Well I've been lurking in my blind reading all your posts for years. I'm a virgin at this, please be gentle. I have never had the guts to chime in, so here we go.

This is my 8th SUCCESSFUL selfbow, which does not include ALL the bow's that have stoked up the wood stove. The wood is Osage (obviously), Jatoba & Box Elder. The two Garter snakes came to visit me in the Stone Shop and left without their hide. It is my brainchild or Hybred Grumley, Shakespear, Kodiak and alot of other influences.

When I started carving Decoys, we use to bring them to our wood carvers meetings. We would gather round and critique, good & bad. So fire at will.

I think the tips are beautiful and well crafted. Do you have any full length pics?

I'm in no position to critique anyone's self bow work, but from an aesthetic view it's a beautiful piece art work. Well done! How does that large handle and rest work for you? Does it shoot as nice as it looks?

Wow Stoner - those are awesome. Can you make me one?

Great looking bow!!

What a neat looking bow, great job! Those skins look amazing!!!

I think it looks like a piece of art. Very pretty.

Now that's a snake bow. Great job!!

Stoner, if you have been lurking awhile you know we need full draw pictures. It looks like your top limb is a good bit longer than the bottom, I make mine longer too, but yours seems like more. What is the difference in length between the two?

I have never had a garter snake like that crawl up to me, must grow them big there.

Looks like an awesome bow and very unique. Your attention to detail is obvious.

Now post those full draw pictures.

I hope Jawge sees this thread... You may want to private message him and let him know you posted these.

Beautiful work, congrats.

Frank

That is a beautiful bow. I love osage, the snakier the better. Very nice.

Flat out awesome and beautiful

I guess you were posting as I was...you knew the drill. How about an unbraced picture of the bow.

The difference between the two limbs doesnt seem as great now, must have been the angle of that one picture.

What a beauty!! looks like it sits in your hand well. Absolutly love the quiver.

If you have the time can you please post a closer pic of the head of the fox quiver.

Thanks

Amazing!

GREAT WORK! THOSE SNAKE SKINS ARE AMAZING! SCARE THE HECK OUT OF YOU IF IT WAS LAYING ON THE GROUND SKIN SIDE UP!

Beautiful!...4finger

I'll critique it....WOW, your attention to detail is obvious. Even your firewood is cut at the same length. Looks like there is a small hinge in the upper limb, but it could be the picture. Excellent work!

Ishmael is 5th from the top.

The handle was carved to fit my big paws, that got this way from big mallets, chisels and stone.

I love the skins on that bow!!

Impressive; very nice and see a lot of thought went into that

apprecieated here

Wow! That is a bold work of art. It looks like it could slither away if you put it down.

I couldn't resist posting a couple more pics. Yesterday no snow, tee shirt, bermuda shorts & flip flops. Today I feel like Nanook of the North.

If you don't like the weather in Michigan, wait five minutes.

Yes there is a small hinge 8" down from the top. It has no frets but changes the tiller an 1/8".

The fire wood cut to size is a product of my OCD.

Truly impressive!

Wow! Nice, thanks for sharing

Stoner, Absolutely great work and artistry! Nothing wrong about being obsessive-compulsive so long as it's channeled into worthwhile endeavors..which you seem to be doing..:) Jim

Man thats a nice look'n bow!

Beautiful

I like the bow tremendously. Those were some big garter snakes!. The beaver quiver with tail attached is fantastic. Can you post more info and photos. I would really like to see how it is made.

Thanks!

Now that's just showing off! Wow.

Wow! What an interesting piece of functional art. Dan

That is awesome, Stoner. George

Very nice and unusual bow!

I would say your mighty blessed there bud. Most of us can't even think how to make a bow let alone buid one. Its all good praise God. This is pretty cool and didn't know a garter could look so good.

Amen

Really cool looking bow. From the number on your rack it looks like you have made a few. I haven't had a chance to work on such a snakey one and understand the tiller can be a bit difficult on these so take these comments with that in mind:

To me it looks like you could have helped the hinge on the upper a bit more by getting it bending a bit more out of the handle. Seems to be a longer stiff section to me compared to the bottom limb.

What did the draw weight some out to?

That is awesome:) Some of you guys really amaze me on here.

Functional Art taken to the top !!!! Creativity and the ability to make the wood take it's form with hand tools is what real craftsmanship is all about. I need to ask what kind of wood the handle is made from - I really dig the tip treatment. I'm not big on skins - have seen some Copperheads that I liked, but yours are unique, and add to the overall effect. Also, any chance you could tell me what type of chisel is used to cut stone ??? Superb work - glad you broke it out to show us !!!

OCD is a good thing my friend. That is one Bas A$$ Bow..

But, I too have been waiting to hear the length difference between upper an lower limbs...

Nice work. Too fancy for my rough-n-tumble kind of archery, but very well done.

Jim

Thanks for sharing that one...truely a beautiful bow! Your attention to detail, as mentioned above, is commendable.

You asked for critiques so here's what I think. Everyone has their own styles for what they like but I would certainly get both those limbs bending more close to the handle (out of the fades). This is sometimes more difficult with a challenging stave such as that one. My only other tip is about the nocks. They look superb but I suspect they add a bit of hand shock. The tip overlays on the BACK are useful when using the higher performance strings. When you add it to the belly side it's just added weight (thus the hand shock).

The reference to Hagar is a nice one as well.

Chris

Great looking bow! That handle wood is very cool. How the heck did two garter snakes that big?

A Truely Gifted Craftsman You Are Sir !! !!

I wasn't surprised at all about the garter snakes, I've seen several ones that are 6 feet long here. I'll have to try that next time I step over one on the back porch...... That box elder goes great with osage, did you cut it yourself? If so, nice find.

garter snake is a color full snake never seen one over 3 foot though.They sure look good on that bow.

THANK YOU ALL. I will take all the feedback and try to incorporate into the next bent stik.

Ishmael is a 66" bow with 3" fades T&B and a 4" handle. 1-5/8" average width for 12" or so on the T&B limbs. The limb thickness runs 9/16" @ handle to 7/16" @ tip. The handle is split at the center line 1" up & 3" down. As for the name all my bows have a Bible referance. My first bow has no Bible passage but is named Genesis ( In the beginning God created....)

Broken arrow & Fisher - I will post some critter quiver pics in the future, thanks for asking. My wife hates openning the freezer after huntin season and seeing things looking back at her.

As for the Garter snakes, it's catch and release. I lay them next to a yard stick in the shop. If they don't measure up, I let them slither back under the rock in the shop to eat more crickets.

Gaur - The tiller is 3/16" different between T&B limbs, eccept at that hinge just below the top nock wich jumps to 5/16"+. I marked the hinge EARLY in the build / rough-in and never touched it till final finishing. The fades scare the heck out of me as last summer/fall I took too much off the bow I was in the final stages, put a hand held scale on it and CRRRRACK kindling wood:( Well it was late October so I strung my 53 Kodiak and cried all the way to the deer woods. That is untill I got my first archery buck:)

Barebo2 - As far as stone tools go, thats a whole nother can of worms. To help understand stone carving please see my web site. Thanks for asking.

www.carvednstone.com

Longbowsmith - the brush nocks are a fetish of mine. I got a thing for static recurves & Grumley's. I tend to try and recreate something and when the challenge is done I'm bored and on to the next one. I will however try more wood removal by the fades next time & try to lighten up the tips. I did not know the tips created the hand shock I thought it changes with brace height, but that's what I get for thinking:)

David111111 - Yes, I generally cut all my wood local. Esspesially that Box Elder. Gotta get rid of the place where all them darn stinky bug procreate! The Jatoba came from a job site I was on. They were laying the floor and I heard the saw struggling thru the wood. So I grabbed a bunch of cut off's.

Thanks again for all the feedback

Stoner,

I must say that is one of the strangest, coolest, fanciest, nicest selfbows I ever seen!

I hope the Osage doesn’t turn colors on you; the contrasts are spectacular. If you finished the bow with Tru-oil, then the wood may stay true in color.

Regarding the tips, if you have much hand-shock, then it’s well worth the addition. Them tips are a thing of beauty.

The skins are way cool, but with a dark color, they tend to absorb more heat from the sun, thus leading to warmer limbs. Not real good, but that’s what I’ve been told. Just keep that in mind if you do much shooting in the direct summer sun. (I could be wrong on this, but that’s what my mentor told me way back when.)

The upper limb got away from you regarding the tillering. Lesson learned, you can’t buy experience. You’re one heck of a wood carver.

You may notice some brace changes (tiller) as you shoot the bow more and more because the upper limb is static 5-6” up from the fade.

How much shorter is the lower limb than the upper?

Back many posts, there’s one person that asked about what chisel you use for stone work.

Thanks for sharing this great looking bow. Sent you a PM.

Russell

Russell - Thanks for the feedback though i am not worthy after watching & reading your carve-a-long (what a great thread).

I did use Tru-Oil, which I stumbled across when refinishing some old long bows for a friend. Then I got to wondering about carving a bow from scratch and the rest is history. As far as the color goes the bow is in it's youth and very pretty. As we age we evolve with more charicter lines & color. Like me with smashed fingers, more chrome in my beard & top knot & charicter lines.

I apreciate the info on the dark color of the skins. I will keep a watchful eye on the lamination with hide glue. I usually only shoot a bow for a season, harvest a critter, hang it on the rack, shoot it one or two times a year & onto the next crooked bent stik.

I got a chance to watch someone shoot Ishmael yesterday. If things get too far out of wack & my OCD kicks in I will strip-it, scrape-it & refinish-it.

The top limb measures 29" & the bottom is 27"

The chisels I mostly use for stone are carbide, I can't find many blacksmiths annymore to draw & harden my steel chisels. I get some from the stone belt in Bloomington, Indiana, some from Trow & Holden in Vermont & some from Italy. One my new favorite tools is a bodark 4# mallet turned by a local fellow who got me thinking about the Box Elder wood. He turns some really cool bowls with that red marbling.

PM not recieved?

Thank you sooo much for your knowledge & insight. Stoner

nice bow,,,, really like the skins,,,,,

Good looking bow from what looks like was a challenging piece of wood. Pappy

Love the grip.

Lovely craftsmanship, Stoner, impressive vision and execution. but since you asked for feedback and ideas, there are a couple of points others have given me that might help on your next project.

First, I'd go with LongBowSmith and Russell on the tips and tiller. Looks like much of the inner limbs aren't working at all.

Also, as best I can see from the photos, there is very little radius in the osage at the grip ends. I'd be concerned about the handle coming off since any bend would put great stress on that glueline. That may not be a problem on this bow since the inner limbs are so stiff, but worth watching on your next projects.

I know lots of us look forward to seeing them! ken

Kentowl, Thanks for the feedback, I will keep an eye on the laminated glue line in the handle. This is my first attempt at glueing a handle together. I also revised my tillering gizmo to match the one that Russel uses to help get the whole limb working.Thanks again, John

Stoner,

I'm truly impressed. Your craftsmanship and the personality you crafted into the bow is amazing!

One question though. Box elder (Acer negundo) is one of the most brittle and weakest woods in N America. Is it in bow tips?

You have mad skills, Stoner. Mad freak'n skills!

WOW! I'm speechless.

Tips & handle are Box Elder. But I used a stone trick and impregnated the wood with thin epoxy for strength.

Stoner,

Thought so. Amazing. So the Jatoba is the darker cherry wood laminated against the Osage and the box elder is the lighter more colorful wood on the exterior?

Kinda looks like Neapolitan Ice cream with the chocolate Jatoba & the strawberry/vanilla Box Elder

Cool! I agree with Gorbin, you have mad skills! A Picasso. Who in the world would've known the beauty box elder had that beauty.

I am su very jealous!!! Excellent!!!

I am so very jealous!!! Excellent!!!

Awesome bow!!!!!!

Great thread.

James.

Absolutely beautiful stuff! :)

Wow!!! I'm jealous.

John, you cut the tether of your creative imagination on this one, "From the past into the future" Great job!

Great job, stoner. Welcome! You've got a pm. Jawge

That is some incredible work Stoner. With that kind of talent, you shouldn't be shy at all about chiming in!

I also agree with a couple of comments about the snakes. I've seen ONE Garter snake that size in my 44 years here in Ga. We have a lot of them, but most of the ones I see here are 12 -18" long. You all grow 'em bigger up north!

Again, great job on the bow. I look forward to seeing more of your work here on the wall.

Stoner, we talked on the phone today about arrows and such. Ismael is a fine bow! Very unique and deserving of praise. Bob in ND.

Great bow!

Wow!!!!!!

Dang, 'nother bow with the rest on the wrong side. So ant-lefties --- . But, still pretty darn good for a rightie job!

Impressive craftmanship.

Rank

Well..it is different.

I can't speak to how they shoot, but your craftsmanship and creative eye is superb. And thanks for sharing. You've been holding out on us ;-)

Thanks once again folk's. Hope my next one meets all your standards. Keep an eye out for the WOLVERINE. John

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