I decided to start a bow today. I made a hickory board bow about 3 weeks ago and it turned out great except it ended up at 30 pounds :( . I had a locust stave my boy and I cut in the back yard about 2 months ago. I took it down to the heart wood and coated it in deft.Stored in my building. I roughed it out today with the band saw and then with the draw knife. I then went to the scraper and got it about 1/8" positive tiller. Put her on the scale and she hit 30 pounds at 28" :banghead: . My last 10 bows have turned out about 50 lbs. which was about what I was shooting for. I seem to be in a rut. I need to find some kids who need bows :D .I'm going to start a osage bow tomorrow and hope for a 50 lb. bow.Just needed to vent a little. Thanks Don
I hear ya Don, it happens.
Start making some 70# bows..... that should get you close.
In my feeble mind, tiller is way more important than weight. Get the tillering part right early and your weights will come around.
If you make your osage bow with a high crown on the belly instead of flat you will have a lot more wood to tiller your bow with without loosing so much poundage.
Man, sorry to hear it. I bet you can find some wives that need bows too!
I'm with osage, but it'll give you the problem I'm encountering now. When I want to make a 50# bow for sales, it ends up being 80# because I don't want to remove any more wood :p
I like 80# bows though ;)
Nick
If you post it on the pow wow it'll go quick.
Listen to Eric. That's what is great about faceted (Torges style) tillering. Just start out with the sides and tip of the pyramid a bit higher. If the weight is too high, you lower the sides a little, then re-tiller again!