Just a 'Stick'.

[GrahameA]

Afternoon.

My latest bow. American Ash, 63@28 and around 76" NtoN. Yes, I know it is long, it looks more Medieval plus it helps to reduce bows breaking and taking a lot of set as the stress is reduced per unit of 'timber'.

A simple bow, rectangular in section and made from a board with vertical grain. Shoots fine by me. It has a couple of coats of Shellac to offer some protection to the timber.

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[Roadie]

Yep, But it's a Good Looking Stick. Cheers Roadie.

[bigbob]

Only the stick is !!!

[Curvemeister]

Awesome stuff , looks good.

[Gringa Bows]

Looks good Grahame

[jcm]

Grahame,
An Awesome Stick
Regards

John

[GrahameA]

Morning All.

Thanks for the nice comments. Yep, it is just a stick but a good stick.

It shoots with very little 'shock' - that being a result of it being tillered so it is dynamically balanced and you can move your hand around to find the point at which it is dynamically balanced plus shooting arrows that are not overly light. Next step is to make a proper string for it to replace the fluro-yellow/green Dacron string that is on it at the moment.

I have a choice of making a continuous string or a Flemish string in either D97 or Linen. I will probably make a D97 continuous loop in the short term and then make a Flemish Linen later on - purely to have one.

Good things I have done with this bow is I have just shellaced it so touch ups the future will be easy and I have not gone for a mirror shiny finish; not so good things, I should have made the area where the bow is gripped thicker (cut the timber thicker) so that it bend less through the handle. It will not fail but it will slowly develop more set there than I will like.

Making selfbows or even all-wood bows is a bit more of a challenge compared to making glass laminated bows. So I now need to think about what is next on the agenda. I could get motivated and finish off my Hoyt PM look-alike/replica. Then again a Sami bow or something else from the northern regions appeals. So many bows ..... So little time.

[Stickbow Hunter]

Looks more like a plank to me. It looks to have a nice bend to it Grahame.

Jeff

[Hamish]

Looks pretty cool. As its ash it should respond well to a heat gun and mild reflexing if you wont to go to the trouble(but I would sand off the shellac first as it traps the heat in the cells to well, can result in tiny fissures).
Hamish.

[mikaluger]

Awesome!!!

[longbow steve]

Definately looks the part Grahame. Well done. Cheers Steve

[otis.drum]

nice bent stick you have there Grahame.

[Tom Alker]

wow, cool bow.

[littlejohn59]

Grahame
I don't know much about your bow.
But those photos of your face are priceless.Your facial expressions would make a great recruit advertisement for traditional archery.
Enjoy shooting your bow mate!

[GrahameA]

Morning All

Looks more like a plank to me. It looks to have a nice bend to it Grahame.

You are just jealous.

Looks pretty cool. As its ash it should respond well to a heat gun and mild reflexing if you wont to go to the trouble(but I would sand off the shellac first as it traps the heat in the cells to well, can result in tiny fissures).
Hamish.

IMHO American Ash can be steamed and bent. I would neither use or recommend dry heating and bending. There is no point in adding reflex as the bow-efficiency would be minimal and then I would have a bow that would be prone to other issues. If I wanted to go down a bending/forming road I would have made a recurve. I will post some photos of a similiar bow with recurved tips after the weekend (if I don't find some existing ones first).

edit - No need to take photos, found the old post. http://www.ozbow.net/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=8668

Definately looks the part Grahame. Well done. Cheers Steve

Thanks Steve. Yes, it looks the part and it shoots well.

Grahame
I don't know much about your bow.
But those photos of your face are priceless.Your facial expressions would make a great recruit advertisement for traditional archery.
Enjoy shooting your bow mate!

Thanks LJ - you are just jealous. I will endeavour to get some better photos of the bow and the archer this weekend.

[looseplucker]

But those photos of your face are priceless.Your facial expressions would make a great recruit advertisement for traditional archery.

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[looseplucker]

Where do you source the Ash Graham?

[GrahameA]

Evening.

Where do you source the Ash Graham?

That piece was purchased as a large plank from Watts Woods in Brisbane http://www.wattswood.com.au/. Other pieces have been purchased from Lazarides http://www.lazaridestimber.com.au/.

Daryl and I have purchased a fair bit of timber from Watts Woods over the last few years, Note: they do not have credit card facilities so you need to carry cash.

A quick comment - Good Timber can be high priced. However you want good timber if you are going to make bows. Cheap second rate timber usually ends up much more expensive when the bow fails or you have issues with the timber. I am a believer in only rich people can afford to buy cheap things as they buy it over and over again.

[looseplucker]

Evening.

Where do you source the Ash Graham?

That piece was purchased as a large plank from Watts Woods in Brisbane http://www.wattswood.com.au/. Other pieces have been purchased from Lazarides http://www.lazaridestimber.com.au/.

Daryl and I have purchased a fair bit of timber from Watts Woods over the last few years, Note: they do not have credit card facilities so you need to carry cash.

A quick comment - Good Timber can be high priced. However you want good timber if you are going to make bows. Cheap second rate timber usually ends up much more expensive when the bow fails or you have issues with the timber. I am a believer in only rich people can afford to buy cheap things as they buy it over and over again.

Thanks mate - good to know.

[Hamish]

Hi Grahame, I respectfully disagree with your opinion on dry heat, especially with northern hemisphere timbers like ash. I have seen numerous bows that were carefully tillered yet still end up with a little more stringfollow than the bowyers would have liked. Dry heat and a little reflexing improved these bows string follow, cast and increased the poundage( to a desired hunting weight on slightly underweight bows). With proven bow woods like ash, the effects are stable and rarely result in negatives like chrysals, or tension breakage, if the stave was already straight grained and well tillered.
I wouldn't recommend steaming ash unless it is air dried. Air dried ash as you already are aware is a primo steam bending timber.
If your bow has an acceptable amount of follow then there wasn't an issue, its just that you mentioned making the bow a little longer than usual, and bending through the handle to reduce stringfollow. I only mentioned dry heat as a method that also helps not only reduce string follow if it occurs, or as a preventative in the first place. In no way was it meant as a negative criticism of your craftsmanship. It looks like a lovely bow. Nice work.
Hamish.

[GrahameA]

Hi Hamish.

Hi Grahame, I respectfully disagree with your opinion on dry heat, especially with northern hemisphere timbers like ash. I have seen numerous bows that were carefully tillered yet still end up with a little more stringfollow than the bowyers would have liked. Dry heat and a little reflexing improved these bows string follow, cast and increased the poundage( to a desired hunting weight on slightly underweight bows). With proven bow woods like ash, the effects are stable and rarely result in negatives like chrysals, or tension breakage, if the stave was already straight grained and well tillered.
I wouldn't recommend steaming ash unless it is air dried. Air dried ash as you already are aware is a primo steam bending timber. ... ....In no way was it meant as a negative criticism of your craftsmanship.

I am not a fan of dry bending ... not had much success with it. Steaming I have had success with. Both bows and boat ribs/planks.

I am not a fan of reflexing - and I know many people who are. Its a personnel thing - then again I seem to have a fascination for Asiatic recurves.

I understand and appreciated your comments. Unless we all try stuff then we learn nothing. And I will not get upset about comments on my bows.