The King:
I had some pieces of kingwood (Brazil) left over from a recurve and I really liked the way it looks. This super hard wood is not easy to work, but it looks amazing when it's sanded and finished, almost like a brown marble. These pieces were too small to use in another recurve, but I could use them in a longbow. So I decided to do an i-beam riser with birdseye maple in the middle and kingwood on the outside. Also, to try something new, I sliced up the maple and put thin strips of Ipe (Brazilian Walnut) between them, then planed that into a board that was glued into the center of the riser. That way the Ipe stripe would only exist in the sight window and not run through the entire riser. I also added a curve of black linen phenolic, but I ran it from belly to belly instead of back to back like I usually do. So, when I cut the curves from the riser block corners, there was a black strip in them. I used one of these pieces to form the heel of the grip, so that black curve added some nice detail, running from the glass to the heel. I added layers of maple and black phenolic to create the tip of the heel and also for detail on the sight window. The heel came out looking a bit like a target. I used a piece of zebrawood on the tips, which kind of makes them look like a beetle or something. When it was all finished, this bow came out looking very nice and it shoots really well.
(click on any image for a larger view)
Here are the stats for this bow:
- target stats: 66", 52# @ 28", 1.5" wide
- achieved stats: 66", 49# @ 28" (55# @ 30") 193 fps with 378gr arrow
- .040" UL clear glass - both sides
- .055" bocote parallel lam (2 sets) (visible thru glass)
- .060" maple super lam (belly power lam + tip wedge combo)(.060" for 2" past fades, then taper .001/1", then thicker at tips, .042" in center)
- .125" maple taper lam: (taper: .002/1" on back)
- .375" total stack height
- riser: 1.5 x 2 x 18", maple, bloodwood, with Ipe & black accents
- limb profile: 1.5" @ 2" past fade, then straight to 1/2" at string groove
Another idea I had was to try to make a bow with all "dark" materials. Usually I like maple or bamboo in the core, but it really shows up against darker wood. That's great for a contrasting look, but what if you wanted a more "stealth" look for hunting? Also, I had never used brown glass and thought it might look cool. So, after some investigation of core lam options I decided to try a walnut core with brown bow-glass and red in the sight window. I had some bloodwood (South America) pieces that would work great for the center of the i-beam riser and I also had some nice walnut (USA) that had a lot of figure and coloration that could go on the outside. I created a center layer by joining bloodwood sections with a strip of Ipe before gluing it into the middle of the riser. For detail, I also put in a black phenolic curve from back to back.
Here are the stats for this bow:
- target stats: 66", 47# @ 28", 1.5" wide
- achieved stats: 66", 43# @ 28" (48# @ 30") 180 fps with 378gr arrow
- .040" brown uls glass - both sides
- .055" walnut parallel lam (2 sets)
- .060" walnut super lam (belly power lam + tip wedge combo)(.060" for 2" past fades, then taper .001/1", then thicker at tips, .042" in center)
- *.120" walnut tapered lam (taper: .002/1" on back)
- *.370" total stack height
- riser: 1.5 x 2 x 18", walnut, Ipe, bloodwood
- limb profile: 1.5" @ 2" past fade, then straight to 1/2" at string groove
- * added .005" to stack because using walnut usually comes out with a bit lighter pull weight than maple. It still came out light.
I am looking for a good reflex deflex form to use and I like the Kenny M form. His site is down do you know how I can get the form?
ReplyDeleteYes, sadly Kenny has retired from that business. However, if you join tradgang.com, he is still an active person on that forum and he may still be able to sell you his pattern. (I don't want to post his email on here). I have found him to be very friendly and helpful.
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