Second Attempt At A Flat Bow

[TenkaraGrasshopper]

Hey everyone,

I am currently in the process of attempting a second flat bow from red oak. Everything was going great until last night. After a long frustrating day at work, I came home and figured working on the bow would be a great way to relax.

Unfortunately, my stress from work was reflected in my work. I got impatient when I started working on the handle of the bow. Rather than using a fine rasp to shape the handle I used a coping saw to cut excess would off to speed up the shaping process. Big Mistake on my part.

My question to you guys is, With the handle no longer having clean even sides do I continue to use the bow as an experiment in building a bow? Or do I stop and get a new stave and start fresh. When I designed the bow I want with the idea of not having the handle bend.

Or, do I continue with the rest of the building process and finish the bow? If I do this I know I will keep the coping saw out of my hands. With a non-bending handle does this cause any major issues.

Like I said this is my second bow as the first exploded at the joint of the top limb and the handle due to over zealous transitioning from the grip to the upper limb.

Thanks everyone. And if you ever visit Denver let me know.

[George Tsoukalas]

Can you post a photo? Jawge

[Eric Krewson]

I decided to make a bow out of this rough piece of narrow wood just to see if I could. It is bamboo backed for safety.



There wasn't enough wood for the handle so I glued in a bunch of pieces.



The finished handle;



Finished bow;



The bow showed up in an archery shop in Chattanooga about ten years after I made it. A guy sent me a picture of it and wanted to know about it.



Long post to say; glue in some pieces to fill out your handle.

[YosemiteSam]

Nice work, Eric Krewson.