Main Discussion Area > Cave Men only "Oooga Booga"
River Cane Bow String
gstoneberg:
I honestly don't know Michael. The bow was a gift from my nephew and, since it came from the New Guinea jungle into much less humidity here, I've been afraid to draw it. Given its short length, I would expect the draw to be 18" or so. I can say that the rounded part of the cane is away from the bow and the flat part of the cane is toward the bow belly so the arrow is against the flat side. The arrows that came with it do not have nocks but are just held against the cane. I'm not sure how they grasped the string to draw the bow and kept the arrow in position. The bow is made of palm, it looks like the black palm bow pictures I've seen.
George
michbowguy:
i believe that the arrows were made with nocks that were bulbous and flat behind the bulb for placing flat on the string and they used a native pinch style grip and pinched the bulb.
been messing around with my cane and i think mine is too dry, much of my research sows or told of "wetting" or using not fully fry cane for strings. mine all are breaking apart, so im just sticking with my hide strings for now.
hope this little bit hepls.
jamie
JackCrafty:
Very interesting thread.
Seems like they would want to keep the string submerged in water when not in use, so I don't know why they would want to keep the string with the bow at all times. Hmmmm.... unless both the string AND the bow were kept under water when not in use. ???
swamp monkey:
I made a comb from split and sanded cane sections and found that even thin split cane holds its shape. So the cane string will keep its elongate shape and not roll up nicely. The only reason I can think of to put the cane in water (hot water) is when bending. Perhaps a big loop for storage, but I will experiment with that when I figure the art of splitting a multi-node long split. I am getting nervous that I am missing something very basic and will be really embarrassed when I finally get it. however, at this time I still cannot get a good, even split down a long length of cane. I end up destroying the cane I have So far the only thing I have not tried is splitting green cane.
ARRRRRGH! I will get this! But feel free to help folks. It won't hurt my feelings if you beat me to it. I just want to learn!
thanks ya'll.
swamp monkey:
I have been talking with a traditional cane basket maker in Louisiana and have some tips. I will try green cane and use splitting sticks that are smaller diameter than my cane stock. He is excited and may try to replicate the knot weaving and may understand the bands but he made no promises. SO I will keep ya'll posted.
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