Linen-backed Red Oak Bow

I recently made a red oak board bow backed with linen. It's approx. 40-50# @ 28". I still need to get myself some decent arrows. It's really just a "Pre-bow" so I don't mess up tillering on my nice one that I'm making from osage. Since this one is made from a board, it didn't take me long, helped me get some practice tillering, and if I messed up wouldn't be that much of a deal considering I only spent about 4 or 5 hours on it. :)

Burning Osage Orange

A little video comparing burning osage wood versus a bit of white ash wood (I think). I love the orange flames, the smell of the smoke, and the crackling sounds... it just is soo relaxing.

Tapering the Bow (I'm at the 40 hour mark!)

Today I spent about 3-4 hours on the bow working on tapering it bringing my total working time on the bow so far to 40 hours. Below are some videos...

Short-Bow Update

Half-way done chasing the ring on the bow.

Finally, I'm done chasing the ring on the back of the bow. It's taken me about 10 hours here and there. Those hours ticked by pretty quick though... I was really enjoying it. The color of the wood is amazing! As Osage Orange gets older, the wood deepens in color from yellow to a dark orange.

What's next for me to do? Well now I have to shape the bow. More than one person on some primitive forums said that mollegabet (the design I was going to use) was the last design they would use for a small bow (Mine's 50") I'm going to go with tapered sides. Probably 1.25" at the handle and .5" at the tips.

Awesome

I've been talking to my cousin lately, and he's thinking about building a wood cross-bow. It's a really neat experience for both me and him since I get to help him along the way. Visit his new blog here!