Latest Longbow

Joe(thebow)M · Latest Longbow

I finished up this maple backed birch longbow last night
and tested it this morning once it reached 40 degrees
outside.

This one has an Ash hand palm with felt for the arrow to
ride across. I formed the hand palm riser to fit me and I'm
pretty happy with it.

71" overall
68" string
#39 @ 28"

Click to see full size image

LongJohn

Nice job!

Good looking bow, i like to see more pic´s, could you make one at full draw?

Cheers

Long John

Steve B

I'm with LongJohn on this as well, that looks really nice Joe(the bow)M, but I would like to see a pic at full draw and also of the laminations if that is possible. Great kjob from what I can see love the honeyish colour

Joe(thebow)M

Thanks Long John and Steve B. I don't know if you can make
out the laminations. The amber shallac I used to seal the wood
hasn't been steel wooled as yet, so it does look a bit uneven.

Click to see full size image

LongJohn

Thank you for the pic´s Joe(the Bow)M!!!
Good shape at full draw.

I wish i would have an "hand" for bowmaking!!!

Long John

Joe(thebow)M

Thanks Long John. The upper limb is one inch longer then the
lower limb so my tillering is 1/4" off and I don't want to take any
more wood off at this point. I decided to go with it as is.

The next one of these I do I'll move the location of the palm rest
up a bit which should help with a more even tillering. However the
1/4" off dosen't seem to effect its handling.

Long John, you ought to give this bow making a go. It's an
enjoyable hobby and it's also addicting. I wrecked the first couple
of bows I did then finally got one that worked. Oh, I still wreck a
a bow off and on, but I've gotten more workable ones then wrecked
ones. Just part of the learning process.

kirk

Nice Job Joe.
I like the locator style grip. Keep it up mate.

kirk

Nice Job Joe.
I like the locator style grip. Keep it up mate.

Joe(thebow)M

Thanks Kirk!

I have a friend who'd like me to make him just such a bow. I really
need to get my workshop in order. This weekend hopefully? Well,
at least I have a pattern to go by.

Joe(thebow)M

Something interesting I found, but not completely as I had this
in mind when I made the bottom bow in the picture below which
is also the same bow in the pictures in the above posts.

My idea when I started this particular style bow was to create a
bow that would duplicate the feel and hold of my compound bows
so perhaps I could shoot both disciplines with the same hold on the
longbow handle that I use with my compound bows - which is a
loose hold with both styles of bow's resting between my index finger
and thumb with little or no closing of the fingers.

The first bow in fact does duplicate this to a very good degree and
I was very surprised at how accurate it is from 20 yards. I hit a lot
of gold and red on a 60mm archery target tonight using this bow.

The bow resting on top of the first bow of this style I made actually
shoots even better and with the new location of the concave in the
handle and a bit more forward. It also allows for your index and
middle finger to engulf the bow handle a bit more, and is as accurate
if not more then the first bow I made like this. When testing it
yesterday I again hit a lot of gold from 20 yards, but it seemed like
I hit more gold then red with this second bow.

In the picture below the top bow is; 71" - #41 @ 28"
the bottom (first made bow) is; 71" - #39 @ 28"

The top bow will be heading to Washington State this weekend as
it's sold. Anyway, here's the picture. Note the location of the riser
and concave of each bow;

Click to see full size image

Steve B

You have done a great job on the lamination of each bow you show in that last picture Joe, You are doing a great job with these, you are to be congratulated

Joe(thebow)M

Thanks Steve. I use the TiteBond III glue and it works real good
I feel, as well as being waterproof and slow drying. The upper
bow which will be going to Washington State, I sealed with Tru-Oil.

This is stepping away from my shallac that I normally use, but I do
like the Tru-Oil as a finish. It only tones the color of the wood down
a bit which makes for a nice natural look.