Main Discussion Area > Around the Campfire

Howard Hill

(1/4) > >>

CraigMBeckett:
Not sure if this is the correct place for this, if not someone please move it.

A Question for those who know.

On another forum one of the members stated that Howard Hill used an arrow shelf on his bows. I however do not think he did but can only come across very poor photos that seem not to show a shelf but could show a very thin one. Do any of you know whether he did or didn't or if he did did he always do so?

I do know that the bows he supplied Errol Flynn for his Robin Hood film did not have a shelf but that could have been specifically for the film.

Craig.

Hrothgar:
Craig, your question got me curious so I went and looked at some old pics. It seems some (and maybe most) of the bows have a slight, narrow arrow rest. Being a "purist" I doubt if he used any more modern, higher tech equipment than was necessary.

Kegan:
Depends on when you're talking about.

Like fiberglass, Hill did eventually start adding shelves to his bows. I believe, but don't quote me, it didn't become commonplace until the fifties or so. Most of the bows he used in his career were all boo laminated longbows with no shelves though.

You will hear claims of fiberglass and cut in shelf use by alot of folks who like shooting Hill Archery laminated bows today. Before you go beleiving everything they say, look through the photos in his books or his old videos. If there's a shelf on those bows than it must be about 1/8"... and fiberglass must have had nodes ;)

CraigMBeckett:
Hrothgar, Kegan,

Thanks for your responses.

Hrothgar, can you point to those photos with a shelf or possibly give a date for them?

Kegan, yes I believe like you he may have used shelves later in his life but was curious about what he generally used early on in his very long career. As for the bows, bamboo was his favorite until he got lazy and switched to glass. I seem to remember reading that when he got a delivery he boiled it then pressed it flat.

Had a quick search of this site and found this post, so in the mid to late 30's he did not make bows with shelves.

http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,14402.0.html

Wonderful what you can find if you search properly.

Craig.

Kegan:
Craig- from the dates on many of the photos I've seen, his bows went unchaged, for the most part, from the 30's to the late 40's, and he even used several of his favorite bows into the 50's without modification. He switched to glass to allow long brace times without set, but I never did find why he began to use shelves after so many years without them ???.

There was an online article from some magazine about the "evolution of arrow rests". Though more than half the article was about compound fall aways and what not, there were several bits of early arrow shelves used by Pearson and others from the 50's. Despite the compound bow focus it seemed pretty well researched. Wish I could find the thing now :P

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page