First ever Flatbow - photo buildalong!

N.Vodden

New member
Ironman
Hi Everybody!

My first ever attempt at a flatbow ( and bow #3 every attempted, others being the 50lb Osage/bamboo longbow, and the ash/hickory longbow that is midway through tillering, sat in the corner ) is almost finished!

I've been working on this during any free time i've had during the last few weeks, with a family, fulltime job and dark evenings, free time has been at a premium!!!

I ordered the laminates from Flybowshop to begin this project. I already had some Osage laying around that i was going to use for the handle, and a nice chunky strip of maple that was going to be the belly of the bow, so i ordered a thin planed strip of quality maple for the core, and a Padauk laminate to go on the back of it to give it a really vibrant colour, here are the pieces.



Once they had all been cleaned up and sanded smooth, they were laminated up sandwiched between 2 long pieces of wood and held in place with an army of clamps.

It had a few days to cure, and then came out of the clamps and the design was marked out on the stave, and then cut out roughly with a jigsaw, and then taken down a little closer to the desired dimensions by hand.





Now this was done, i laminated the Osage handle piece into place, using some offcuts to keep it under pressure.



Time to go to the tillering tree!



It was a bit stiff at the tips, with most of the work being done close to the handle so this was gradually tillered down slowly to get a nice even bend and its now a nice smooth curve, and pulls approximately 25lb. Lower than i was hoping for, but this was an experiment really and its the ideal draw weight for the wife, so this bow is going to Mrs V when its finished!

Once it was tillered properly, i set to work on rounding off the handle and thinning it in the middle.



you can see here the colours of the Padauk, Maple and Osage.



Once i was happy with the shape of the handle. and the tips has been shaped, It was time for final finishing. Everything was sanded down thoroughly with a low grit paper to remove toolmarks and get everything even. There are a few litle dinks and gouges, but nothing serious that were a little too deep to get at but hey, im a novice :raspberry It was then sanded with progressively finer grades to get it smooth as can be in preparation for varnishing.

i didnt want to stain the woods as they already have a lovely colour and contrast, so i put 2 coats of Yacht varnish on it and the finish has come out like glass. It is so reflective i'm impressed with how it looks.

I put a cord binding either side of the grip for decoration, and fitted a leather handle. I thought it could do with spicing up, so i painted on a design i saw on bowstickarchery on youtube for the Army Bow on each limb in citadel minatures Shining Gold, and then edged it in black to make it really stand out. These designs have had a thin coat of varnish over them to protect them, and its currently drying out now.

Here are some pictures showing the various areas, and highlighting the finish and painted design.









So there was have it!

All thats left to do is make a string for it. I'm going to get the jig down from the attic tomorrow and make a string ready for its debut on Wednesday at the club. I have shot it using the heavy tillering string and for a low poundage bow, it isn't half snappy!

With my 5/16 heavy Medieval style arrows i use with my Longbow and Hun ( modbods, large triangle cut feathers ) It alright, but with Mrs V's 1/4" arrows which are just long enough for me to shoot by about an inch, it performs very well!

Once its had its outing at the club, ill get some full draw pictures to show what she looks like in action...

Oh and she has a name, 'Luna', on the bottom limb along with <blank> Lbs @ 28" ready to fill in once its been measured.

Thanks for looking!
 

ChakaZulu

New member
Very nice. I love paduak. Did you get that from flybow?

Wives and children - perfect for when you overdo the tillering and make a lightweight bow...

Although judging from the baby bouncer I'm guessing that like me you have a while to wait before that becomes an option. There's me looking at the pictures of the bow and Mrs Zulu takes one look and says "ooh, they've got the same jumperoo as us"!

Women...:censored:


PS how much was postage from flybow, if you don't mind my asking?
 

N.Vodden

New member
Ironman
postage on the laminates came out at just over 10 euros, and aye it all came from Flybowshop. The belly wood i already had was from there as well from a previous project as it happens :)

Showed Mrs V the comment about the Jumperoo, thought it was quite funny! I love the thing, its great to watch the little one go nuts in it!
 
D

Deleted member 7654

Guest
Nice :) the Padauk is very striking, how's that decoration applied? It looks too fiddly to be inlay?
Those little bits of detail and finishing are fun and don't necessarilly stop.... I think I'll just re-shape those nocks for the nth time ;).
I'm still tinkering with my Asiatic bow before I post the final pics and appraisal...I made a nice flight arrow for it...but it dissappeared into the woods :eek: (there was a strong tail wind which I couldn't feel until I'd walked out into the middle of the field!)
Del
 

N.Vodden

New member
Ironman
Heh, i'd be very interested to see that build and photos as an Asiatic type of bow is my next project! Something with a more simple shape like a Turkish bow, with not such extreme curves for the first one will be on the cards.

The design was marked out on the limb and then painted on with Citadel Minatures Shining Gold. Edged the black with a fineline CD pen, and then varnished over to seal it in. Came out looking a lot better than expected!
 
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