hickory walnut molly

Ken75 · March 25, 2011, 05:38:00 PM

heres a hickory mollegabet self bow with walnut accents on levers and handle . finished this one this mornin after my midnight shift. 52 inches tip to tip 53 lbs at 27 inches . 12 inch working limbs tapering 1 3/4 inch to 1 1/4 inch

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Ken75 · March 25, 2011, 05:39:00 PM

and the full draw

PEARL DRUMS · March 25, 2011, 06:32:00 PM

I cant keep up with you Ken! You either arent married, or have on hell of an understanding bride! Nice rig.

CaptainJ · March 25, 2011, 08:02:00 PM

I love those things. And you make them so beautifully. Haven't made one yet but you're an inspiration! Have to try that with some of my elm. Are those pretty typical dimensions for a Mollegabet?

CJ

Ken75 · March 25, 2011, 10:19:00 PM

thanks Pearls im married with three wonderful kids. i dont build bows when the kids are home . and my bride is an angel for puttin up with me.

Captain, mostly in the high 50 or low 60 inch range ,i make a few that are short like this one , and i have a friend and mentor that has made them as short as 39 inches. out of elm. its been my experience that 52 and below stacks for a full draw . thanks for the nice comments

SEMO_HUNTER · March 25, 2011, 10:37:00 PM

You are a bow building machine Ken, great job once again. I've never even seen a bow like that before.

hardwaymike · March 26, 2011, 07:45:00 AM

That is a beauty of a bow for sure. I have never seen anything like that. Very interesting. And that is either a very small bow or you are a very big dude! LOL. Either way like SEMO said you are a bow building machine.

NYArrow · March 26, 2011, 07:51:00 AM

Awesome looking bow! I have to ask, what the heck do you do with all the bows you make? Do you belly taper any of your bows? Or do you keep them one thickness throughout? Enlighten me with the usual dimensions you follow.

koops4 · March 26, 2011, 08:43:00 AM

Very nice looking bow. I might have to look into building something like that in the future.

Ken75 · March 26, 2011, 11:52:00 AM

thanks ya'll , mike its a small bow,NYarrow ive built 80 sold 4 and given about 50 or more away. as far as the taper most is done on the limb width and very little on the belly. this one is 1 3/4 taper to 1 1/4 12 inch working limbs not counting fades from handle and into levers and handle is layed out 4 inches with 1 inch fades. levers are 3/8th to 1/4 inch and 5/8th thick

KochNE · March 27, 2011, 07:29:00 PM

Really like this one, too. Holy smokes that's short...I like my handles between 8-10" with a cut-in shelf, though, so that's where most of the length is coming from. Do you shoot off your hand for most/ all of your bows? I haven't really paid attention to that I guess...

Ken75 · March 27, 2011, 10:02:00 PM

Kock i wrap mine with with a long length of leather .make the first pass around where the arrow pass will be then for the rest i twist the leather several times and then wrap back over it the third pass this gives me a slight bump in the wrap to act as the arrow rest. some i cut shelves but only on request.

DLH · March 29, 2011, 05:04:00 PM

Maybe you should start doing build alongs to slow you down a bit

Ken75 · March 29, 2011, 06:29:00 PM

ive considered it i have several to get out this week so probably not for a while

red hill · March 29, 2011, 06:33:00 PM

Yeah, a build-along would be nice. Those are interesting bows.
Stan

DLH · March 29, 2011, 08:03:00 PM

I would like to try one like that but make it longer for a 28 1/2 to 29 in draw. I love the walnut its my favorite wood as well. I have some hickory might try making one similar just longer would make a good turkey bow too. Did you start that from a board? What is your belly thickness?

Ken75 · March 30, 2011, 10:36:00 AM

i will try and get a build along up next week Red

DLH yes just about all mine are from boards that i cut and mill . thickness on this one started around 1/2 inch if you go long start yours at 5/8th . im building one now that is 62 inches and i started 5/8th and then lamed on the lever bellies and the handle.it is always a good idea with hickory to trap the back especially with working limbs this short

kountzer0 · March 31, 2011, 07:39:00 PM

Great looking bow Ken. Again!

I've been working on pyramid style limbs, but I might try a Mollegabet style next. That seems really short for 27" draw without sinew etc. I'm wondering how you do that? So any build-along or layout advice would be very interesting to me at least.

I can probably get the rough layout forms from what you already posted here, but the trap cross section eludes me.

Ken75 · March 31, 2011, 08:23:00 PM

i use 1/4 sawn boards, you would be surprised how short you can build one . trapping i measure 1/2 inch in at the handle fades and let that taper to nothing at the lever fades and remove off to about half the limb thickness. basically just narrow the tension surface

kountzer0 · April 01, 2011, 12:50:00 AM

Thanks for the info! I'd love to find some 1/4 sawn Hickory around here, I loved working with it.

The 2 I'm working on now were from a beatiful 1/4 sawn white oak board, but it cost me roughly 3X what the Hickory board cost.

Kinda wishing i started when i still lived in North Carolina as I'd have much more acces to boards and staves