Building my own Carbon Frankenbow for 2024

[nphunter]

Got the bow together today. It looks nice, only put a few arrows though it and it shoots well especially for not being tuned.

Shooting a 453gr arrow at about 27 5/8”, 63lbs, came out to 266fps. Which is just over 340IBO. I’m pretty excited, I’m ordering limbs and will be shooting 73lbs so in the end I’ll be just under 290fps with a 450fr arrow and 27.5” draw length which I’m pretty happy with. As pictured with 3 arrows the total bow weight is 5.42lbs ready to hunt.

The bow draws very nice, it’s firm but smooth all the way from the start to the wall. Once your back it just hangs out on the wall easily there isn’t a big valley but it’s there and it doesn’t want to take off at all when you relax with the 85% mods.

Before I made the swap I was shooting like 262fps at 28” with 70lb limbs and the same arrows.

I’ll update again once I put the new limbs on it and get it tuned.

 

[tdoublev]

I’d kill for those numbers. Curious to hear what your all in cost is in the end. Glad it’s working out!!

 

[nphunter]

I’d kill for those numbers. Curious to hear what your all in cost is in the end. Glad it’s working out!!

Here’s a breakdown:

$1050 Bow Used but very nice
$275 Cams Overpriced but local
$150 Custom Strings (High Voltage)
$164 Ti Firenock bolts (not necessary)

-$260 for my old cams and strings

So I’m only in the build about $1215 right now for the bow with EM2’s $1379 with the Ti bolt kit. I’m guessing the limbs will be similar to cams and I will be able to almost get all of my money back selling my current limbs that are like new.

A person could also save $30-40 bucks using a cheaper string maker as well.

 

[MattB]

My draw weight started at 68lbs and went to 63lbs.

Not sure how to interpret that, are you referencing a loss in poundage because your string/cables crept once you started shooting them?

 

[nphunter]

Not sure how to interpret that, are you referencing a loss in poundage because your strings/cables crept once you started shooting them?

The EM2 cams are smaller than the EC2 cams so they put less flex in the limbs which creates less draw weight.

 

[TX_hunter]

Really cool project. I just picked up a mach34 myself but luckily with a 30" draw I was close to the top of the s2 cam. I'm averaging an equivalent 337ibo with most arrows I tested.

 

[nphunter]

Well I got the new limbs in. The final weight is right at 74lbs. The bow draws nicely, stiff but smooth all the way to the wall and just locks in, it takes a little effort to come off of the wall and let down which is nice. Holds really well and feels great on the shot.

final specs:

27.6” draw
73.8lbs
6.69” BH
34.124” ATA
341 IBO
453gr arrow @ 288fps

I’m very happy with the specs, pretty much blows every other carbon bow out of the water and most aluminum bows as well.

 

[Beendare]

With a short draw...why didn't you just go with the shorter ATA bows vs that 34" Mach34 for better performance?

Or even the Levitate which is 32"

 

[nphunter]

With a short draw...why didn't you just go with the shorter ATA bows vs that 34" Mach34 for better performance?

Or even the Levitate which is 32"

I shoot longer ATA bows better. There really isn’t a better performing bow that’s shorter either. To shoot off of the top of any of the cams with PSE I’d have to custom build one.

I sold a Hoyt RX4 to build this it was one of the faster Hoyt carbons made short of the turbo models. It shot a 338 IBO with a 5.5” brace height at 29” ATA. My previous Carbon Spyder turbo shot the same speed as the RX4 with a 5.185” brace height and had zero valley.

I found that shooting my kids longer ATA bows and larger BH bows I could shoot better than with my own bow. It’s not that I couldn’t shoot it very well, it shot well but wasn’t forgiving at all. I killed a bunch of animals with it but decided I wanted a more forgiving bow. I thought about a Hoyt Ultra but they are super slow at my draw length and heavy. The levitate would have probably been a good bow but after looking at what I could build I was able to build a 34” ATA bow that has a bigger brace, longer ATA is faster.

 

[Jake T]

What are those fingers on your press? They look like they articulate to match the bow limb contour?

 

[nphunter]

What are those fingers on your press? They look like they articulate to match the bow limb contour?

They are LCA limb lock adapters. They are for past parallel limbs.

 

[nphunter]

Loving this bow. I haven’t shot for a few weeks because I’ll be starting the season with my recurve and really need to shoot it a lot since I shoot instinctive.

Went out and shot to see how I’d do in the cold bow challenge once it starts. Here’s my first group from 80 after not even picking up the bow in 3 weeks.

Still running it without any stabilizers.

 

[Wolf13]

Nice! I'm working to copy you, love this idea and the results you've gotten. Just trying to get my hands on the cams as the two shops I frequent have not been willing (or able, not sure which) to get me a set... If it comes to it I can buy a supra to order replacement cams and bake that into the total cost.