Author Topic: Creek Hickory Bow  (Read 7160 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

jason5881

  • Guest
Creek Hickory Bow
« on: April 06, 2010, 06:11:18 pm »
Hi all,

I made the narrow hickory bow, thanks for all the info.

It is 1 1/8" wide, 68"ntn, 5/8" tips, grip is 7/8" thick, moving to 3/8" tips.

It matches the dimensions almost exactly for the Creek bow on page 53 TBB V2

I cut the nocks to be the same as the Creek bow, as well as induced tip reflex with heat.

Using the heat was actually very frustrating, since I broke the first bow I made from trying it. I had totally finished my first bow, but broke a limb while heat reflexing the tip, so I had to make an entire new bow, and those are the pics that you see. It was the first bow I broke, and extremely frustrating, because of so much time wasted.

If you take a look at the unstrung profile of the bow that I made, you can see it is extremely similar to the Creek bow previously mentioned. So, it is exciting to have what I consider a very close replica, to use a bow that could have been used by the Native Americans.

I took some canola oil and mixed powdered charcoal into it, then I rubbed that all over the bow. That is what filled in the grain of the hickory and also the turtle that I carved in the next pic. The turtle is actually off of the bow on page 52 of TBB V2, I put it at exact center on this bow, so I know to always let the arrow pass by the turtles head, no matter what side is up.

The turtle is an exact size replica, I used a photo copier and blew up page 53 until the back of the bow with the turtle was exactly as wide as the back of my bow in real life. Then I just cut it out, and traced around it. Then carved it out with a knife and some carving tools that I have.

As you can see in the full draw shot, the upper limb has a little more bend at mid limb. That is because I did the classic, "get the bow hot and bend it over the knee" trick, and so without a form its hard to get it right. I put a little more reflex in that upper limb, so it forces a little more bend at mid limb. Oh well, I usually shoot it with that limb at the top, so I have some positive tiller.

I do kind of like the tiller though, the outer tips are pretty stiff for low stack, the mid limb bends, but not enough to take to much set, a little less that 2 inches right after unstringing, and then it only bends very slightly through the hand, just enough to feel it.

This was the first bow that I used heat to reflex the tips, so now that I have a little bit of experience I hope to do better in the future.


Enjoy pics,

Jason













jason5881

  • Guest
Re: Creek Hickory Bow
« Reply #1 on: April 06, 2010, 06:18:39 pm »
I am considering doing some more carving on the back, like a long mural, where the long side of the bow is the ground, so that I can draw/carve a whole scene.   Something like the cave paintings from Madrid, like people with bows chasing elk, or maybe something else, any ideas?

Jason

Offline DanaM

  • Member
  • Posts: 9,211
Re: Creek Hickory Bow
« Reply #2 on: April 06, 2010, 08:09:04 pm »
Looks good to me, very primitive looking , tiller looks fine and I bet it shoots nice, congrats eh :)
"Prosperity is a way of living and thinking, and not just money or things. Poverty is a way of living and thinking, and not just a lack of money or things."

Manistique, MI

Offline Deo

  • Member
  • Posts: 89
Re: Creek Hickory Bow
« Reply #3 on: April 07, 2010, 04:40:09 am »
Nice bow. That is my favorite style of bow, long south eastern D bow, simple and beautiful, easy to make easy to shoot.

Offline Pappy

  • Global Moderator
  • Member
  • Posts: 32,116
  • if you have to ask you wouldn't understand ,Tenn.
Re: Creek Hickory Bow
« Reply #4 on: April 07, 2010, 06:09:21 am »
Nice looking bow,simple and effective.  :)
   Pappy
Clarksville,Tennessee
TwinOaks Bowhunters
Life is Good

Offline RyanY

  • Member
  • Posts: 1,999
Re: Creek Hickory Bow
« Reply #5 on: April 07, 2010, 11:24:00 am »
I saw this over on the leatherwall last night. I've been thinking about making some native american bows as well. Looks like you did a great job. Good work.

Offline Josh

  • Member
  • Posts: 3,367
  • Silence is golden but duct tape is silver.
Re: Creek Hickory Bow
« Reply #6 on: April 07, 2010, 12:03:01 pm »
Cool bow man
“The trouble with quotes on the Internet is you never know if they are genuine.” —Abraham Lincoln

Offline Scowler

  • Member
  • Posts: 611
Re: Creek Hickory Bow
« Reply #7 on: April 07, 2010, 12:46:58 pm »
Very nice bow.

Offline PaulN/KS

  • Member
  • Posts: 1,388
Re: Creek Hickory Bow
« Reply #8 on: April 07, 2010, 10:18:17 pm »
Good looking bow. I like it when someone re-makes one of the originals...
Great job on decorating it too, simple and elegant...

Offline Parnell

  • Member
  • Posts: 5,556
Re: Creek Hickory Bow
« Reply #9 on: April 07, 2010, 10:24:08 pm »
Nice job!  I've been looking at that one in the TBB2.  Cool to see one made.  Like the turtle.  What is your draw length with that bow?
1’—>1’

Offline George Tsoukalas

  • Member
  • Posts: 9,425
    • Traditional and Primitive Archers
Re: Creek Hickory Bow
« Reply #10 on: April 07, 2010, 10:27:45 pm »
Excellent work! Well done. Jawge
Set Happens!
If you ain't breakin' you ain't makin!

Offline chasing crow

  • Member
  • Posts: 269
Re: Creek Hickory Bow
« Reply #11 on: April 07, 2010, 10:52:49 pm »
I like it Jason. Hope it shoots good for you. Nice job!
Chasing Crow
We know more than we think we do. Pass your knowledge on to our youth

Offline ricktrojanowski

  • Member
  • Posts: 2,064
  • Worlds Greatest Deer Repellent
Re: Creek Hickory Bow
« Reply #12 on: April 07, 2010, 10:57:21 pm »
NICE  ;D  That is my kind of bow.  Fine job,  I really like the clean simplicity of a bow like that. 
Traverse City, MI

Offline Keenan

  • Member
  • Posts: 4,824
Re: Creek Hickory Bow
« Reply #13 on: April 08, 2010, 01:42:31 am »
 Clean,simple beauty. nice job.

Offline OldBow

  • Member
  • Posts: 2,216
  • I'm just an old retired biology teacher.
Re: Creek Hickory Bow
« Reply #14 on: April 08, 2010, 01:32:42 pm »
Bookmarked for April Self BOM fun. Thanks for the contribution.
When you're retired, every day is Saturday