This is My Bow.

The only photo I have showing my hand made bow and arrows hanging on a small caribou rack. The bow is made from a 5½ foot long piece of ash. This was picked up from a specialty wood store in Anchorage. After roughing out the basic shape, I took a piece of ¾ inch plywood and build a form in the shape I wanted for the finished bow. The form and bow were soaked in a local pond for almost 3 weeks. After it was completely soaked and pliable, a steam gun took out most of the moisture. Two bowstring notches were carved and strung with woven pieces of artificial sinew into a tension stretcher to make the curving more pronounced as well as stronger. The wood was fire-hardened with a torch. After the bow was mostly dry, I looked for cracks and splits and found none. I relocated the wood screws to the finished shape and tightened the string.

After 3 plus weeks of air-drying I made a new string and tested the "feel " and pull of the bow. Satisfied so far, I then used a mix of lacquer, glue and thinner to coat the bow several times for maximum penetration. It was placed back on the plywood to dry. After checking and reapplying a few more light coats of the lacquer, I unstrung it and "cured" it over a campfire. I used a fiberglass resin compound to seal it. After it was dried, I applied a light coat of glue and wound a long strip of thin doe skin to all but the bow string notches. I then used 1 inch wide black lacing to complete a diagonal cameo pattern. The bow now has a pull weight of about 55 pounds. Fiberglass filler and the black leather strips to complete the hand grip and arrow rest. It shoots fairly flat and straight and can bring down a deer.