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selfbow

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david32cal:
would someone please explain,what is a selfbow.

Longhunter:
A "self" bow is a bow made out of all one piece of wood (no fiberglass) or in some cases two pieces spliced together.  A wood laminated bow or a backed bow without fiberglass is a "primitive" bow, but NOT a "self" bow.

david32cal:
what would be the pros and cons of the two,lets say a hickory selfbow and a hickory/osage laminated longbow of eaqual length and pull.

Fletcher:
Any laminated bow, if the backing and belly are properly picked for wood characteristics and are bonded properly, will out perform a pure 1 piece self bow.

The cast will be greater since the limbs will recover quicker and the bow is less likely to 'string follow'.

The question is what do you want out of the bow.

Many want the purity of a one piece bow and will pick the best wood they can.  Osage will out perform Pacific Yew which will out perform hickory.  It is in the nature of those woods.

Add some reflex/deflex to the limb or a true formed recurve and they will have even better cast with the same draw weight.

Look back in the Traditional Bow forum - I am sure this was discussed at length last year or longer and I think the threads are still there.

Longhunter:
With bows, as with anything there are exceptions to every rule. I've had some self bows that shot and performed as well as any laminated bow ever did. I have a osage self bow that was made from two pieces , fishtail spliced together. It was made sometime in the 40's and is still a good shooter today. After shooting it returns to nearly straight after it's unstrung.

Wood bows are different than laminated bows in that the wood it's self has a character all it's own and may sometimes perform very well or not as well. Many bowyers look at a tree and see a bow or bows inside waiting to be free.

In the early 80's I bought an osage bow stave from an old bow maker in Indiana. He had cut the tree and worked the stave down some before putting it away with some other staves that he had. When I got the wood from him he'd had it for 50 years. It was very dark and seasond. The stave had good grain and was exceptionally straight for a one piece osage stave.

I had it for a couple of years before I gave it to a friend of mine that had made many many bows from osage. A few months later he called me and told me the bow was finished and that it was the most perfect piece of osage he had ever worked with. Then he told me he was sending it back to me because , in his words the bow needed to be owned and shot by someone that was a better shot than he was. The stipulation was that I name the bow "Sleeping Beauty" and that I write an appropriate poem on the limb. I have the bow yet today and it is truly an exceptional bow in every way. It is 66" long 60# @ 28" The name "Sleeping Beauty" is written in the belly side of the bow above the riser and on the bottom limb I wrote this poem.

"Fifty years as a Stave I slept
 
 my fate uncertain, my promise unkept

 for love of beauty and days of old

 a bowyer came forth, with hands so bold

 he finished the task and set me free

 to be the bow I was meant to be"

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