One self bow and I'm hooked

[canopyboy]

Let me quickly set the stage...  Shot a bit as a kid with my grandpa.  Shot a bit in college using his old bows.  Beginning of June decided to dust 'em off and start shooting again since my daughters were showing an interest.  Lasted a couple months of daily shooting, but now both 50+ year old glass recurves are in pieces.  Plan was (still is) to buy a new recurve to hunt with.  But addicted to daily shooting, I couldn't wait to save up the cash.  So I started carving into a piece of quartersawn ash.  About 5 hours later I had a purdy little selfbow without a single drop of glue on it.  Heck, I like it without a grip as well.

Now the tillering isn't perfect.  I started to get a bit of a hinge early on, and just tried to salvage at that point.  So it's basically a kids' bow now, somewhere around 28# at 28".  But it fits the hand well, and is just nice and light and a pleasure to hold.  At this point, it sports a piece of spectra string from a different hobby with some masking tape to bring it up a thickness that will hold an arrow nock.  (Actually, probably a bit too thick.)  It may be a bit big for my youngest still, but considering the bottom is touching the floor, her form isn't too bad!



Given a lousy string, over-spined arrows, poor tillering, and the fact I've never shot a longbow before -- it shoots sweet.  Here is the second end I shot with it, 20 yards.  Honestly, that's not much worse than I was doing with the bows that are now in pieces.



I can only imagine what doing it right must feel like and can't wait to try.  Wow, it'll be hard to get any serious work done on the wife's to-do list now that I'm seeing bows hiding in my lumber rack and in the trees around the house.....

Anyhow, looks like I also found a new forum to pass my lunch hour on.

[walkabout]

pretty cool, welcome to the gang. for anyone new to building i suggest making a tillering gizmo, it sees where the limb bends right and where it doesnt. most important is going slowly and having patience. if you havent seen it already, poorfolkbows. com is a great site for beginners, as well as georges site. lots of great info on both of them from board bows to glass bow builds and even character bows.

[walkabout]

heres a link to how to build a tillering gizmo. i personally havent built the revised one, just a block of wood with a hole in the center to stuff a pencil through, the tool is invaluable for me because it really shows you what you couldnt normally see    http://tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=125;t=001047

[Osagetree]

Cool and your young'n looks like a natural.

Take a couple inches of each tip, you'll gain some draw weight. If you still aint happy,,, take more off until it fits the little lady, reduce the weight if she needs it and you'll have an archer buddy for life!

Selfbow,,, it's the only substance where it only takes one to get you hooked on. No rehab required!

[ber643]

I love it, with that for a first try, you'll be making beauties befor you know it. That isn't all you'll be making everlasting memories with your young'uns. Lots of great info in the bowyers Bench.

BTW, the Full Draw pic of your daughter and first self bow will appear in the Traditional Bows Drawn section of my Personal (non-commercial) web site on Page 21, as soon as I get to it (probably this week end sometime - keep checking)

http://residents.bowhunting.net/bsdunn/tbd21.htm

[canopyboy]

Thanks, and it's cool to see it show up on another site as well Bernie.

Definitely hooked on making self bows now.  Harvested some hickory logs in WV this weekend just for this purpose....

Yeah, lots of good stuff on this site.  I'll be coming back often enough I'm sure.

-Dave

[ber643]

My pleasure, Dave. Hickory makes great bows but be aware it loves to absorb liquid/humidity. A word of caution - so keep it dry and be careful what you finish it with (especially any colorant you use). Polyurethane (spray) works good as a final finish.  

[walkabout]

there are a few threads on here on how to treat hickory staves for seasoning. very good information.

[Killdeer]

That Bernie snarfs up full draw pictures like bonbons.