Another Forward Scout

A friend, David Barnum, asked me to build him a Forward Scout pattern longbow. This involved a bit of a challenge, building outside of my usual comfort zone, as David is tall and has a long draw. I undertook to build the bow and made it a part of a two bow project. Unfortunately, it didn't go smoothly. I ran into problems in the layup of David's bow and then had a couple of medical problems crop up that delayed work. The one week project ended up taking six. I tried something different on this project, keeping a web diary of the build. This is posted on the site as "How It Goes". It's not a build along but rather an account of numerous days of working in the shop and how they went.

Layup:

.040 clear glass

.090 quilted maple

.135 lamboo tapered

power lam

.090 quilted maple

16" bubinga riser

Wood Stack: .315

Total Stack: .395

I was quite concerned about the bow's performance, as I couldn't really test it at full draw. When I shot it, it seemed rather "dull". However, when drawn to full tiller by David it became a totally different bow and performed very well.

 

 

Typical straight limbed Forward Scout Schulz/Hill Style longbow

 

Strung

 

Bubinga riser

 

 

RW

68"

35@28

I think this is one of the greatest pix I've gotten of any of my bows. I love the way the wood layers flow into the curve of this riser pattern.

 

 

Offside

 

 

David at full 30" draw. I rigged the bow on a pulley system and drew it repeatedly to 34" for tillering and safety check.

 

 

David is a recurve shooter and I was concerned about him adjusting to the differences required for the longbow. He started out consistently shooting well to the left and a bit up and down. However, he quickly got the feel of what was required and adjusted his grip and stance and within a few flights was settled down. These were his last four shots.

He's very pleased with the Forward Scout pattern and I really feel that this pattern makes the conversion from recurve to longbow easier.

 

 

A happy new bow recipient and a very relieved bowyer. I think you can see from this picture why I was concerned about working "outside my usual specs"...

 

 

Dick

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