Hard to beat those organic shapes, smoothly blending into each other.

[Threy Cameron]

Completed that Sudbury style bow I briefly displayed in my last post. Found a remarkable difference between the heat treat by heat gun vs coals, I found the coals did a much better job at penetrating further into the wood. This could be due to a number of factors perhaps my heat gun isn't up to task or the more radiant heat from the coals over 3 hours slowly baked the wood rather than pinpoint hardened areas?

that looked to be a nice red oak board you used. maybe a lot different from whats commonly available in North America. possibly not as dry to begin with?

Beautiful work on that bow

Thankyou I'm happy with how the bow turned out, quite shocked at how well the heat treatment worked. The bow is a tad plain at the moment but I'm still deciding whether to decorate it with some painting or drawing. Just haven't decided on a kind of marking pen yet though I'm looking at Sakura Pigma Archival Ink pens for fade resistance.

The Red Oak board is American according to the website and the people I talked too at the lumber yard, though apparently there are around 20 some species of Red and White Oaks so it could be an outlier species? We do have a relatively high humidity here in NZ so that could make a difference?

I really did get a great board from the selection they had, it was a 6m long board that was just over 8 inches wide. The grain was nice and straight so I milled the board into 4 boards 2" wide and 70" long, I'm currently working on the third milled board and have one to go. I do have a large offcut section that I might make into kids bows for an upcoming homeschooling event here.

[Threy Cameron]

Textbook example of a Sudbury. Hard to beat those organic shapes, smoothly blending into each other.

Agreed there's something so aesthetic about the flowing curves and contours, not to mention the designs durability and performance.

[Threy Cameron]

Nice work, clean, simple, not overstressed, just what you'd want out hunting.
Del

Thank you man, I had been meaning to make another Sudbury for some time finally got around to getting myself some good timber for the job. My brother really enjoyed shooting it in too.

I am looking into doing some drawings on the belly as decorations though I'm unsure of what ink or pens to acquire to do the job well. I am looking at the Sakura Pigma Archival ink Pens heard good things about them so far.

Appreciate the comment

[willie]

I really did get a great board from the selection they had, it was a 6m long board that was just over 8 inches wide. The grain was nice and straight

I imagine you paid a lot for that board there. It may have been airdried or dried properly by a quality hardwod supplier before import.

 https://www.fpl.fs.usda.gov/documnts/fplgtr/fplgtr282/chapter_13_fpl_gtr282.pdf

We do have a relatively high humidity here in NZ so that could make a difference?

care with handling and drying bow wood counts. air dried will reuptake moisture, especially in humid climates. whereas high temp heat drying can aleviate reuptake some, but can be detremental to the qualities we look for in bow wood. most redoak species are similar and I think good handling trumps the minor differences between species.  white oak and its varities are somewhat different.

[Pat B]

American red oak has taught many wanna be bowyers how to build a wood bow.    The quality of that red oak depends on how it was handled from the stump to the sales counter. At big box stores the quality of the red oak, for bow building varies considerably. Hand picking at the big box stores is more critical.  At specialty lumber stores the quality is better but it is up to you and the manager to pick out the right board.
 I've cut red oak(Quarcus rubra) saplings here on our property and that wood was so much more bow worthy than anything I can buy. Most commercial lumber is cut for the building trade or furniture, not necessarily for bending and recovering like we need for building bows...but, it gives the wanna be bowyer a cheap and easy way to build a bow. Once that process is made comfortable other wood options can be considered.

 They, that is a fine example of a primitive bow, the kind of bow I prefer. 

[sleek]

The fact that you made that nice a bow from red oak tells me you are going to be a fantastic bowyer. Red oak is a trial by fire wood. You try it, then its fire wood. I dont recommend it to anyone its so bad. Somehow you got this beautiful bow from it, and color me impressed. If you can get hickory, id suggest you switch to that, but if you can do that we'll with what you got, heck, stick with it. Darn nice bow from a mislabeled beginner wood.

[Threy Cameron]

I really did get a great board from the selection they had, it was a 6m long board that was just over 8 inches wide. The grain was nice and straight

I imagine you paid a lot for that board there. It may have been airdried or dried properly by a quality hardwod supplier before import.

 https://www.fpl.fs.usda.gov/documnts/fplgtr/fplgtr282/chapter_13_fpl_gtr282.pdf

We do have a relatively high humidity here in NZ so that could make a difference?

care with handling and drying bow wood counts. air dried will reuptake moisture, especially in humid climates. whereas high temp heat drying can aleviate reuptake some, but can be detremental to the qualities we look for in bow wood. most redoak species are similar and I think good handling trumps the minor differences between species.  white oak and its varities are somewhat different.

It certainly wasn't cheap alright but I'm a big believer of getting what you pay for so I'd much rather prefer to get some quality material and pay a bit extra for it. The company I bought it off are a really well known brand here in NZ called BBS timbers they are known for being pricey but having great stock and variety. They do handle their stock very well and seal the ends to prevent splitting, got their site here if you wanted a look: https://bbstimbers.co.nz/timber-species

I've also heard that heat treating helps alleviate the reuptake of moisture too though haven't tested it myself. I usually seal them with up to seven coats of Linseed oil to help in that regard. I am wondering if different oil types would help with moisture better here though I haven't had much issue with Linseed so far.

I'd definitely agree that handling and gentle tillering provides the most chance of success, plus going for a safer design rather than highly stressed. Unless of course you're dealing with Osage or another wood that you know can take the stress. I am wanting to try White Oak sometime soon as I've heard its much more durable than reds with the pores being plugged and able to handle more bow designs.

[Threy Cameron]

American red oak has taught many wanna be bowyers how to build a wood bow.    The quality of that red oak depends on how it was handled from the stump to the sales counter. At big box stores the quality of the red oak, for bow building varies considerably. Hand picking at the big box stores is more critical.  At specialty lumber stores the quality is better but it is up to you and the manager to pick out the right board.
 I've cut red oak(Quarcus rubra) saplings here on our property and that wood was so much more bow worthy than anything I can buy. Most commercial lumber is cut for the building trade or furniture, not necessarily for bending and recovering like we need for building bows...but, it gives the wanna be bowyer a cheap and easy way to build a bow. Once that process is made comfortable other wood options can be considered.

 They, that is a fine example of a primitive bow, the kind of bow I prefer. 

Fully agree that sourcing is 90% of the work, choosing that right board can really make all the difference. I got mine from a specialty lumber yard since the majority of the big stores here only have pine which is trash for pretty much everything except framing. BBS timbers is the companies name, their well known here in NZ for their variety.

It's been an interesting experience working with boards as I usually work from staves though the bow wood quality here with the NZ natives leaves a lot to be desired at times. I am trying to get my hands on some imported exotics growing here, I'm in the process of contacting local arborists to see if I can strike a deal with them.

I appreciate the encouraging comments it means a lot. Cheers