I wanted to share a bow that I finished recently. This was made from the branch of a Pacific yew tree. It had a very high crown on the back and so to make the most out of this challenging piece of wood I hollowed out the belly to match the contour of the back. This redistributed the stress across the width of the limb and reduced unused mass that would otherwise slow the bow down. I backed it with deer rawhide for added tensile strength and then added some western diamond back rattlesnake skins for decoration. The tip overlays are carved from buffalo horn to resemble the rattles. I used the natural layers and contours of the limb to create a unique handle design. The bow is 64" long and pulls 50#@28"

[img]https://i.imgur.com/PJTjrDE.jpg[/img] [img]https://i.imgur.com/t6nUP3p.jpg[/img] [img]https://i.imgur.com/HllPgWi.jpg[/img] [img]https://i.imgur.com/bTnNF4C.jpg[/img] [img]https://i.imgur.com/Xqq8HaJ.jpg[/img] [img]https://i.imgur.com/s4Y19Yy.jpg[/img] [img]https://i.imgur.com/abllXLJ.jpg[/img] [img]https://i.imgur.com/qC58Pha.jpg[/img] [img]https://i.imgur.com/kwosOsd.jpg[/img] [img]https://i.imgur.com/qNsfeOf.jpg[/img] [img]https://i.imgur.com/7xOMkGH.jpg[/img] [img]https://i.imgur.com/A20GXCf.jpg[/img] [img]https://i.imgur.com/uBHZUTY.jpg[/img] [img]https://i.imgur.com/MhLyYGk.jpg[/img] [img]https://i.imgur.com/D5ng1T3.jpg[/img] [img]https://i.imgur.com/SevGBRA.jpg[/img] [img]https://i.imgur.com/7gMhoFl.jpg[/img] [img]https://i.imgur.com/ncruPWp.jpg[/img] [img]https://i.imgur.com/rGM7roo.jpg[/img] [img]https://i.imgur.com/rb9j8hT.jpg[/img] [img]https://i.imgur.com/bw8p9A6.jpg[/img] [img]https://i.imgur.com/miWNNTp.jpg[/img] [img]https://i.imgur.com/nVzWVj2.jpg[/img]

Sorry for all the code. I thought those would show up as pictures. Here are some pictures...

wow very cool

WOW .. what a beautiful strange bow ... I suspect you're going to receive a lot of questions

That my friend is one of the coolest bows I have ever seen!! Congrats on a beautiful build!!!

thats a sharp looking bow

Very impressive! Incredible workmanship!! Richard

Wow, that is probably one of the most unique bows I ever seen! Very cool!

Super cool!

Beautiful bow and tiller! Jawge

You win!!! Coolest bow of the month!

T4

WAY cool! Fascinating bow, how does it shoot?

Thanks guys! Glad you like it.

Scattershot, it shoots great. Comparable to a well made flat bow of the same specs. Besides looking cool, the hollow limb design lets you use a high crowned stave and still get an effective and durable bow out of it.

Now that's a keeper.

Nice,very nice.

Absolutely stunning!

wow I honestly think that is a special bow right there,,,, I haven't been following the stick bowyers much lately but I never seen a bow limbs done like that...

That sir is incredible. Beautifully done.

Absolutely awesome job Weylin....if I were younger and richer I'd bug you till you built me one just like it.

Outstanding, like all your work Weylin. Your attention to detail is second to no one.

Beautiful job. I don't know much about Yew but if the light and dark wood are in the right working places that should be an awesome bow. The scalloped belly and the limb tips are are a work of art. I would love to see it shooting. >>>----> Ken

a labor of love... :) your bows are always amazing...

THAT IS AMAZING!!!!!!!!!

Really is amazing work!

Oh my!!!!

Absolutely ne of the most amazing looking bows I've ever seen. And the ingenuity of the limb design is genius.

Beautiful work,, I'm thinkin' you just don't knock that out in a week. I like how you did the tips, impressive detail. Congrats. Curious on how much it weighs. Where does that design come from?

Good looking bow . What is the mass onthat bow? Arvin

Can’t think of a better use for that piece of you. Yew did well!

That is amazing I want one!!!!!!

They should be a award on the Wall for the best bow of the month. This would win hands down. I salute you sir!!!!!!!

Like so many. of your bows, I'm sure it will be in "Primitive Archer" as a bow of the month. Another work of art!

Have you ever done one like this before?

A stunning looking bow!

WOW!

Impressive in all regards. Well done and thanks for sharing.

A wooden ACS, amazing and absolutely beautiful bow, well done!

Unique and beautiful execution.

That turned out amazing!

It's all been said, but man that is awesome. I have never seen limbs done that way, or even remotely considered it would be possible. Congratulations and again WOW!!!

-Bones

Like everyone has already said WOW. Possibly the most original, beautiful,stunning, coolest bow ever.

Damn that is a cool self bow. Don't think I could pull that off in a glasser! Can see some real performance advantages in that by taking the mass weight out of the limbs. Has a pretty sweet bend also. Thanks for posting it

That's a super looking bow, unique and so well executed. Thanks for showing us what can be done and posting it to show us what it looked like.

Wow, that is quite a bow! The design is one of the most impressive I have seen!

Amazing bow Weylin. Your bows never cease to amaze.

You did a REAL nice Job! You definitely got talent.

I've read the Bowyer's Bible series of books about four times and never heard of removing core wood to compensate for a high crown. Does that imply that there was way more wood in compression than tension, even with the backing? I admire your understanding of selfbow design. The drawn profile is beautiful.

Also, I'm a sucker for woodgrain. Nice job, and thanks for posting.

arlone referred to your other bows. I, would enjoy seeing more of your work.

WOW !!! Outstanding Sir!!

Very nice and Unique I might ad...

The OMG bow! Yes, possibly a wooden ACS- not just a "Bow of the Month" winner; this one sets a whole new standard. I've heard it said that everything that could be done, has been done- but I don't this has ever been done in a all-wood bow.

Guess it happens naturally with a single piece, halved bamboo stave; but your bow is unique in the truest sense of the word.

Thanks for sharing- now get ready for the orders!

Again, super cool, and everything said above. And I'll take one....no, make it two! I'll pm you with the specs. :)

I need to own at least one masterfully done selfbow and I'm picking you for it!

Seriously, that bow may just be one in a million.

Beautiful bow as always Weylin. Guess a lot of these guys haven't seen a hollow limb design. There a few out there but you'll be hard pressed to find a nicer one. I'm pretty sure I'll be voting for it over on PA for Bow Of the Month. Always enjoy looking at your stuff and that's a beautiful bend.

Bjrogg

Sure hope you entered that one with Primitive Archer! I can't add much to the above comments, but as a selfbowyer, I'll say you have reached a level of skill that is special! Great great work!

Yeah I take my hat off to ya The love and care you have put into that bow is beyond belief for most folk.Me too.Some where I have pictures of hollowed out limbed bows built by native people.It may be of interest to you.You have more than likely independently came up with that idea but it obviously solved your problem I am going to try and find the pictures in my archived photo album and post some up.Thanks for sharing it warms my heart OSR

Wow....Just incredible....unbelievable talent. Thanks for sharing the pics.

Love it. How does it shoot compared to other bows you have made? Also, I noticed in all the pictures you have your glove on your left hand except the picture of you drawing the bow??? Great job. Love to hear more about it

Labor of love.

Thank you for the kind words, everyone. I'm glad you appreciate my work.

I didn't come up with this design. Like some of you pointed out it has been done by various native peoples in the past. I first saw it in Simon's work of Stone Hill Primitive. He has really explored the design, I've only done a few. If you're interested in learning more about it I encourage you to go to his site and read about it.

B arthur, it shoots great. comparable to a good flatbow. You're observant to notice the glove thing. I'm a lefty. This bow can be shot either way because there is no shelf. I put my glove on to take pictures but put it on my left hand without thinking, when i needed to draw the bow for the full draw shot I remembered I wanted to do it right handed and switched the glove. :)

WOW! I’m sorry I missed this one until today! “Unbelievable” doesn’t even begin to describe my feelings about your craftsmanship, let alone the bow! I’d also like to see more. Just wow! Lance

Amazing! Now that is thinking outside the box. Has that ever been done before? I have never seen a hollowed out limb. Very cool looking bow. Beautiful work of killer art...

Tonto59 if you read the reply Weylin posted two replies above yours he explains that it's not his original design and where he first saw it. It's also not his first hollow limb design. Weylin is a very skilled bowyer. He has a quite a few bows in Primitive Archery Magazine that won Bow Of the Month. They are all beautiful shootable bows that deserve to be shot. He is the real deal and as I said before I love to look at his work. Who knows, maybe someday I'll be lucky enough to own one myself. Give him a pm I think he has put up a shingle if you know what I mean, but you better ask him for sure.

Bjrogg

PS Weylin I love the way you kept some sapwood on the edges of the fades coming around to the belly side of handle. Really helps show off the HLD

Arvin Weaver in Texas builds excellent performing bows that are very good looking too boot. He seems to work with the best straightest grain Osage staves. He is just not into character bows.>>>----> Ken

Very impressive incredible workmanship

That's really nice I love the profile of it strung and the tip overlays are amazing.

That bow has character, very nice sir

Thats an ACS

Dayham cool :-) JF

Maybe this has already been asked. Does your hollow limb design require the bow to be backed or could it be shot unbacked? I understand the pro’s of backing. I just wondered since it’s Yew, was there not enough sapwood? Beautiful bow.

Good question about the backing. The design does not require backing in general. I shot this bow about 200 times unbacked. I'm sure it would have been fine with out the rawhide. The sapwood rings were so incredibly thin that I had violated them in a couple spots just by gently scraping the cambium off with a dull spoon. With yew a little violation on the back is generally no big deal but with the amount of work I put into this bow I wanted to be be on the safe side.

I cannot expound any further on the beauty of the bow than has been stated already. Congratulations on a great job.

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