Hey people,
Thankyou all for your contributions and the great site, very helpful and inspiring
I would very much appreciate some constructive criticism, advice, and opinions on my first bow from some of you to help my on my path.
I am very new to archery, and just as new to making bows. I love the thought of crafting something myself and using it for target shooting and eventually culling the bunny numbers on the property here.
Pictured below is my first bow. I made many mistakes due to basically everything (lack of knowledge, impatience, tool slips, etc.). I ended up with a bow under intended weight which I thought, due to poor tillering, would not last at all. ( I fized the tiller as much as I could without losing too much weight)
I put over 400 shots through this in 2 days. It developed chrysals I noticed after a couple of hundred shots.
I heard some convincing cracking sounds on a few draws after 400+ shots, so this is now mounted on my wall for aesthetic and emotional reasons. I may pull it down for some sub-fulldraw shots.
Details:
Ironbark flatbow, jute webbing (woven string) backing
69" nock to nock
25# @ 28" (I draw around 29)
66" string (is too short, brace about 7.5")
Meranti(?) riser
Ironbark Nock overlays
All of these shots are after a couple of hundred shots went through it.
(http://www.ozbow.net/phpBB3/download/file.php?id=22672)
(http://www.ozbow.net/phpBB3/download/file.php?id=22673)
(http://www.ozbow.net/phpBB3/download/file.php?id=22674)
(http://www.ozbow.net/phpBB3/download/file.php?id=22675)
So how did I do? Any advice for next time?
Cheers,
Pat
For a first bow it looks pretty good. A lot of us wish our first had made it 400 shots. Maybe shooting it that much in,a couple of days helped the crystals come on faster.
Looking at the full draw pic. Looks like you could have made it bend into the fades a little more especially the top limb. Might have helped. May be allusion but the bottom limb looks to be bending more in the middle.
I'm not familiar with using iron wood, slightly wider might have been better.
Wow, good first bow.
X2 as Mac bow said.
Time to build the next one!!
Hey, nice job for a first bow. 400 shots is an accomplishment there!
As for some constructive criticism, It was probably too narrow if it chrysalled at 25# draw weight.
The tiller isn't perfect, the top limb is slightly whip tillered with maybe a little hiunge near the tip.
My advice on the next one, go wider (or use a better wood like bamboo backed ipe), go with a basically pyrimidal shape, and use a tillering gizmo for the tiller.
You're on the right track though, again great job.
Congrats on your first bow. Well done. It looks great.