My latest Homemade Longbow

[Rancid Crabtree]

Then I worked on the riser. there was a lot of epoxy to remove.



The risers looks good and so do the skive cuts that joined the strips of maple





I then made a line on each end of the limbs that was 34 niches from the center point of the bow. (68 inches overall length) I used a fine tooth hacksaw to cut the ends off.





Both ends measured the same thickness.



Then I used the washers to string the bow before I cut the string grooves.



Here is is strung but with a bow string that is too long so the brace height is only about 5 inches. I used the string from my longbow. It is the only string I have for that bow. (that is an important point that will be realized a bit later.



To check for limb twist, I wanted to look at more than just saw cuts at the ends of each limb so I took a carbon fiber shaft and taped it in place on each limb. I made sure they were at 90 degrees to the limb.



With the washers in the measured center of the limbs, there looks to be no twist in the limbs.



I marked the centerline of the bow along the entire length and used a strip of wood to mark a straight line for the limb taper toward the string nocks.





Just as I was marking the last line on the other limb, all hell broke loose, Something whacked me in the finger and the bow jumped up off the table. When I figured out what it was, I had to search high and low for both washers. The bow string (my only string for my bow) had broke. My guess is that I left too sharp an edge on the inside of the groove and it cut through the string. Now I have no string for either bow. Time to scramble and locate a 64 inch string for my bow and a 63 inch string for the new bow.