12% moisture content is about perfect for bow-making<\/p><\/div>\n

A few weeks ago I came across it while shuffling some things around in the “archery bay” of my garage. I looked it over and decided it was time to start turning this stick into a shootable bow.<\/p>\n

My digital moisture meter read 12%, which was about perfect for most bow-making. So I began removing wood. I used an aggresive rasp and a Stanley(R) SureForm to do the bulk of wood removal. Once I was able to see some bend in the limbs by floor tillering (bending limbs against the floor) I slowed down, narrowed the limb tips to 3\/4″ and worked the fadeouts near the handle.<\/p>\n

You’ll also notice I left the bark on. I did this because I think it adds to the simplicity in a very literal way. You can clearly see this bow was made simply by removing everything that didn’t look or behave as a bow should. The limbs have some twist but I’m not too concerned about it for this project. You can see how the string tracks from nock to nock bisecting the handle perfectly. Also, I’ve made the belly flat to reduce compression fractures or chrysals, as they are commonly called.<\/p>\n

Right now it pulls 65# @ 25″ draw which is a bit stout yet so I\u2019m going to finish it around 58# @ 27″. I’m working it down slowly so when I hit 27″ draw, I won’t have any finish sanding to do. You never pull a selfbow past the final draw length or draw weight, especially if it’s un-backed.<\/p>\n

I found this wood is resilient and easy to work with. I had it strung for over 2 hours and it had zero string follow when unstrung. Makes me want to cut the whole damn tree down and split it into staves!<\/p>\n