Before I even begin, I must extend my sincere gratitude to Pearl Drums for all his help with my selfbow project. As some may remember about 3 months ago Pearly started an osage billet rd build thread. That thread inspired me to make my own selfbow to hunt with this coming fall. As per Pearly's recommendation I contacted fellow waller Osage Outlaw to procure a stave. About a week later I had a beautiful osage stave with a snakey kink that was really cool looking. Being inexperienced I figured the kink would present problems but Pearly said just follow the grain and everything will be fine. I thought yes maybe for an experienced bowyer it's no problem but for me???? So I went to work with my drawknife and as they say "chased a ring". I laid out the bow and went to work with the shaping. Since I only own hand tools it was a somewhat lengthy but very enjoyable process. Once the bow was roughed out it needed some heat straightening to get the limbs to line up with the handle. That's when things went down hill. After straightening the bottom limb and during the process I overstressed the top kinky limb when clamping to my caul. I heard a crack and the bow split along a growth ring from the fade area into the handle. I thought I probably ruined the stave and chalked it up to an amateur mistake. After taking a picture and sending it to Pearly he reaffirmed that yes indeed it was a rookie mistake:) The good news was it's definitely repairable. We decided I would flatten out the area just below the crack and Pearly would send me some osage slats so I could rebuild the handle section. I thought that was really nice of him since he doesn't even know me but was so willing to help me make this build a success. Yep, there are some good people here on the wall. I decided to sandwich an 1/8" redheart slat between the osage slats and the remaining bow handle. I figured a black leather arrow pass with the redheart would match the tip overlays I was planning to use. After completing the tip overlays, handle glue-up, and floor tillering I was ready for the actual tillering process. After a few pics sent to Pearly my tiller was acceptable. On a side note...guys that can tiller as close to perfect as possible certainly have my respect. It is definitely an art. I'm sure there are flaws in my tiller but I'm happy with the result. Today my new selfbow got a workout at the PLA Cabin Fever Shoot and performed very well. I only missed 1 target. Not too bad for a bow I just finished building. Sorry for such a long post but I wanted to share with guys and gals that are on the verge of trying to make a selfbow. Go for it. Give it a try. It can be done with a few hand tools and a little dedication. Who knows, you may find another hobby that is very rewarding:) I'll try and post some pics of the process. Thanks for reading

Way to stick with it Steve. Nice looking 1st bow. How about the specs on it, and a full draw picture?

it looks great but you have to post more pictures... :)

Here's a full draw pic. The specs are 63"NTN 43# @ 26" my draw length.

The crack I created

The finished handle

the snakey kink on the upper limb

the roughed out bow before heat straightening

tip overlay

Belly with string just a slight bit off center of handle. It didn't seem to cause a problem so I left it alone.

Don't know why some pics post sideways. O well

Good job Steve, I bet it won't be your last. Just enough character. Even though your mistake is a rooky mistake I still have it happen on occasion after many years of building so don't feel bad about it.

Looks great!! I hope you make meat with it this fall.

Pretty neat! Congratulations. Jawge

Very nice. I hope when I build my first it will look as good as yours. Well done sir.

Very nice. Congratulations on a fine result for your efforts.

It not only looks nice, but it sounds to me like it shoots nice as well. Good job Steve! But thats old news, time for a new one :)

That is a great looking selfbow. Well done!

Thanks for the compliments guys. I will definitely be building more.

Wow! That sure turned out sweet! Very nice job. Thanks for sharing so we can all learn from it. Handle and tip overlays look great too.

Looks good......

Wow! The bow came out great! Love the sweet tips on it!

Thanks for all the additional photos, really liked how it turned out for you. Congrats.

Great bow! I hope if I ever make one my first turns out as nice as yours did. Lance

osage selfbow is the pinnacle in my book. the tougher it is the more i like it. Thanks for the thread.

Nice job, thanks for sharing!

WAY TO GO STEVE!!!!!!!!!

Super nice bow, that's sticking in there brother.

Super nice looking stave, and great job on it.

These selfbow guys are the greatest, more of you folks need to jump in and get started.

I guarantee you will love it.

Excellent job! You are dealing with the best when your talking Pearl and Osage outlaw!

Very nice looking bow.

Yer doomed now, this bow building stuff is addicting. Great Job, Well Done. John

Great lookin' bow and nice save! Beautiful tips! That's my next project, doing horn tips, or antler.

Sweet bow!

Well done Steve and Pearl. Arvin

Very nice looking bow! I am hoping to complete my first self bow this year as well. Cheers to a job well done.

Nice work, nice save. Beautiful bow. Pappy

Exellent job,,,when building selfbows there's never a mistake just learning experiences....great job.!

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