i like it. like the colors. you planning on staining the boo?

Thanks Eric.
Yeah, I'm going to try a walnut type stain I think..still undecided on the color. I have quite a few shades of brown.
I'm hoping the nodes naturally get darker from the stain..I like the dark node/lighter flats look.

I'm going to try to not get any stain on the osage PL.
I'm thinking it could look kinda cool in between the dark woods.

Yours will be much prettier.
I was just wanting a dark bow for some reason.

Looks real good. Alot better than the ones I made and blew up years ago. With all the great knowledge from the members on this site even Roy

I think the longer tips will be fine. I don't think thats going to add much weight at all. Actually ipe is pretty heavy so it might actually lighten it up ... i don;t know what the density of horn is, but i remember it not feelign that heavy.

Anyway, FWIW I think you'd have been fine going with a normal tip angle/length. The thickness of the boo should not matter really. Especially since the very tips dont bend usually.

Coming along very well. Can't wait to see this finished up.

THANKS GUYS.

I'm hoping to get it on the tree tonight.

This is taking toooooo long

yeah it is  

I believe I'm done with this one.

The ipe seemed to be very weak.
Chyrsals all over the place.
really weak draw weight.
Once I started scraping there seemed to be very, very tiny chalk like veins in the wood. Never noticed them when sanding.
Also seemed to be hard little bumps in the wood.
Almost look like little pimples or something.
Again didn't see them at all till scraping.
Hit the area with sandpaper and they disappear.
Scrape it and then you can see them.

I am more than bummed....

damn that sucks man. that really hurts me to hear. you were extremely invested in that bow.  i wonder what was wrong.  i know what you are talking about with the chalky veins.... but not the pimples.   how did the tillering go? start off ok or downhill from the start?  and most importantly... what next?  you need a bow.  i bet you could turn out a hickory backed hickory real quick and have a good bow while you think up something else.

Yeah the tillering started very well.

Things looked really good.
I was able to get to the short string almost immediately.
the mid limb bend was straightening out only slightly.

Took the scraper to mid limb both sides, just 10 good strokes each.

Put the string on and pulled it by hand back a few inches..maybe 10"

..looked at it..chrysals...I could hardly believe it.
lots of em on both limbs.

Yeah man..the "what next" wheels are turning..lol

Sorry to hear that.  I've been there too.  Have you thought about osage?  I've made two r/d backed bows from osage boards I bought from Pine Hollow and have not had any problems with chrysals.  The stuff is really tough and looks beautiful.

yes I have.
Sure is easier to see your pencil lines on lol
Just pretty pricey..maybe it's worth it?

Got pics?  I've never used ipe but it has a decent reputation so let's figure out what went wrong.

Chrysals at 10" and at the start of tillering are unlikely.  The wood is barely bending I mean.

p.s. you don't have to put tip overlay on until you get done tillering.  Saves that bit of heartache at least when a bow-to-be fails.

No...
I was so bummed when this went down..I didn't take pictures.

I almost had a fire last night lol.

I'm thinking I may have had too thin of boo and too thin of ipe.
The boo was about as thin as possible for the tapered width.
Most pics I've seen have much more boo showing on the sides.

The ipe was 5/16".
When I tried putting the 3/8" pc into the jig I was fearful of it breaking. Maybe it wouldn't have but It looked/felt pretty crazy.

Couple that with what seemed to be some strange structures in the ipe and may as well go home..lol

I've heard the lighter ipe can be more fragile than the dark.
I really don't know what kind I had..never touched the stuff before.
You can see in the pic below that the ipe was lighter in color than the american walnut slat that was on the rack.


I'm honestly wondering if I didn't actually get ipe.
Not blaming the guy that sent it to me at all.
But I have read about a few different species being grouped together and shipped over as "Ipe" for the construction industry.
Kinda like getting a "spf" 2x4..spruce, pine or fir....

now just looking at the above pic..

I must've been blind..but you can almost see the whitish veins in the ipe. And the little "spots".
I had never seen the wood before in my life.
I just assumed that ipe looked like this..
At least now I know what to look for.

I completely understand the chrysals showed up early.
I was dumbfounded.

I'm kinda over it.
I truly think that pc of ipe just wasn't for bows..

thanks for the tip VB

zradix im feeling your pain all the way here over the water hope its not going to get you down too long and that you bounce back stronger for the experience.
good luck with your next bow and remember third time lucky so all will turn out rosy on the next go
look forward to seeing what you will be up to next

Just get some of that yellar wood, John:)

ya... just make sure you got alot of time on your hands first!