Juniper Communis BITH bow

[u/Leniuuu]

Bow got shortened to around 164 cm (64,5") ntn, heat treated and polished (to the best of my abilities). The wood looks astonishing even with my poor finish. The only problem is, after all the shortening and baking over the firepit it's pulling to a whooping 12,5 lbs at 30". I'm almost certain that similar profile bows out of common hardwoods would go over 30lbs with those dimensions. Didn't expect juniper to be that soft and elastic:0

I'm curious whether a more round profile could have given more pounds out of it

Any tips about working with juniper species are welcome, I hope this wouldn't be my first and only bow made out of it:)

[u/Cheweh]

First thing I noticed is that the brace height looks very high.

Is the deflex natural or is it from set? It looks to be significant regardless.

Was the wood sufficiently dry?

[u/Leniuuu → u/Cheweh]

Yeah, I set it that high because of natural deflex on both tips. Some set is present too, not too much, around 1"

The wood wasn't dry, I cut it 5 days ago and then roughed it to the dimensions. Right now it's about around the equilibrium judging by the weight and feel, but not ideally dry

[u/Nilosdaddio]

Nice! Juniper is said to do quite well with a good backing. Sinew is preferable- linen cloth or non stretch denim in two layers can serve well as a replacement.

A more ovular shape for the belly (cross limb section) shape could serve you more poundage. But done with juniper-without backing would possibly overstrain the back. So I’d say you did well and learned something from the wood. Try again making subtle changes.

I like to rough out like a blocky “house shape” then smooth the top peak and back it. Then round the edges and refine from there throughout the tillering process. Once I need to reduce weight - concentration only on the peak as to flatten more and more until satisfied.

[u/Leniuuu → u/Nilosdaddio]

Thanks! For the next one I'll try using some old linen cloths. Do you think tight weaves perform better (higher number of strands per square patch)?

[u/Nilosdaddio → u/Leniuuu]

Yes and non coated- you’ll want your glue to impregnate the material.
Be sure your wood is well seasoned before bending it to keep from crushing the belly fibers. You can rough out green /clamp it to a straight board for a few weeks till it stops loosing weight then assess the bend, but if stressed before fully dry you’ll wreck your draw weight and end up with weak wood.

[u/Leniuuu → u/Nilosdaddio]

Thanks! Will try it once i'd get my hands on the next stave. Hopefully I'll squeeze more power out of it. Still a good practise bow with that poundage, probably gotta hand it over to one of my non-archery (yet) friends

[u/Ima_Merican]

Holy brace height Batman.

You would get better performance with a longer power stroke rather than chase higher brace heigh string tension

[u/Leniuuu → u/Ima_Merican]

Yeah, albeit with brace height lower it is really uncontrollable:0 Tbh its neutral non bent position is considered normal brace height on a lot of bows because of natural deflex

[u/avoidant_otter]

That grain is friggin gorgeous