# Almost done with this one



## Savage (Apr 16, 2011)

Just got this one sprayed. It is Wenge and Bocote like my last one. Very popular choice. I used a finish called Thunderbird on this one. Seems to have worked as I had hoped. I'll take it out for a few test shots tomorrow. I sure love working with the exotic wood!


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## TGRANT (Jan 25, 2011)

Nice project. I like the wood too. Let us know how it shoots.


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## firehawkmph (Apr 26, 2008)

Savage,
Those bows you are making look great. What kind of draw weight do you end up with and is that something that you are able to make it what you want it to be as you are building it?
Mike Hawkins


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## Savage (Apr 16, 2011)

Thank you. The weight is a combination of limb thickness, width and length. This particular one is 40#. The heaviest one I've done is 68# @ 28".


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## BWSmith (Aug 24, 2010)

Very nice!

Am sure you'll get lots of use out of it.BW


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

wow, that's gorgeous. Congrats on a job well done. Really nice work.


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## txpaulie (Jul 21, 2010)

Beauty!
I love a prettty bow!:thumbsup:

I got a long bow a coupla Christmas' ago...
That is a young man's tool.
(maybe I should phrase that differently...):laughing:

p


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## Savage (Apr 16, 2011)

Thanks. I can't wait to start on the next ones. Dang Army training is gonna put me behind 2 weeks.


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## Kevin07 (Feb 19, 2009)

Boy that things nice! If i made one id be afraid to draw back for the first time.


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## Savage (Apr 16, 2011)

Hahaha, I know what you mean. I've made many and still feel like that. I've only had problems twice and it will sure give you a shock!


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## firemedic (Dec 26, 2010)

Savage said:


> Hahaha, I know what you mean. I've made many and still feel like that. I've only had problems twice and it will sure give you a shock!


So what goes into the building of a bow? Fiber/mesh of some sort in the lamination?

~tom


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## firemedic (Dec 26, 2010)

Oh, & btw... Looks great! and thanks for your service...

~tom


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## Savage (Apr 16, 2011)

Thanks. You use 5 layers in the limbs, 2 wood lams, 2 fiberglass and 1 wooden wedge. The riser is 5 layers as well. The 3 wood pieces have fiberglass between to add strength. Lots of fun but that fiberglass is some nasty stuff!


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## Savage (Apr 16, 2011)

Here are a couple finish pics.


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## mike1950 (Aug 29, 2010)

Looks great. How did it shoot?


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## bbandu (Mar 29, 2011)

I checked out your website and the bows that you are making look outstanding. Great work.


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## BWSmith (Aug 24, 2010)

Keep up the good work Savage.Traditional archery is a wonderful,physical and mental relaxation.Theres alot of folks out there with old bows that they could use.We're a full-on pro-shop here and get lots of repairs,new bows ect.ect.

You probably already know this but will share it anyoleway.Once you have the brace hieght worked out for a particular bow;we crest our arrows so that brace height can be checked at a glance.IOWs the cresting lines up with one side or other of riser.

Was a 3D pro for 10 years,and having talked to thousands of shooters the consensus for recurves was.....about 50/50 between 60 and 62 inch and 47,48 #'s at the shooters draw length.There'd be guys who wanted more juice.......but they'd always end up just a bit shy of 50#'s given a year or two shooting tourneys.I kinda lost interest when carbon arrows came into vogue,but utilize CF in our bows,go figure?Still will shoot spots(formal paper targets)for money.We have a 3D range in the woods behind house.PM me if you want to yap about bows.BW


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## Savage (Apr 16, 2011)

Bow shot great. Quiet and smooth. A little light for me. It's a 40# bow and I shoot a 68#, but it was definately easy to hold at full draw.


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## rrbrown (Feb 15, 2009)

Savage said:


> Thanks. I can't wait to start on the next ones. Dang Army training is gonna put me behind 2 weeks.


Well it could be 12-18 months in Afghanistan, Iraq or Libya.



bbandu said:


> I checked out your website and the bows that you are making look outstanding. Great work.


I agree, I like your layaway plan, it shows your willing to help your customers.

Excellent work, How long have you been making these bows? I enjoyed your step by step thread a while back very interesting and informative.


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## Savage (Apr 16, 2011)

RRBrown, thanks but I've been to Iraq and Kosovo for long deployments. I'm sure I'll get to go on another soon. Hahaha

I'm pretty fresh at making bows, just started the last part of last year although I've been doing some woodworking and bowhunting most of my life. Finally decided to put them both together. I don't know what took me so long to figure it out but I think I've finally found my calling. I have some different ideas from what I've seen built and I have a few more still in mind. The buildalongs are pretty cool but I think it wears people out for some reason. Once I did a couple I stopped getting responses. I think people would just look and not comment. Felt like I was in an empty room ya know?


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## Itchy Brother (Aug 22, 2008)

Dang nice!How much time does it take you to make one?


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## Savage (Apr 16, 2011)

It's averaging around 30 hours now not including curing and finishing time.


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## BWSmith (Aug 24, 2010)

Tim,I replyed to your PM.....but it "might" not have gone through.My PM box was full and tryed a work-around?

A MAJOR area of concern is tillering a bow.Won't get into the actual process as theres a cpl different ways.One things for sure,it takes a trained eye to "see" it.Best advice(after you've developed a system for dialing it in)is to go watch a bunch of shooters.You need to be at a right angle to shooter..........you're looking at how the upper and lower limbs bend at full draw.

A traditional shoot(tourney) works great here because you can make direct comparisons between different bows,shooters.How does std split finger differ from 3 fingers under?Its so important that words just can't do it justice.I tryed building a macine to help in this area but it never worked nearly as good as just "looking" at it.Kinda like a shooting machine.These have been built over the years,admittedly more of a compound bow tool.......and even then,a VG shooter will almost alwys outshoot them.Its the nature of the beast so to speak.The interaction between shooter/bow setup is so hard to duplicate........so it is with tillering on traditional bows.And recurves are deffinately easier to "see" than longbows.

You'll first see it about mid-limb........and most manufacturers get it pretty dang close here......but as the limb design becomes more highly refined,you'll start to see this bending gracefully extending further out twds limb tip.In practice its like a buggy whip.The limb is getting thinner and narrow'er the closer it gets to the tip(duh).How well this action takes place is visually apparent.The more time you spend watching different shooter/setups(at a right angle) the easier it gets.BW


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## jstange2 (Dec 5, 2010)

Good looking bow!


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

Savage said:


> The buildalongs are pretty cool but I think it wears people out for some reason. Once I did a couple I stopped getting responses. I think people would just look and not comment. Felt like I was in an empty room ya know?


A lot of the projects that I post are kind of buildalongs. I post photos as I go and I used to watch the thread view count to see if people are still interested. There was no comments to be had and the thread count was slow in increasing. Then I kind of thought about it another way. Why was I posting it? It isn't really a concern to me if someone likes my work or not. I don't post the buildalongs or progress pics for self gratification. In fact, it takes quite a bit of time out of my schedule to post. I post the pictures in the hope that it might help just one person. That one guy who is teetering on the edge of whether or not he could do this. It's a nice feeling helping people and knowing that you may have made a difference to someone. Don't let the replies govern whether or not you post a build. Someone is watching and someone is interested whether they post or not. I know the empty room feeling you are talking about but somewhere along the line, someone, even on a google search, will find your build thread helpful. That's my thought on it anyway. I am always humbled, by the PM's that I have received from members on this site, complimenting my work, asking my advice and telling me that I have made a difference to them. Somehow, I think that I'm making a difference in a positive respect.

Beautiful work on the bows. I've only ever shot one a couple of times when I was young, but the bow was in no way as gorgeous as yours. Great work. I, for one, will be watching if you decide to post another build. :thumbsup: Keep up the great work. I'm lovin' it.


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## HS_Woodsman (Feb 24, 2011)

Kenbo said:


> A lot of the projects that I post are kind of buildalongs. I post photos as I go and I used to watch the thread view count to see if people are still interested. There was no comments to be had and the thread count was slow in increasing. Then I kind of thought about it another way. Why was I posting it? It isn't really a concern to me if someone likes my work or not. I don't post the buildalongs or progress pics for self gratification. In fact, it takes quite a bit of time out of my schedule to post. I post the pictures in the hope that it might help just one person. That one guy who is teetering on the edge of whether or not he could do this. It's a nice feeling helping people and knowing that you may have made a difference to someone. Don't let the replies govern whether or not you post a build. Someone is watching and someone is interested whether they post or not. I know the empty room feeling you are talking about but somewhere along the line, someone, even on a google search, will find your build thread helpful. That's my thought on it anyway. I am always humbled, by the PM's that I have received from members on this site, complimenting my work, asking my advice and telling me that I have made a difference to them. Somehow, I think that I'm making a difference in a positive respect.


:thumbsup::thumbsup:


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