Archery pictures

Ratdog68

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Otay, you asked for it. Follow this link for my build of an American Flat Bow (longbow) that I detailed on Archery Talk a few years back. It's a long thread, pic heavy, and explains why each step shown is done. http://www.archerytalk.com/vb/showthread.php?t=894382&highlight=American+Flat+Bow

Osage Orange, backed with bamboo, Bacote for a riser, Dacron B-50 three color Flemish Twist string, tillered out to 63lbs @ 28" of draw. In all, it took about 60 hrs. to make. After warming the limbs (shooting it for half an hour), I chrono'd my full length GoldTip carbon 5575 with 3 feather fletchings of 4" length and a 125 gr. field point at 196 fps. The bow weighs something in the neighborhood of... 27oz.

Some pix of the finished product.

Finished002.jpg

Finished004.jpg

Finished005.jpg

Finished006.jpg

Finished007.jpg
 

Ratdog68

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Beautiful longbow! I've always wanted to try building one.

Thank you... I'm really looking forward to getting an opportunity to do another build. I've got the stave prepped and rough cut from a horizontal branch I cut of Vine Maple. It then went into a form (clamped) and dried for a year. It was roughed out the day after I'd cut the limb out in the woods.

Took that one down on the back... following the same growth ring the full length of the bow... should be a nice stable/solid piece of wood.

We went here (east side of the Cascade Range, north of I-90.

GotWood001.jpg


Saw this ol' gal out and about. This is a Columbia Blacktail... they're NOT a big species.

Doe003.jpg


The nearest hunk is my stave.

Staves.jpg


Now, cutting a horizontally laying branch is important. As soon as you cut it, it begins to "relax" and has its own ready made "reflex" (curve) since the weight is no longer being supported, it curls. That inside radius of that curve is what you want to become the back of your bow. This way... it'll WANT to return to that reflexed curve, giving you a more snappy bow, instead of taking a set and not applying power to the arrow all the way until it leaves the string. Time to lay out the rough cuts on the band saw.

MyStave.jpg


Here, I'm making the rough cut to define one of the sides of the bow, you can see the reflex of the limb curling UPward... that will be the "back" of the bow.

WidthCut001.jpg
 

Ratdog68

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This is laying out the belly cut profile after the side cuts are made. Lay your template down, trace it out with a pencil and back to the band saw.

BellyCutLayout001.jpg


Here, I'm making the belly cut. Where the blade is riding is the side of the bow which will face you when drawn. The bow's "back" is nearest the camera. Again... you can see that natural reflex of the wood as it relaxes.

BellyCut004.jpg


Cutting down the other end of the stave, this time the "belly" of the bow is on the right side of the blade from your view.

BellyCut001.jpg


Now, it's draw knife time, taking off the bark and finding my growth ring I'll follow the length of the stave.

BackDecrown001.jpg


Kind of hard to make it out... but the center circle of growth ring... that's the one I'm following. All the remaining layers above it are carefully removed with the draw knife.

BackDecrown002.jpg
 
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Ratdog68

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So... what you end up with is this. A stave rough cut to the shape of a longbow. The riser is the bottom center, and the natural reflex of the stave pulls the ends away from the string... giving you more power from the strung bow as it's forced back the other direction... arcing against the natural pull of the wood. You end up with a faster arrow since power is applied all the way through until it leaves the string.

GotReflex001.jpg


The final step in the stave prep process is to clamp it to the form to dry.

GotReflex002.jpg


That's how you make a stave from a branch. The previous bow making link details how you take that stave and create the actual bow.
 

Ratdog68

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Ratdog68

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Big hog.
 

Colby

Central Texas
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Yeah he was pretty big... Killed him at 25 yards with my crossbow. May sound easy but that was not an easy stalk! It took around 30 minutes to shoot this hog and we spotted him only 150 yards away. One shot and he ran 30 yards. Stopped again and I put the finish on him. I was pretty happy that night... Then my picture gets messed up! Lol
 

Ratdog68

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LOL I figured you were just avoiding being harassed for not smiling. I'm always amazed at how efficient archery equipment is at killing.
 

sjb67

Mineral Wells, Texas
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image.jpg RD that is really some beautiful work. I love looking at people's craftsmanship. I have shot a few longbows, never owned one. Currently my favorite is a Mathews Drenalin.
 

Ratdog68

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Thanks... traditional... it's a whole nudder level of archery. It's more about having yourself tuned, rather than the bow.
 

Ratdog68

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Yikes !!!

I know that sick feeling in the gut. About the time I was finishing my longbow.... my buddy asked me to test shoot an identical one he'd been working on. His elbow prohibited him from shooting anything heavy. About the third shot... one limb grenaded. I was just SICK. He looked at me and said: "Guess I should've known better than to've done that last bit of work on that limb while drinking wine." He knew it had a "hinge" going on, and hadn't worked that hinge out of it yet. Thankfully, it was near the tip of the bow. He reworked the length, narrowed the limbs, shaved a little thickness from it, and the bow lives just fine now... just a lighter pull/shorter bow than intended.
 
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