Mulberry branch bow

[takefive]

I took a cracked branch down from my backyard mulberry tree last summer, split it and have had it drying since then.  Only about 3 feet of it was reasonably straight so I wound up Z splicing the halves.  I knew that in the off chance that it became a bow, it would be a very light one 'cuz there wasn't much wood there to work with.  So I was really happy to hear that my daughter really liked the way it looked when she saw me working on it.  She's 5'2" and petite, so I'm shooting for about 25# at her short draw.  Tiller is pretty even now and I had it bending to 20" on my tree.  I'm going to back it with cherry bark before I finish tillering it.  It's 63 1/2" NTN and 1 1/2" wide at the fades.  The string tracks a bit to one side (that's where the arrow pass is going to be) but I was surprised it was that close considering how crooked the limbs are.  Yeah, I have to find some bigger bow wood or break down and buy a stave one of these days.    

[soy]

That is gonna look cool  

[KellyG]

Awesome!

[Trapper Rob]

Looks like your daughter is going to have a sweet bow.

[LittleBen]

it's a fairly lightweight bow so frankly it probably wont matter, btu I'd say on a hunting weight bow, you'd probably want to smooth those fade into the limbs a little bit more progressively to prevent hinging right out of the fades.

[takefive]

Thanks much guys, this has been a fun bow to work on.  Kinda funny, too, that the most primitive bow I've made is the one that my very modern daughter likes the best.  She really likes the fact that it came from a tree in our yard.  I glued the bark on yesterday and will post a picture after I steel wool it.  The fades do look pretty blocky in the picture Ben, but the transition is actually smoother than it looks.  The handle is only 8" so I made the fades a bit shorter than usual, about 1 3/4".  I think I have enough room to taper them a little more, though.  I'll post a pic of that too, and appreciate your feedback.    

[LittleBen]

Hey if it shoots well, stick with it man. I really like the contrast between the sapwood and heartwood.

[takefive]

Well, the bark is about as steel wooled as it's going to get.  Pretty cool stuff.  I like that narrow strip of heartwood, too, Ben.  I'm going to look for a full sized mulberry stave one of these days.