Winter project #2

[Bert Frelink]

Thanks Pat,
That's what I figured, I build a Hickory bow one time on the Oregon coast came out at about 56"-57# after 6 months in Alberta it was well over 65#.
Great work, keep it going, looking forward to seeing the finished product.
Take care.
Bert.

[coaster500]

Professor Pat again great build along....  living on the west coast this is on my want to do list. How long do you suppose you would have to make one for a 27" draw ? I know that the design was made for very short draws but I am curious?

[Pat B]

Kip, I don't know if I will be able to get this one to 26" like I want but I'm gonna try. This is the first of this design I've built. 54" would be twice your draw. Maybe 50" or slightly less but that is strictly a guess.

[mwosborn]

Thanks for sharing Pat.  I saved all my deer leg tendons this year so I can give this a try.

[Pat B]

Just passing it on, Mitch!
 Good luck on your attempt.

[WestTexan]

Cool as heck Pat...never seen it done but I can see that workin great on a nice Mesquite bow. I plan on cuttin a bunch here in a couple months.

[Pat B]

Well here I am again with this little bow. Her sinew has been drying since Feb. 15. I took her off her form a few days ago and began retillering her after her sinew cured. After removing wood a few scrapes at a time I got to the point where she was pulling over 50#@20". A few days later and a few more scrapes I have her pulled to 55#@24", still a bit strong. I still need to correct the tiller some too so that will get the weight down some more. I took her out and put 12 shots through her. She is quite fast! With the wide arrow pass I wasn't getting real good arrow flight with the parallel poplare I was shooting. Proper tapered(either natural or manufactured) arrows will make a difference.
 Anyway here she is. The 1st pic id of her braced at about 5". The next she is pulled to 22" and the last 2 pics are at 24" showing both sides of the bow.
After looking at these 24" draw pics the string angle at the tips shows I should be able to get another inch or two of draw out of her. I'd love it if she would pull 26" and still hold together.

[burnt]

I like the reflex you put in your shortie. I was a little intimidated to put heat to mine do to the shortage of yew in these parts. I believe mine came from keenan by way of Stiks. Anyway nice looking stick.

[Pat B]

Keenan gave me this piece last year at the Tenn. Classic. I think that is where Kris got his too. With these short bows you have to flip the tips to get a longer draw or the string will pull off the end or the stacking gets bad. I wish I had flipped these a little more than I did.
 Not much yew here in the mountains of NC. Have to import it from Oregon.

[razorback]

Nice looking bow again Pat.
Where on that bow will you scrap from to improve the tiller and get your extra length. Tiller looks good in those photos so will you just scrape full length or pick a specific area to get what you need. Always looking to learn from those with more experience than me.

[Pat B]

Once the tiller looks good on any bow I just make long scrapes to reduce the weight. The right limb in the bottom pic looks a bit stiff about mid limb so I'll start there probably. I will really just have to wait and see as I go. I have to reduce the weight a bit anyway.

[burnt]

Maybe you could make a wedge of antler or horn for to the tips to increase the angle at the nock.

[Pat B]

I was in the basement exercising her on the tiller tree to see where I could remove wood to get her weight down a bit when...








 I will remove the sinew(save for another project)and do a post mortum when I get over the shock. I have to say I'm not surprised, disappointed yes but not surprised. I guess I was trying to get too much pull for her short length. As you can see, not even 2 thick layers of back sinew will hold a bow together if it is overstressed.

[Keenan]

Bummer Pat. I feel your pain. You had that baby looking really good. As you said she was definitely a shorty. On a good note I know where you can get some more  

[kennym]

Ouch, sorry to see that Pat!!

[DVSHUNTER]

Bummer pat. Sorry for your loss.

[Pat B]

After thinking about it and studying the break I came to the conclusion that she broke in tension, ripping the sinew backing as she blew. I made sure I use plenty of sinew across the handle area and out the fades and on to the limbs because I know that is a highly stressed area. What I didn't know is I should not have left the handle area thick and I shouldn't have narrowed into the handle. The thick and stiffer handle caused the limb to hinge and break 3 1/2" from the handle on the bottom limb, right on the crown of the back.
 At least I've learned what not to do next time. I'm gonna soak the sinew off and save it for the next bow. I've already been thinking about it. Some of the sinew in this bow came from "Elkie" after she rejected it. She is a osage static recurve I made to go elk hunting. And I think I'll make my first atlatl from the good limb. Nothing goes to waste in primitive archery. d;^)

[burnt]

ouch. that sound can haunt a feller. I think your taking it better than I would.

[Wolftrail]

I like to look at old posts.  Looks like it broke where it was not bending in the mid area.  The fades were bending.

[Carson81]

That is a bummer Pat. Lots of work right there.
I might have nothing to do with it, but in my mind, it seems like it would be hard to get the sinew to make a good strong bond to the wood, where it has to run up and over the hold down piece that is running cross wise.