A very weird bow

I posted about this one on another thread but work is ongoing so I’ll start a thread. I’m trying to make a bow from an extremely wonky piece of Rocky Mountain maple that I cut up on the mountain and roughed out with a hatchet at my camp last summer.
Starting to bend. I love this phase of bow making when the wood starts to spring and feel alive.


After heat treatment. Even more reflex now, which makes for a quick shooting bow but can over stress the wood. It’s uneven too, about 7” on the left side and 10” on the right, so I have to compensate for that when tillering.

Braced.

Getting close to full draw. Might be putting some arrows through this one this weekend. It is far too light for hunting anything bigger than rabbits so I’ll probably give it to a kid.

Full draw

This is very cool.

connorlindeman said:

This is very cool.

Click to expand...

Thanks! I got it sanded down and I might put a coat of stain on it just to bring out the grain. If I sell it or give it away I'll probably slap a rawhide backing on it (I'd feel bad if one of my bows exploded in a kid's hands) and a leather handle; otherwise I'll probably shoot a few arrows through it and put it away. Anybody in the market for a really weird kid's bow???

WhistlingBadger said:

Thanks! I got it sanded down and I might put a coat of stain on it just to bring out the grain. If I sell it or give it away I'll probably slap a rawhide backing on it (I'd feel bad if one of my bows exploded in a kid's hands) and a leather handle; otherwise I'll probably shoot a few arrows through it and put it away. Anybody in the market for a really weird kid's bow???

Click to expand...

LOL, offering kids weapons in this day and age. I think most parents would have a fit I know a number of people in America give their young children guns for Xmas and birthdays but most don't now. Having said that, my friends and I used to make bows and arrows when we were kids. We had some common sense and never aimed them at other people and always made sure nobody was in the target area before shooting. I'm not sure if kids (or adults) have that sort of common sense thing nowadays. I'm sure WhistlingBadger does but a lot of adults and kids these days seem to be down a few IQ points (sorry trying to be polite and say they are dumb without saying they are dumb).

Colin_T said:

LOL, offering kids weapons in this day and age. I think most parents would have a fit

Click to expand...

You've obviously never been to Wyoming. Hunting is just a normal part of life here; probably about a third of my fifth graders have already taken hunter safety certification, and most of them have parents who hunt. A surprising number of kids, and probably the majority of adults, know how to handle hunting arms without killing themselves or anyone else (unless you count the edible critters downrange, of course). Anyway, a bow like this is not exactly an artillery piece; it might kill a rabbit at short range, but it's mostly for target shooting and learning proper form.

But yes, your concern about people not having a ton of common sense is certainly warranted. Sometimes I feel like many people shouldn't be allowed to contribute to the gene pool, let alone own weapons.