Elm HLD flat bow, 67#/28 (No. 66)

This is a short time (about 30 h) fumed elm flattie. The remaining cambium on the back turned into a deep black, really great effect. Next time I will leave on more cambium! The wood came out a lot more darker than before, but obviously there are not that much tannin acids in elm than in osage or ash.

It came from a sapling, you can see the pith channel on a handle pic. The limbs have some changing twist in them, I left it  – cause no problem whiletillering. I made  a HLD cross profile and I must say this bow is a very good shooter. The bow is mild heat treated before fine tillering, the color is not from the heating but alone from fuming.

Tips are buffalo horn.
Perhaps it don’t looks so in the pics, but this is a big bow: 68½” long and 2¼” wide at max.

5 Comments

You were right about Cornus Mas it is a difficult wood! Please do not stop making and posting your bows – they are inspirational. One day I would love to shoot one of them all the best from Prignitzer Bowman

Hello my name is johnny Forsyth I live in southeastern Georgia and have been making or trying to make wooden bows since 2008. I’ve been admiring your work on primitive archer for years. You’re unbelievably talented! Thank you for taking the time to post your work and in the process teach me so much. I tried your HLD on what is thought of by many as marginal bow wood (sweet gum) it turned out to be my personal best seemingly set resistant when compared to my other bows, lightweight, quiet shooting and surprisingly quick.It developed a crysal after many, meaning a thousand or more shots. The crysal appeared in an area about 1/4 inch wide between a knot and the edge of the working section of a limb. Had the knot not been there I’m certain it would still be in pristine shape. In spite of the crysal I Got two deer with it this year both shots were complete pass throughs with 700 grain reed (river cane) arrows tipped with 2 blade, Ace Standard 125g double bevel broadheads. The bow measures 65 1/2 inches long and pulls around 52 lbs at 28 inches with a light heat treatment on the belly. I will attempt this design as often as I can in the future. Thanks for inventing and sharing this fantastic design.

Hi Johnny,
Thank you for that nice feed back, I appriciate very much! And that’s a cool story, wish I could also some day with a bow. Here in Germany it is not allowed. Check out the HLD aricle in the ‘Thoughts’ category in the menue.
I really wait for feed back, especially on HLD bows. I think this is an special thing and we all should share our insights. Thanks again and good hunting!

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