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R. Blacky Schwarz Longbow ReviewLongbow Review: Carbon Elite Longbow from Centaur ArcheryReviewed Longbow
Manufacturer
Jim Neaves, the owner and bowyer
of Centaur Archery grew up in Hamilton, Montana in the
heart of the Bitterroot Valley. He spent his childhood
right next to the Bitterroot River shooting bows and
arrows that his dad acquired for him at auctions and
other occasions. As he got older, he really took to
traditional archery and after reading a lot of books
about bow building and watching several people build
self bows, he gave self bow building a try. That was
thirteen years ago and after several self bows under his
belt; he started selling them to the local archery
community. After about three years into self bows, he
made a switch over to laminated bows, mostly for
reliability concerns for his growing customer line-up.
He also enjoys all of the research
and development that goes into the bows and with an open
mind towards fiber advancements, glues and finishes, it
is his constant pursuit to build the best bow possible
for his customers. Jim believes a good bow will enhance
days in the field and can be passed along generation to
generation, for that little kid that needs a spark of
passion to get started in traditional archery. Along his
bow building journey, he met his wife Katie at the local
health club. They have now been married for five years
and she offers her support working behind the scenes by
preparing paperwork and printing labels to ship bows.
Besides building bows, Jim is also busy with several new
projects. One of them is the development of the Centaur
broadhead. This new broadhead will have a thick blade
with a concave profile, tanto tip and single bevel edge.
It will be available in time for this fall's hunting
season. He's also bringing a new hand spun woolen string
silencer to the market. The new silencer, utilizing
Navajo sheep wool, has natural waterproofing lanolin oil
and comes in the natural, exotic coloration of the wool
fibers. They are already found on every string that
comes with a Centaur bow. Together with some friends,
he's also working on an all traditional hunting DVD that
will hit the market in 2010.
When he's not in the shop or
helping a customer with archery, he's working part time
helping people to get on track with their health through
consulting and personal support.
The reviewed bow is the Carbon
Elite model, with High-Tech limb backing materials to
enhance performance. Let's see what other features this
bow has to offer.
Riser
Length: From fade-out to
fade-out, the riser measures 16 1/2 inches in length.
Material: The center part
of the riser, which features the fade-out ends, is cut
and ground from Charcoal Silvertone Dymondwood and then
embedded between the limb laminations. Dymondwood of the
same color is glued to the belly side of the limbs to
form the grip part of the riser. For looks and contrast
a thin accent stripe from red Micarta is placed between
the outer limb lamination and the grip part. The shelf
is designed with a downward slope towards the sight
window, which helps to keep the arrow on the Velcro rest
during hunting situations. Shelf and Sight window are
radiused to keep the arrow contact areas to a minimum.
Artistic engraving work on the palm side of the grip,
depicting a knapped arrow head, shows the craftsmanship
that goes into building the Centaur bows. Cutting little
dimples into the surface of the grip, not only prevent
slipping of the bowhand, it also enhances the optical
appearance of the bow. Jim calls this eye catching
engraving work "stippling" and offers it as an option on
his bows. An overlay from Red Micarta and black glass,
that matches the overlays on the limb tips, is glued to
the back side of the bow. For a perfect fit, finger
grooves are cut into the front of the riser according to
a tracing of the customer's hand.
Shape: slightly deflexed
Grip: medium low pistol
type grip with finger grooves
Center Cut: Cut to center
Sight Window: The radiused
sight window measures almost three inches in height.
Distance from pivot Point to
shelf:
6/8 inches (from
deepest part of grip to shelf surface)
Physical weight: 21 oz
(complete bow)
Limbs
Bow Length: 60 inches
Draw Weight: 51 lbs @ 28
inches (A.T.A.)
Brace Height: The
recommended brace height is 7 inches and is measured
from the string to the first lamination on the belly
side of the limb.
Shape: Reflexed limbs with
a trapezoid cross-section that is wider at the belly
side.
Material: Two tapered
layers of ActionBoo on the back side of the bow and a
parallel layer of Maple ActionWood on the belly side are
used for the construction of the limb core. The
lamination on the back of the bow is Jim's own lay-up
from carbon fibers and a woven matrix on the surface for
protection and a sophisticated look. His specially
engineered hybrid lamination, designed to withstand high
compression forces, covers the belly side. All limb
laminations are running continuously from tip to tip.
Red Micarta, with a top layer of black multi directional
fiber glass, is the material of choice for the limb tip
reinforcing overlays that permit the use of modern, low
stretch string materials. The size and shape of the limb
tips shows Jim's attention to details. Cutting the tips
to a length of merely half an inch, measured from the
outer edge to the string groove, results in a higher
dynamic efficiency, since a lower mass has to be moved
during the shot.
Limb width: The limbs
measure 1 1/4 inches at the fade-outs and taper down to
five eights of an inch just below the string groove.
String: Dynaflight 97
string material is used to build the Flemish twist
string, with padded loops, that is supplied with the
bow. Strings made from other low stretch, high
performance materials, like D-75, BCY 452-X, TS-1, BCY
8125, Fast Flight etc. can also be used, without any ill
effects.
Finish: For moisture
protection the bow is sprayed with five coats of
Thunderbird two-part epoxy, which also provides a
non-reflective surface, suitable for hunting.
Ordering Options
The Centaur longbows can be
ordered in bow lengths of 54, 56, 58, 60 and 62 inches
and in a right hand or a left hand version. The reviewed
Carbon Elite is the performance enhanced top of the line
model with the specially engineered outer laminations.
There are different combinations of riser woods to
choose from for this model. Jim also offers other models
with veneers under clear glass and a multitude of
different wood choices for the limbs and risers. All
Centaur bows can be ordered in a two-piece take-down
version and with options like Pierce-Points, custom
engraving or inlays to personalize your bow. The grip
can be made in different heights and is sculptured
according to a hand tracing that the customer is
supplying on a piece of paper. For all available options
please refer to the website.
Testing Parameters
A force-draw curve was obtained
from the reviewed bow, using a digital force gauge with
a resolution of 0.1 lbs. Measured bow weight was rounded
to the next half pound. The different arrow speeds were
achieved with the bow shot from a shooting machine with
a mechanical release and with finger release, using a
"Crick-It" clicker and a deerskin glove. The string was
pulled to 28inches A.T.A. that is 26 1/4 inches from the
string to the deepest point of the grip. The (3) arrows
for the speed testing had a weight of 9 grains per pound
of measured (not stated) draw weight. A 16-strand
Flemish spliced Fast-Flight string without any
attachments (silencers, etc.) was used. Speed
measurements were taken 3 feet in front of the back of
the bow with two chronographs set up in a tandem
configuration. Each arrow was shot a minimum of 6 times
and the average achieved speed was rounded to the next
whole digit.
 (Click to see larger image) Test Results
R. Blacky Schwarz is a self employed consultant and
freelance writer and lives close to Heidelberg in
Germany with his wife Danny. They both share the passion
for the Outdoors and especially Bowhunting, which is not
legal in Germany. Danny and Blacky Bowhunt mostly in the
U.S. where they both belong to numerous Bowhunting
organizations, including PBS. Blacky is writing bow
reviews and articles for German, American and African
magazines.
He can be reached at: blacky@BowReports.com R. Blacky Schwarz 01. June 2009 |
For comments, questions or feedback please feel free to send me an email |
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