Assyrian Bow Improved Pt3

Tillering the bamboo back and belly bow takes a certain skill and understanding to get right. The biggest thing to understand when working bamboo, is that it will compress - a lot... If you aren't prepared for this phenomenon, you will almost certainly miss your target draw weight. Follow along as we take our improved Assyrian bow to full tiller and finish in a hunting class ready to shoot-in.
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[@DironMc]

Awesome! Love how u put together both the old version & the new version. Thanks for the inspiration 😊

[@meadowlarkadventuregear]

@@DironMc Thank you! Hope you’re able to live out that inspiration soon!

[@brettgunnells9308]

The Legend does it again!

[@meadowlarkadventuregear]

@@brettgunnells9308 Thank you Brett!!! Seems I have a reputation to uphold! lol!

[@bienyamientoefy1923]

Greetings to you sir and everyone.exellent results and what a good poundage.nowadays watching you accomplishing your work,I just sit and smile and admire your bow building

[@meadowlarkadventuregear]

@@bienyamientoefy1923 Thank you Bienyamien! I’ve very much admired the work that you’ve shared with me! Thank you for your continued encouragement!

[@rushchaser]

That’s really nice! Great job as always!

[@meadowlarkadventuregear]

@@rushchaser Thank you!

[@stephenballard3759]

Beautiful bow! Surprising how little working limb you get away with.

[@meadowlarkadventuregear]

@@stephenballard3759 yes… the working limb is pretty short. It’s why I chose Bamboo for the belly. It may compress, but it won’t give up. Most wooden applications would fail if not very wide and quite thin. I prefer a more sleek design.

[@musaadfelton3909]

Awesome. I'm learning a lot from this

[@meadowlarkadventuregear]

@@musaadfelton3909 so glad I can help you along your way!

[@christophertracey7201]

Just awesome you make it look easy

[@meadowlarkadventuregear]

@@christophertracey7201 looks can certainly be deceiving lol! Thanks for watching!

[@Mwwright79]

This style of bow is very interesting to me. Never thought of building such a bow until watching these videos of yours. Would there be a problem or would this benefit by using a thin compression strong wood lam for the belly such as osage or ipe?

[@meadowlarkadventuregear]

@@Mwwright79 let me start by saying, thank you for watching and for your feedback! Then I’d say that anything is possible, but my experience tells me that the working limb is way too short, and for that matter, too narrow for even the most compression resistant wood to survive let alone provide enough spring to match this bow’s current performance… if looking for something better in compression, then I’d say horn is the next logical natural material…

[@Mwwright79]

@@meadowlarkadventuregear That makes sense. Thank you!

[@shanek6582]

What wood or woods are the best for not taking much compression? Thanks

[@meadowlarkadventuregear]

@@shanek6582 if it’s not taking compression, it’s breaking - or at a minimum crushing and taking compression fractures. Most wood will certainly fail in place of bamboo in this design of build. The few that would not would easily exceed the amount of set that the bamboo is exhibiting and have terrible cast. To match bamboo, the wooden counterpart would have to be much wider to withstand the strain - so much so that the design would become cumbersome and unattractive in my eyes. The compression that the bamboo is taking is not a bad quality, just one that needs to be managed properly to elevate the material to premier performance. To answer your question though, good compression woods include: Eastern Red Cedar, black cherry, hickory, ipe, yew, Osage and a host of others that I’m sure just aren’t coming to mind right now.

[@user-zg1zl9xx4t]

Hey Jody, why not put something different on the belly that’s good in compression I haven’t been doing a really long time but I’ve built a lot of bowsin the short time I’ve been doing it if you know, bamboo is bad in compression why use it on the belly? I know you must have a reason for it. Just wondering have a good day. Thanks for Sharon.

[@stephenballard3759]

I have found bamboo to be just fine in compression. Both bamboo flooring and whole bamboo. It does depend somewhat of species, but bamboo bellies have existed, and done very well, in Japanese, Chinese, and some SE Asian bows all along. .

[@stephenballard3759]

The fact that it does take more compression is a fair point, but it doesnt FAIL in compression readily. Bamboo flooring, for instance takes a little more set than a comparable weight wood, but refused to fret.

[@meadowlarkadventuregear]

@@user-zg1zl9xx4t very few natural materials are up to the task of a bow like this - horn being the only obvious answer - and I may be taking up experiments in that direction soon, but to be clear - bamboo taking a lot of compression is not a navigating thing. It’s a trade-off for elasticity. Only in the rarest of instances will any piece of wood survive the compression demands of this design and even then, it would only survive - and the bow would likely be a wall-hanger.