I used to work as a maintenance machinist in a factory that made custom hardwood interior trim, doors staircases, mantles, etc. Needless to say, I had access to all types of scrap hardwoods like white oak, hickory, maple, walnut, and even South American varieties like Jatoba, Ipe, and, well you get the point.
The first bow I ever made was a take-down laminated recurve. I got all the plans and prints from Bingham Projects.
www.binghamprojects.com It shot very well, I was very pleased with it, it was 95% complete--when I threw it down and broke it. Heres why: I had not purchased a proper bow stringer and was using a piece of mason line I had rigged up. My wife would put the string on for me while I concentrated on pulling the bow enough to get it on(all the while saying I was going to get a proper stringer). We strung it up and I shot it for around an hour or so. I was tickled pink with the groups I was getting out of it. When I was thru shooting, I asked my wife to take the string off for me while I manned my homemade "stringer". I pulled the bow up a little at a time trying to get it "just enough" to get the bowstring off. My wife unhooked the string at the same instant the mason line broke, and the limb smacked her in the face right under her eye. I gave the bow a sling to help her and see how bad it was, and broke a piece off the top of the riser. Luckily, a red spot on her cheek for a few days was all that she got from it(along with everyone who saw her thinking I had hit her) It has been well over a year before I decided to try it again. As we speak, I'm in the process of carving out another riser.
I also started two flatbows, one hickory and the other maple that are still waiting to be finished. Not sure how maple will hold up, but I think the hickory one will be OK. While I was at the factory I mentioned before, I took the notion to cut some staves out of some hedge(hedge-apple, horse apple, osage orange) trees and run them thru the kiln and try some self-bows, but the notion was as far as it got.
Anyhow, among the 15 other projects I have going right now, I plan to finish the flatbows with a tiller of 45-50lbs @ 32"(I have a long draw length) I also plan to have the riser completed and my recurve shooting again. It is 64" left hand with a draw weight of 65lbs @ 32". I had pictures of it on here along with my limb press and epoxy curing heat box, but I've since deleted the pics on the hosting web-site.
I would love to do a laminated longbow as well, guess that'll be 16.... and the hedge (or osage whichever you want to call it) selfbow still comes to mind-that's 17... I really need to get some of the irons out of the fire.
