Snakey Juniper/Sinew Bow

[WhistlingBadger]

Finished this one up a couple weeks ago. I made it from a very twisty, bendy Rocky Mountain Juniper log which I cut with a hand saw and hauled out of the Shoshone National Forest. Backed with four layers of elk sinew, covered with a bull snake skin. (Yep, that's all one skin--it was a rather big snake) Elk hoof tip overlays and arrow pass inlay. Handle is wrapped with deer leather lace. Finished with pine rosin/lard/beeswax varnish. Coyote fur string silencers. 60" long nock to nock; limbs approximately 2" wide. Pulls 45 pounds at 27". It spits 450 grain arrows at 145 feet per second, which isn't blazing fast but not too shabby for such a weird piece of wood. Thanks for looking.

Ignore the goofy looking guy.

There is a big knot on the upper limb that I wrapped in sinew to keep it from coming apart. Then I covered the sinew in snake skin to make it look nicer. The black dots are just decorative, made with thin hide glue mixed with powdered charcoal.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Unbraced

Unbraced profile. And Tayo, my bow-testing assistant.

Inner limb. Wow, that red juniper heartwood is gorgeous stuff.

Upper limb detail

Elk hoof arrow pass inlay. Juniper is very soft wood, so inlays like this keep the arrows from gnawing a groove in the wood over time.

Close-up of the knot wrap

Elk hoof tip overlay

 

[Back in the fold]

It’s cool ! I’ll definitely give it that . I’ve always liked the look of Juniper wood , it’s very distinctive . The snakeskin covering I could do without but to each his own . Remember what Captain Kirk said about the Gorn in “ Arena “ ? “ My revulsion to this being probably stems from a longstanding revulsion to reptiles that we humans have that goes back to our creation “ . Not an exact quote but close .

 

[WhistlingBadger]

The snakeskin covering I could do without but to each his own . Remember what Captain Kirk said about the Gorn in “ Arena “ ? “ My revulsion to this being probably stems from a longstanding revulsion to reptiles that we humans have that goes back to our creation “ . Not an exact quote but close .

You sound like Mrs. Badger.