Another longbow build-along...

[red]

Nicely detailed description of the work. Sounds meticulous for sure (hopefully not tedious). About what will the finished brace height be?

[smj]

red said:

Nicely detailed description of the work. Sounds meticulous for sure (hopefully not tedious). About what will the finished brace height be?

Probably the biggest error folks make, on those first 10 bows or so, is trying to rush the tillering of the bow. You take off wood, but it don't show up right away, so you take off some more. Then you go shoot 100 arrows and nothing looks right anymore! I recommend to only work for a few adjustments, then go shoot and have some fun. Then try again the next day. It takes time and I have not yet found any way to rush the job.

The finished brace height should be set in this way with one of my bows: Start with a low brace, twist the string a few turns and re-string the bow. Shoot it, does it still eat your wrist? If so, unstring the bow and add a couple twists and then shoot it again. Does it still eat your wrist? If so... You get the idea! However, that said, you will probably end up with a brace at somewhere between 6 and about 6.5 inches. I usually shoot mine at around a 5 to 5.5 inch brace, just enough to clear the fletching from the rest, but have a really good guard on my wrist! I like the lower brace height as it is less stress on the bow when strung and at rest - also it is a longer power stroke for delivering arrows. But it can be a big pain on the wrist and thumb of your bow hand!

By the way, I shot your bow today. Not at full draw, about a 20 inch draw, maybe. It does seem to throw an arrow OK! A few things did shift in the tiller adjustments - I will fine tune some more tomorrow!

[smj]

Here is a little show of using the tillering block -

Starts with a flat limb -


Now we remove some wood from this stiff spot, flex the limb and see if the flex has changed -


Not enough yet, lets try it again and recheck the limb -


Over all, the limb now looks like this -


This limb is still stiff up near the grip block though, so I will need to deal with that yet.

[red]

Looking good. I've been shooting the JD Berry quite a bit. Smooth shooter, but a tad too light for hunting I think. This bow should be about perfect. I am thinking about some Easton Classics in 1916, three 5 inch shield cut feathers and 150 grain Silver Flames.

[smj]

Sounds like a fantastic combination! Although I'd need to check the arrow size a bit closer to be sure... By the way, I am trying to settle your bow out a bit. I've shot a few rounds through it, adjusted the tiller, and having it resting while some new additions dry... Tomorrow afternoon I will shape the grip very close to final form, touch up the limbs and smooth a few spots, and shoot a few more rounds through it. I'd like to shoot another 100 rounds or so before putting a finish on it.

By the way... You had originally said that an ipe bow would be great... I just happen to have one approaching the same work point as the osage bow... I will, if you'd like, see how the draw weight turns out on both bows, shoot them through a chrono, post the results and give you your pick of which one to send you... If you'd like...

[red]

Sounds like things are coming along very well. I think I originally said Ipe because it was what you had on hand and I was/am grateful that you were taking the time to build me a bow. I am going to have a hard time passing on this Osage bow...it looks like it is going to be a real beauty.

[smj]

It will be! My only concern with this bow is what the final draw weight will be. I find osage a tough wood to work with. It does things that other woods just don't do on me! The short of it is that I am not sure just where the draw weight will end up yet, I should know later this week though and will inform you of where we are at. Right now it is right at 50 lbs @ 28 inches. Also, this bow will probably not draw over 28 inches for draw length either. This is based on the numbers you gave me earlier for draw length. I've shortened the limbs to give you the quickest bow I can with these materials - around 65 inches nock to nock - but this does limit hard the amount of draw it will take. I mention this not in any negative way, rather, just to make sure we are on the same page! (Plus I always worry over each bow through this phase of the development!)

This bow will be very specifically your bow! I am also setting the tiller for one finger over the arrow, and two fingers under the arrow.

[red]

Sounds to me as if you have all the specs about perfect. I should be drawing right on 27 inches. I have been shooting split finger and find it very comfortable. I certainly appreciate all your TLC on the project...way more than I expected (of course I am an admitted newbie to the whole traditional realm...I am finding it extremely rewarding when an arrows goes where I want it from a longbow )

[red]

BTW: I have no plans of ever trading or selling this bow , so if you could sign it as the maker and "Handcrafted for Red", or something along those lines before you put the final finish on it I'd be honored!!! I know it will be a conversation piece in my den and in the field.

[smj]

We'll see what I can come up with to tag on the bow... Honest! It is cool of you to ask... you are the first to do so!

So, upon shooting it, I found the roughed out shape of the grip to be intolerable! Hence, I decided that we should put a little more shape in it and get things formed better!

The first thing to do was to simply add some more wood! I felt as though the grip was going to feel a bit thin under the palm, so I added a bit... And while adding, one might as well think about how they might like the result to look... Here's what I did -

First, add the wood:


As you might well guess, where you put those little wood bits and how thick you leave them all comes in to play when adding to the existing material. You want to have a clear vision in the ole mind of how this is going to work out prior to slapping glue down and pressing it all together.

Then to the band saw to trim a bit:


Then to the sander to take it down some:


Now, if we wipe this with a bit of alcohol, you can get a better idea of how the grain will appear once finished - although it is still roughed out and not as smooth as it will be :

Belly side -


Note that the upper bit of redheart wood will be shaped a bit yet to roughly match the lower form of the redheart/cocobola combination on the grip.

And the Back, too -


I don't pattern grips other than a very rough outline that I get with the bamboo pattern when I first make of the lamination that will become the bow. Rather, I go for what feels comfortable in the hand, and looks good on the bow! Each one is different and unique!