[aeronut]

in reply to: Curly Hickory Longbow #55426

Finished specs….

64″ 54#@28″ I was hoping for a weight somewhere around 45-50#’s but I’m not complaining at all.

Profiles….

I shot and tuned this bow a bunch for two weeks and then decided to take it for a walk in the woods. It was late December and there were five days left of deer season here so I decided to give ‘Curly’ a field trial. I gave up tree stands a few years back and have been a ground hunter exclusively and I knew of a Cottonwood blowdown that was near a travel route and had that feeling of ‘tonight’s the night’ so I still hunted to it and waited.

About 45 minutes before dark I had not one, but seven deer within 30 yards of me. Just before dark I finally had the opportunity to draw back undetected and send a Bamboo shaft into a doe just ten yards away.

I feel that this hunt was a super achievement in several ways. I had harvested a deer with the first arrow shot on the first hunt of my newly made bow. Secondly, I had done that from ground level surrounded closely by 14 eyes ever alert to danger. It is a hunt I will not soon forget.

Dennis

[aeronut]

in reply to: Curly Hickory Longbow #55406

OK. I got the second try grip overlay done and this one turned out fine. One last check on the tiller and time to test shoot.
I grabbed a few arrows and set out went in search of my quarry, the ‘Roundus Haybalus’. Shhh…There’s one now.

I am wishing I had made the riser a couple of inches shorter but it shoots great.

Time for a finish coat. I fut four coats of True-Oil on it and really needed to use a sealer, possibly super-glue, on the Ipe overlay. It remained tacky for quite some time.

More……

Dennis

[aeronut]

in reply to: arrows? #55393

I will agree with WildCat about making and shooting wood shafts. I have been shooting the same 5/16″ Hickory shafts for about two years now and even after bouncing them off of trees and rocks I have not broken one yet.

Kemp–I have found some brand-spankin’ new aluminum shafts to have a very slight bend in them. I assumed they were straight, being brand new, and had a terrible time getting the to fly worth a darn. Closer inspection located the problem and after I straightened them they flew great.

Most people who shoot wood want POC shafts. Those are good, lightweight shafts and are easy to straighten. Some other woods to try are:

Poplar–Just a tad heavier than POC and tougher. Easy to straighten.
Douglas Fir–Same as Poplar
Ramin wood–A little heavier and tougher yet. Easy to work.
Chundoo or Lodge Pole Pine–Good shaft material.
Hickory–Heavier and a little harder to straighten but one of my favorites. Tough as he**. There is a reason why they make sledge hammer handles out of it. I shoot a lot of them and have never broken one yet.
River Cane–More labor involved but well worth the time learning to make them. One of my favorite hunting shafts for deer.
Bamboo–Same as cane and my go to hunting shaft material. Heat is an absolute must for straightening ‘boo and cane.

Dang, my floor hasn’t been that clean in forever:shock:

Dennis

[aeronut]

in reply to: Curly Hickory Longbow #55370

I have my hotbox hooked to a timer and do my gluing in the evening. I set the timer for around six hours and leave it overnight. I took the bow out of the form the next morning and looked it over.

The Hickory turned out real purty.

Next, I checked the tiller, which turned out great, no problems with that at all, and then I marked and cut out the riser and limb profiles (no pics of that either:roll:).

I decided to use Black Walnut and Hickory for the tip overlays and started working on that.

I had to sand down the belly a tad because the lams had slipped just a bit on the riser. Nothing bad, just needed a little elbow grease.

I decided to use some Ipe for the grip overlay and cut a thin piece and glued it on. I sanded down the bottom end of it and was real pleased with the way it looked.

I worked my way to the top end and discovered air bubbles underneath. I sanded quite a bit off and it just would not go away. In this picture I had sanded about 3/4″ of it off and it just kept getting worse. I finally sanded the whole Ipe overlay off and glued on another one being a lot more careful with the glue.

More coming……..

Dennis

[aeronut]

in reply to: How many bowyers? #52497

I just started a new one. It will be a Hickory core with Osage lams. I don’t have much free time and I just hope I get it done by October. I just ordered the glass and glue for it.

Sanding lams.

A bow’s worth of Hickory and Hedge.

I am going to do a build-along on another forum and I’ll post it here too if anybody wants to see it.

Here are some pics of a Curly Hickory I built last year.

Dennis

[aeronut]

in reply to: Cool Trad turkey video #42817

That is a great video. There’s a lot more to hunting than killing and you show that very well with this video.

Thanks for sharing.

Dennis

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