#pyramid bow

[snakeriverstickbow]

Here is my first attempt at painting the rawhide of a pyramid bow. Not patterned or styled from a coastal tribe, but red/blue/green were popular. I just picked something simple and went with it.

[snakeriverstickbow]

Today I worked on two different bows. The first is this maple paddle bow. I drew on the front profile and used my draw knife to remove the bulk of the wood. Next, I roughed out the thickness of the limbs and riser. I intend to make a bulbous handle, so that’s how I shaped it. This stave will require a bit of time on the form to straighten it out.

[snakeriverstickbow]

I finished painting my second bow. Inspired by a simple design from a museum relic. The pattern was simple to draw. It is easily customizable by changing angles, dimensions and of course, colors.

[snakeriverstickbow]

Elm Pyramid Bow: The second bow I worked on today was this light weight “just because” bow. It’s not really for anyone, it was just to see what kind of bow a smaller size elm stave I had could make. I started by scraping off the final remnants of the cambium layer. Then I sanded the entire bow with: 60-100-150-220 until pretty smooth and looking fairly nice. This isn’t a show-bow, so I’m not particularly worried about the finish. This little bow draws 30# @24”. 35# @ 26”. 40# @ 28”. I suppose this is one advantage of the pyramid design; if done correctly it does not stack as draw length increases. This American Elm is also very bright white. So, I used the Walnut stain on it too. It came out great, with highlighted grain. I’ll take some more pictures in the sun tomorrow.

[snakeriverstickbow]

Red oak pyramid bow: I had some time to tinker with this pyramid bow tonight while the glue dried on a few other projects. I started by scribing a line along the limb edges at 1/2” thickness. I used my rasp to remove wood along both limbs down to the line. Next I flattened the ridge left in the middle of the limb with my Surform. Then I used a scraper to finish bringing both limbs to 1/2” thick.

This bow is not going to be a true pyramid bow; I have left the limb tips thicker and non-working. This is just an experiment of design. It’s something like the Mollegabet with its stiff outer limbs. These tips are currently at .525”.

I glued on limb tip overlays of elm. I don’t like to cut string grooves into the back of any limb. I prefer the small addition of weight and security of undamaged fibers.

Next I will rasp the overlays down and add string grooves. Then I will start to long string tiller the limbs, trying to induce an even bend through the working limbs. There is going to be a lot of scraper swipes required to get these wide limbs bending.

[snakeriverstickbow]

I have been trying to create a half decent handle wrap of leather for my bow risers. I do have a sew on design I use, but it is time consuming. This wrap idea is as old as bows themselves. Some of the museum artifacts I’ve seen have the grip area wrapped in a thong of rawhide, some are tanned leather. This bow is a red oak, rawhide backed hunting bow.

I’ve included the unwrapped grip picture because I liked the tri-tone of the grip. It has a cherry and oak glued on riser that I shaped into a pistol grip.

I have wrapped three other handles like this now and I think I’m getting a pretty good idea of the process.

[snakeriverstickbow]

Today I am working on a grip wrap for this red oak paddle bow. I stained the bow with Walnut, both wood and rawhide. It darkens up nicely and provides some camouflage. The bow ended up with 1.5” of reflex from the 3” I added on the form. I am going to give the whole bow a sanding with 320 grit and then seal it with a mixture of bees wax and oil.

Then I’ll get the grip sew on. I’ll probably sell this bow on eBay or maybe give it to a guy at work. I dunno yet.

[snakeriverstickbow]

The paddlebow: here is the limb tip I prefer. A hybrid of the pin nock and overlay. I used mid-density wood for the overlay to keep weight to a minimum.