Here is my first bow. After three prior tries with red oak I changed materials and went with a piece of pignut hickory.
I did learn alot with the other tries and from reading here & the bowyers bibles.
This bow is 67" NTN 1 5/8" at the widest point, 4" handle & 3" fades. I recurved the tips on a caul after boiling for 40 min each side and ended up with 2 1/4" curves. Then it sat for a week before final tillering.
Did most of the tillering below 12" draw then slowly worked it to 29" draw. It comes in at 53@28" for now.
I still need to shape the handle, at overlays, align the tips & decide on final finish but I wanted to share this with all that helped.
29" draw on tree
(http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa224/SOLOHUNTER/P1030662.jpg)
(http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa224/SOLOHUNTER/P1030659-1.jpg)
Caul copied from one of 4esttrekkers builds
(http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa224/SOLOHUNTER/P1030643.jpg)
(http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa224/SOLOHUNTER/P1030658-1.jpg)
(http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa224/SOLOHUNTER/P1030664.jpg)
Slight twist in both tips
(http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa224/SOLOHUNTER/P1030667.jpg)
Pin knot that had me worried
(http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa224/SOLOHUNTER/P1030669.jpg)
Loctite & sawdust patch on back/corner of bow
(http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa224/SOLOHUNTER/P1030671.jpg)
Good job, Sport. I like hickory too. It's tough and is easy to work with. :thumbsup:
Bow just after unstringing
(http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa224/SOLOHUNTER/P1030674.jpg)
The amount of shavings from final tillering didn't look like much when swept up but it took a good 4 hours of work to get there.
(http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa224/SOLOHUNTER/P1030676.jpg)
The recurves lost a bit of curve on final tillering day but still have 1 5/8" & 1 3/4" curves, the rested set is at 5/8" on both limbs.
Remeasured 01/24/12. Looks like it settled in at 1.25" of set & the recurves are actually holding still at 2" of recurve with the horn nocks.
I did leave the recurved limb section just a bit thicker by increasing the limb thickness taper before and through a portion of the curves if that makes any sense.
Thanks for looking & helping me along.
I will post the finished product when its finished.
Looks very nice, congrats.
Thanks Red & Roy. Feels good to finally have a shooter.
Thougt about backing it due to the pin knots & some grain run off but I decided to go for it unbacked and left a small mound of wood around the pin knot on the belly to give it extra strength. Also left the curves slightly thicker.
Good Job and great looking bow.
Thanks Kelly. I've been smiling since finishing yesterday.
I think the bow weighs a few more pounds that I originally thought as i forgot to account for the hanging weight of the pelouze scale but thats fine with me.
That is a fine looking bow! And I love the tiller, I bet it shoots great.
great job. you are on your way. tiller looks perfect.
Nice looking bow! But,,,, your shop is too clean :dunno:
Love the lines, and the tiller. Great looking bow there. Post some pictures of the finished bow when you can.
Great Job. Nice work on the tiller.
Thanks guys.
I need some tips on how to properly straighten the tips. I ruined my first bow trying to fix that so with this one I want to make sure I get it right.
I know you can make the groove deeper on one side but what do you guys prefer to touch up tip very slight twist?
Since they are recurved I dont want to use heat.
Hopefully you left your tips wide and will have up to 1/4 inch to deepen the nock groove on the strong side, in addition to thinning the strong side. You might be able to get away with heat and a weight (use a jug of water tied on the tip to bend the tip even while applying heat along the limb). I have done this with r/d osage/bamboo bows with very good success. But I would try thinning the tips and deepening the nock groove(s) appropriately first.
BTW, real nice job on the bow and tillering. Did you cut and dry the hickory yourself?
Bruce, I got the wood in board form from curts custom bows. I have some osage & hackberry drying that I cut in August but I wanted to build right away. Just felt I had to keep going to get a shooter, now I'm hooked...
The total width of the tip without the nock cut outs is now 5/8". What's the minimum width at the string groove should be?
The handle is mahogony & oak. Haven't decided on tips yet, I have horn, antler & some very dense red wood brazilian something or other from a cabinet makers shop.
I love making self bows...fun/rewarding. Outstanding job! Third bow? Awesome in every regard. I use a lot of pignut hickory as it local to S. Wisconsin. Love to see finished pics.
Kris
Looks great! Sounds like you got plenty on the tips yet. I take mine down pretty narrow.
Here's some pics of one I just finished with slight flipped tips.
(http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh24/krischris123004/tinasbow006.jpg)
I just did a little experiment with a long flat piece of wood. Nocks even produced flat bow, nock set low on one side & high on other produced twisted tip to high nock side. Does lowering nock also work with actual bows or is deepening nock groove more effective/preferred?
Here are some finished pics of "Silent Fox." This bow was named before finish and came from an old nickname I saw associated with Nels Grumley. Looking over his bows led me into this direction of trying my hand at building my own.
The woods are pignut hickory, mahogony & oak. The finish consists of 5 finger applied coats of tru-oil & several thin coats of krylon crystal clear satin.
I rasped the tips flat before applying horn nocks that turned out slightly translucent in the light.
The handle was from a tandy leather piece, cut & formed to leave 1/8'' gap before sewing up in cross stitch pattern. I used a small nail to make the holes every 1/4" before lacing it up with artificial waxed sinew. Also applied a few large drops of barge cement under the grip to keep the handle stable. Made a floopy rest out of a 1" strip of leather. Not bad for a first grip.
(http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa224/SOLOHUNTER/P1030807.jpg)
(http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa224/SOLOHUNTER/P1030826.jpg)
(http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa224/SOLOHUNTER/P1030820.jpg)
(http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa224/SOLOHUNTER/P1030816.jpg)
(http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa224/SOLOHUNTER/P1030815.jpg)
(http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa224/SOLOHUNTER/P1030811.jpg)
(http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa224/SOLOHUNTER/P1030810.jpg)
(http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa224/SOLOHUNTER/P1030809.jpg)
(http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa224/SOLOHUNTER/P1030808.jpg)
unbraced profile
(http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa224/SOLOHUNTER/P1030801.jpg)
(http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa224/SOLOHUNTER/P1030828.jpg)
(http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa224/SOLOHUNTER/P1030827.jpg)
(http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa224/SOLOHUNTER/P1030821.jpg)
That's a fine looking bow you got there. Something to be proud of for sure.Good work!
That bow will hunt!!!
Great job!! and super detail work :)
Here's the money shot. My elbow looks a bit high but I wanted the pic of the bow straight up and down. Normally I shoot with the bow canted.
(http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa224/SOLOHUNTER/P1030833-1.jpg)
Excellent....really good looking bow from all perspectives.....
Thanks for sharing
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Glenn
Very, very nice!
:clapper:
(And I agree with the earlier post, your shop is too clean....)
That's one to be proud of, great work.
That is one great looking bow. You should be proud of that one for sure.
That is really nice!
Good looking bow! Nice job.
Thanks everyone, feels great to finally get a shooter.
Nice stuff man!
Great lookin bow and tiller! I bet shes a sweet shooter.
Really nice bow.Like that profile and tiller.
That bow is outstanding!
Awesome! I'm just about done with a hickory board bow that appears to be my first successful self bow. This was my first go with hickory after trying oak and maple. I like working with the hickory the best so far.
Congratulations! I think you nailed it with this one.
Good looking hickory bow!
Looks like she turned out turned out pretty sweet
Beautiful bow, Sporthunter. Nice job.
Thanks for all the positive comments, way more than I expected. Now on to the next project :archer2:
Paul wow nice bow, was gone in oil field in TX for the month no inter net in the sticks, flew back the 29th and checked it out monday night glad you put the pignut to good use it makes a good hunting bow should send that stone tip arrow I sent you right to the pump station on a deer, keep in touch. Good job & God bless & good hunting. Curt
That tiller is just about one of the best I've seen on a recurve. Stunning! Jawge
Beautifull work, well done!!!!!
Bert. :archer2:
Your bow is absolutely stunning, but.......
Your bottom limb looks really weak in the full draw picture.
Eric, you have a good eye. I measured tiller, shot the bow about 70 times, 90% with the bottom limb up. Measured again & the results are the top limb measures at 7 5/16, the bottom 7 7/16 for about 1/8'' difference. Before shooting today the difference was the same. Looks like I'm going to flip the grip, shoot some more, and re-check limbs with gizmo etc. I have weight to spare if needed but I really like how it shoots now so I may not scrape the limbs if the gizmo is pretty close. The bow now has roughly 250 shots taken and shoots quite nicely.
I hate it when Erics right! :biglaugh:
Sometime photos distort things, looked a little more to me. Like I said in another thread, it is almost always the bottom limb that goes weak.
I have cut an inch off a bunch of limbs to keep poundage up when the bottom limb of one of my bows went weak.
With a gizmo tillering job I check the limb tiller one foot down from the string nocks on each limb.
At normal brace what is the distance from string to belly one foot down from the nocks?
On a serious note. I agree with you Eric. The bottom limb weakens first, especially for 3 under shooters. I build a 1/8-1/4 stiff bottom limbs. I dont need to measure to see it usually.
Measurements taken 12" from the string nocks are 4 7/8" on bottom limb & 4 5/8" on top so 1/4" difference overall.
Flip it over and your good to go Sport.
If you shoot three under you are about 1/4 to 3/8" weak on the bottom limb, split 3/8" to 1/2" depending on where it shoots the best.
I shoot split finger. Please clarify. I plan on flipping the bow over, any other recommendations?
Flip it over and shoot it. If it feels good in hand call it a bow and dress it up nice.