Hornbeam Video

I've got it out to28", it's pulled out all the recurve and is down to about 35#.
There is a knot which I've excavated in the belly of one limb and the deflex on the lower limb doesn't help the bow.
It's not the prettiest bow, but it shoots. I may use some heat treatment to gently try and straighten the deflex out a bit and stiffen up the weak areas, hopefully restore it to 40# at 28"
It was 40# but I slimmed the tips and outer limbs to try and spread the load from the overworked section.
The inner limbs are still doing all the work. If I heat treat the inner limbs and slim the outer limbs even more I can maybe loose some mass whilst adding draw weight to produce a faster bow.
At the moment it shoot s like a slightly tired 35# bow. (Mind it has got a heavy string with an aluminium toggle on it).
I've started work on the heat treating, I'll get it finished this evening, but it will need a few days for the wood to settle down again. It's looking much more symetrical, straightish limbs, just set back very slightly in the handle giving about an inch of reflex. With it more symetrical I should be able to tiller it to a better looking and more effective/efficient curve.

Meanwhile I've been making up half a dozen arrows with self nocks for a shoot on Sunday. I'll be shooting 'Twister' in the primitive class, which doesn't allow plasic nocks. I set up the bandsaw so that I could cut rough cut the nocks all the same, and then clean 'em up with a needle file and sandpaper. I make them keyhole shaped so they are a firm fit to get them on the string, but once on the string they are no longer gripping, I think this minimises the risk of splitting an arrow at the loose.