2018 Annual Bow Swap Progress Thread

[Dannon]

Looking good Kenny! Uh.....the bow that is!

[bow loving man]

Nice work Kenny! Gotta love that west wind!!!

[jsweka]

122# @ 40" - I'm a good sized Dude and can handle that.

Arrow gone before you can hit anchor - That will mesh well with my quick Hill Style shooting.

I know you have my address Kenny, so I'm looking forward to seeing it on my door step some evening when I get home from work.  

[kennym]

Thanks guys, it may be my best effort ever on a bow.

I got the flag in there cause it got blocked by the bow last time.

John, that weight is estimated , I need Roy to pull it  on the scale  for me....  

[Roy from Pa]

I can pull 122#.

Nice bow, Kenny

I just love the flag in the background...

[kennym]

That was a lucky shot on the flag !!  

[mwosborn]

Nice progress being made here!

Lonnie - looks like you forgot to include the riser!    

Looks sharp Kenny.

[skeaterbait]

Originally posted by mwosborn:


Lonnie - looks like you forgot to include the riser!      

The limbs are held in place with "The Force"

[Crittergetter]

Very nice guys!!
Outstanding job Kenny!

[C. Johnson]

I really admire your work Kenny.  That bow looks great.

Wouldn't hurt my feelings at all if it were to make it's way here to Colorado....    

[4 point]

jsweka, Curly maple and black glass is gonna be a great combo, can't wait to see finished pics!

Kenny, that's a looker! Bet it shoots good too.

[jsweka]

Starting on my swap bow this past weekend must have been good karma because today I got a great big crate in the mail.

Yes fellas, I am now the proud owner of that dandy that Craig Johnson built!!!!

Craig - You sir, are a true craftsman! Dang, this thing is nice.  Your attention to detail is incredible and I must say you make me feel inferior as a bowyer.

I unboxed it and immediately went outside to test it out.  It sure blows away the straight and mild r/d longbows I make.  I felt like I was back shooting a compound again.  

The only downside is that I am in need of some stiffer spined arrows.  All the arrows I have are spined to shoot out of my straight longbows that are nowhere near centershot, so they flew a bit wonky out of this bow.  I already have a call into Gary Hall for some and I sent him a couple pics of the bow so he can do some fancy fletching to match.  I already know this thing is a speed demon, and I can't wait to get some properly spined arrows to really appreciate it's full performance.

Here's some pics.  

 

 

 

Craig - Thank you so much for this gift.  You really put forth a great effort on this bow and I really appreciate it.

[C. Johnson]

John,

You're very welcome sir!

I cannot express how much it means to me that you are pleased with it!

It was a real pleasure to build and I enjoyed participating in the swap so much.  I'm already looking forward to doing it again next year.

[kennym]

Cool!! I thought you had Roy hangin on the fence for a second.

[Dannon]

Finally got my bandsaw blade today and got the radius cut into my riser block.  I'll do a little fine sanding to smooth it up and get it glued up tomorrow.

[Dannon]

Well I guess I'm not copying the correct code to get a full sized image

Very nice lines on that bow. Johnson...

[BMorv]

Got her cleaned up and the riser glued on.  Shouldn't be much longer...
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[EvilDogBeast]

The Smooth On finally came in today, no more work-stoppages for me!  Immediately went out and laid up the riser.

[YosemiteSam]

My progress for the last couple months...

Made a fatal error on my first attempt.  Wasn't thinking very well & tried to flip the tips AFTER laminating.  The heat separated the laminations.  So I put it aside to chop it down & give it to my son.  It was maple-backed walnut (trapped back).  It will be pretty but too short for my victim to draw back 28".

Changed gears on the design & put in some Perry reflex on a maple-backed maple.  While it was gluing up, I realized that I didn't have enough clamps for such a design.  Went ahead & let it dry & floor tillered it.  Cut some nocks in & pulled it to brace 50-60 times with no issues.  Went to put a string on it & "BAM!" it blew.  Got my hand whacked pretty good.  Post mortem indicates that the section that broke wasn't laminated (needed those clamps).  Back to the drawing board.

Simple, straight glue up this time.  No added reflex on hickory-backed walnut.  Used 2x lumber to sandwich the pieces together with more even compression as it dried. Now it's floor tillered.  Hoping to cut some nocks in next week & put it on the tree.  A trapped hickory backing on walnut makes a nice color contrast.

And if that doesn't work, I'll opt for a rawhide-backed hickory board.

Got permission to hunt some private land for turkey season, which starts in a couple weeks.  Saw droppings all over the place when I was there a few weeks ago.  I'm hoping for a shorter season this year so I can get this bow done & shipped in time.  Project keeps getting longer with these rookie errors.