Alright, almost ready to mail but need some advise.  To stain or not to stain...that is the question!  The leather handle and tips look great with the white wood but I feel it's too bright to use as a hunting bow and not sure if clear finish is going to darken it enough to make a difference.  The lightest stain I have is golden oak and it is definately golden.  What do you guyz think?  Should I just leave it as is?
               

I would stian it something a little darker than golden oak. Maybe a chestnut or something.

Got a buddy down the street that makes furniture and stuff.  He may have some more stains to choose from.  Oh darn...another reason to go to Lowes!!

Looks good Bona!

Holt it needs staining, IMHO!

Hi Bona,

I agree that the limbs, where they are bending look nice.  But, most of that bend is in the center of the limbs.  I would get the near handle wood working more.  How much weight do you have to play with?

See the angle your string and limb form?  It is a bit over 90 degrees.  That means that the weight gained in the last 2" or so of the draw is stack weight which really adds nothing to the cast of the bow.

David Holt,

I'd stain it if it's a hunting bow.  If it's not, I'd go with whatever makes you feel good.

Congrats Bona, you sure got one sweet looking bow. But I got to tell you, that you completely missed the weight, it's way to heavy for me... ha ha ha
Very nice job, well done !
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Andy

Well as posted earlier I had a fret come up in my trade bow (not a bad one) I was gonna patch it but after doing some more reading in The Bent Stick i decided to try and stop it in it's tracks like Paul Comstock said could be done. I scraped it a little for about 6" past the fret and shot it quite a bit and I'm pretty sure it will be fine.  

I'm gonna go ahead and ship it. It came in at about 43# at 28" which is about 2# lite for the minimum request on the bow I built. It shoots great and has great cast. it has about 1.25 of string follow and a little positive tiller (about 1/4") so i'm gonna just leave well enough alone.

 She's got a journey ahead of her for sure.

This is actually the first I have completely finished and I am proud of her for sure. Next year I hope to have the skill for one of those beautiful character bows. I planned on one this time but put it on the back burner and went with a little better plan for my skill level LOL

Boo Backed Jatoba 43# @ 28" 62" tip to tip

Heres a pic of the fret



Tip overlays



Handle and leather rest



Here she is at full draw



Braced at about 6.5"



And last but not least a nice group Except for the flyer LOL



Hope she likes her new home! She's gonna be on the way later next week.

Stiks

Nice Kris. I really like to colors and rest... neat!! The tiller looks great to me too!

Thanks Joe,

Means alot coming from a guy like yourself. Now it's time to get after one of them snakey bows. I got some staves with some super good character.  

I know where theres more Osage than you can shake a stick at so you need to plan a road trip.

Stiks
  Great looking bow!  The tiller looks great. Jatoba is great wood  to work with, I have made several boo backed bows like that combination.  Who ever gets this bow will have a shooter for sure.    Great job

Cool bow, Kris and very well tillered. Looks quick!

Alright Pat here are your pictures. How bad is it? Don't hold anything back!



In the lower limb @ the outer 3rd is where I ran into snakey grain. I'm not sure if it is set or that is just the way the grain is.

Tyler, she looks like she's got a hinge about third way up from the fade on the upper limb. Might want to give her about ten good scrapes and bend her about twenty or thirty times.

Both limbs look a little stiff at the fades, Might just give the bottom one about five scrapes.

Lets see what everyone else has to say first.


Pat she is quick for a lighter weight bow

Thanks for all the compliments guys. it was great finishing her up for sure.

Stiks

very nice work guys    whoever gets them is going to be very happy. sticks i like the handle and rest on that bow great color combinations.

Very nice looking bow Stiks!

John, I thought she needed to bend more near the handle too and maybe out more toward the tips. I have about 8 or 9 lbs. to play with. I will take a few more swipes near the handle.

Balding,

The upper limbs needs more towards the handle.  Almost all the bend is in the center third.  The lower needs some at the handle also.  Here they are overlaid on one another.
 

I love it when John does that!

Hey John! Why didn't you do that for mine?!

I added a picture of my bow after working on the near handle areas in the post with the other full draw picture. See if you think it looks any better. Sorry it's blurry.

It is 60# at 28", so I can work on it a little more.