almost there.

[Andrew Wesley]

boo backed hickory

glue lines are kinda ugly but they'll do.
pic is at 5" brace height.
still got some flat spots to work out, but other than that she's coming along real nice.
not bad for mail order wood sent clear across the world! really got to hand it to 3 Rivers Archery for shipping all the way to US Army post, Baumholder, Germany!      

[DVSHUNTER]

looking good bud. Don't forget the full draw pics when you are finished.

[Pat B]

Looks good at brace now lets see full draw. On wood bows only full draw gives an accurate depiction of a well tillered bow.

[Andrew Wesley]

she's not quite ready to go a full 28" yet. hopefully by the end of the week i'll have her there.

might be to busy the rest of the week what with the army's rec center asking me to help teach people how to shoot.. even asking me to do a class for the boy scouts on base on how to shoot a bow. don't know if i'm up to it, and i sure don't have the bows for kids to shoot, or the materials to make enough bows and arrows.
we'll see how things go though.
at least i now have permission to shoot my bows on base.  just wish the Germans would let you hunt with one!  

[Pat B]

Andrew there are lots of trad shooters and bow builders in Germany. Might be a few near where you are. They all wish they could hunt too.

[getstonedprimitivebowhunt]

good luck hunting with it !!!  NICE

[red hill]

Nice looking bow, Andrew. Was a kit from 3 Rivers?
I bought the hickory backing and a hickory stave. Working on that one now.
Stan

[Andrew Wesley]

tillered out to 18" of draw.  right limb showing a bit strong and both need work from mid limb out but it's to late to keep working over here so i'll deal with that tomorrow if i have time.



yes it was the r/d hickory boo kit from 3R.
i chose not to do any bending and just make a straight limbed bow. and i split the piece of Ipe that came with it in half to make the tip overlays. I've also roughed in a shallow shelf, and have a nice piece of leather set aside to wrap the handle with.

i really wish i could find some shooters around here, but sadly it seems i'm the only one around that does anything with bows. i had to explain to the guy at the Rec Center the difference between a compound and a long bow, and when i said "fletching" his eyes glazed over.    

[Andrew Wesley]

it needs a little more work but she's at full draw now. it looks like the top limb is stronger, but thats just cause i'm holding it tilted.
took about a 1/2" of set, oh well, not always a bad thing i guess. time to stain her, seal her up, and start work on the next bow!

thanks to everyone for following along and for all the compliments.
i'll post a pic when i get her stained and sealed..

[Dublin Joe]

She's sweet, looks stout.  What are the specs?

[Andrew Wesley]

she ended up 66" ntn and 34# @28"
i was shooting for a 40# bow so i could work on getting my shooting form just right.

debating on leaving her this long and letting it be a bow for my wife, or taking an inch off each end to bring up the weight a bit. not really sure what to do.

[John Scifres]

Your top limb is bending not bending enough at the near handle and casuing the center to take more than its fair share of the load.  Give it 10 scrapes or so at a time and exercise it 30 times.  Repeat until the correction is made.  You'll also have to match the lower limb back up.

Then you can think about shortening it to bring up weight. I would think getting to 40# should be a possile.

[va]

Andrew -

First and foremost - Thank You for serving our country.

Second - Scifres is right about the tweaking he suggests to the tille.

Third - this is your first so you can let "good enough be good enough" with a clear conscience.

Fourth - PVC bows or bamboo garden stake bows for the Boy Scouts

va

[Andrew Wesley]

i'm actually not in the service anymore. i served in the WA State Guard and the USN.
my wife is the reason we're over here in Germany, she's an army mechanic.
i'm just a good ol commercial diver now.

thanks for the tiller advice. I've been looking at the tips so long and hard i haven't paid enough attention to the handle area.

this is actually my 15th or so bow. (hard to keep track cause I've given most away to friends.) even traded one for a brand new $1200 katana.
this was my first boo backing though.. and i really don't feel it was worth the trouble. i may try again but with a different belly wood, maybe cherry, any suggestions for another attempt at boo? i'm probably going to order some Osage boards from 3R just to have something else to work on.