The Finished Product

Here we are at last. If you remember, on the last page we had gotten tiller to the point where it was Good Enough. Well apparently not since I went back and tinkered with it a bit. I also shaped the handle and scraped out the tool marks. I found the bows sweet spot and have handshock reduced very nicely. The bow is holding even better weight than I hoped and weighs 54# at 26.5" draw. It's a real shooter. No apparent stack at my draw and very smooth. I'm pleased. Here's the final shot on the tillering board side by side with "good enough" from the previous page. the limbs are reversed but I hope you can see the better tiller and neater handle.

And here's a shot of me drawing the thing. No comments on the hair or the form!

I'm gonna put some shots of the finishing process up as I get to it. I'll shoot the bow a few hundred more times and recheck tiller but I'm pretty happy with it. I'm still holding 1" of reflex just after unbracing. The sinew has done its job looks like.

The Finish

I have decided to try to use aniline dyes and make a sunburst pattern similar to the one Dean Torges likes to do on his bows. I saw this finish a couple years ago at Cloverdale and fell in love. I am topping it with polyurethane in the manner Dean outlines in his book "Hunting the Osage Bow". This method uses brushed on poly topped immediately with a light spray of spray poly to smooth it out. I'm using gloss poly for the brush since Dean recommends its use as a hard finish and satin spray to kill the shine. The first coat is done and looks great. You'll see the shine but that will be greatly diminished with the final coat.

The Belly

Still got plenty of reflex after 600 or so shots!

Whaddya think? I'm pretty happy with the dye job. The sinew part doesn't blend as well as the wood so I don't think I'll try it with sinew again. Man it's shiny in these photos. We'll see what the final product looks like in a couple days. If you are going to Cloverdale you can see it in person. Email me if you are. (June 7, 1999)

Well, I put the satin finish on it and it dulled up very nicely. I doubt that it will give me away to the turkey or the deer. We'll see in September! All I have left to do is put the handle wrap on and shoot the thing!

Here's the photos of the duller version.

IT'S ALIVE!

The bow is now finished. I haven't shot it yet but go to the Final Page of this story. Thanks again for joining me on this quest. I think we built a real nice bow!

Take me to the Final Page

Take me Day One

Take me Home

Email me with comments or questions.