"Mom´s Chopping Board" - An ELB Stylish Takedown Bow

[Lehtis]

Greetings from Finland!

As some of you may know, IFAA´s World Indoor Championship Competition will be shot in February 2023 in Kent, UK. This competition has been postponed couple of times due to corona pandemia but finally it seems to be true.

Last summer I realized I need a new bow, takedown, to be able to pack it in 40" compound bow case and take it to airplanes w/o extra charge. I have two older ones but new one is new one. I have some black bamboo for back and osage for belly but what to choose fore core? Ipe, cumaru, oak, yew? Then I remembered I had a rather heavy chopping board, perhaps teak, from my mother´s kitchen; I got that board last spring after my mother deceased. I was ca. 2 x 30 x 40 cm and I sliced it to 4 cm wide blocks. Then I V-jointed them to ca.  2 m long stave which ended up to two core laminates, one for this bow and the other for future projects.

I bandsawed the laminates to raw shape and sanded them. I used Smooth-On EA40 and bicycle inner tubes cut in half to convert the laminates to a bow stave with some reflex. Couple of days curing and then some more bandsawing and the stave got some lemonwood on handle area before cutting the stave at midpoint.

The next step was to fit the takedown sleeves and I surprised myself by keeping the stave straight; no bending sideways. Then plenty of rasping with farrier´s and Shinto rasps, raw tillering, more rasping etc. When the stave was bending to brace height with desired draw poundage, I shaped the nock ends and glued on cow horn tips.

[Lehtis]

After shaping the nocks I finalized the tillering, smoothed the surfaces and went to shoot some test arrows. Checking the bow after test shots I realized that there was some very tiny compression fractures at upper limb some 15 cm from the handle where there was some pin knots. Back to the sander and I removed some wood from that area and glued a slice of good osage to cover the knots. After curing of the epoxy I reshaped the limb and everything seems good now. Then black ink w permanent marker pen on bamboo, several layers of TruOil, leather wrap on handle and more shooting.

[Lehtis]

The bow ended up to 82 lbs @ 28".

Because of the core laminate I decided to nominate this bow as "Mom´s Chopping Board"

[Lehtis]

...and some more...

[Mad Max]

Nice save on the belly underlay.
What is black Bamboo, dyed black?
Really nice job. 

[Buggs]

Very nice!

[Lehtis]

Mad MAX: Black Bamboo(s) is/are sub species in bamboo family. This one I have is rather dark brown and has quite long distances between the knots. The one I used for this bow is lighter brown than two other bows I´ve made; that´s why ink. There was only three knots in this originally 7 ft laminate and I set the middle one in the middle of the handle where I cut the stave..

[onetone]

Lehtis - Nice work. Like that shallow string angle at full draw. Thanks for posting.

[Shredd]

Great looking bow...  Perfect example of a finely tillered bow...

[Stagmitis]

Love the elliptical tiller!!!

[wood carver 2]

Very nice! I like the black bamboo. I've only ever seen it in small diameter- too small for bow backing.
Dave.

[Lehtis]

By the way, would be nice to meet some of you here: http://www.wiac2021.co.uk/
This bow, if alive, will be slinging arrows there in AMHB Class. Please, join!

[Buggs]

I would love to go to that event! Just need somebody to send me a ticket.

I keep coming back to look at that black Bamboo. It looks fantastic, like Japanese lacquer. Really sharp.
How did you Ink it, if you don't mind me asking?

[Lehtis]

I used just an ordinary big felt tip marker pen, something like in the picture. Note: TruOil on top of that seems to need overnight drying time for the first two layers. After that the following layers set normally.

[Buggs]

Thanks!  I love how something so ordinary can look so good

[Kirkll]

Those horn tips are beautiful..... Nice job all the way around.

Can i ask where you ordered your two piece sleeve?  I've got a two piece on order coming up in December and prefer the steel/brass sleeve design.    Kirk

[Lehtis]

Kirk, I have ordered it from The Longbowshop, England, if I remember correct. That was years ago when UK was still part of European Union and free shipping to Finland without customs formalities was possible.

Actually, this sleeve pair is recycled. The first bow I made broke and I reused this pair.

[Mad Max]

Kirk

One of our Sponsors
https://pinehollowlongbows.com/products/take-down-bow-sleeves

[Roy from Pa]

Awesome bow...

[Kirkll]

Kirk, I have ordered it from The Longbowshop, England, if I remember correct. That was years ago when UK was still part of European Union and free shipping to Finland without customs formalities was possible.

Actually, this sleeve pair is recycled. The first bow I made broke and I reused this pair.

Thanks .... I found what I'm looking for at 3 rivers .  I'm curious what draw length you are pulling in the photos above? It looks to be a pretty short draw.

Thanks Max.... I've seen those before, but I wanted a D shape sleeve a little bigger than the one in your link.  This is what I found...

These come in two sizes.

https://www.3riversarchery.com/takedown-bow-sleeves.html