Author Topic: Snakey hackberry  (Read 28018 times)

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Offline toomanyknots

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Re: Snakey hackberry I'm about to start...
« Reply #30 on: January 15, 2012, 03:30:21 am »
Get a cotton ball and rub it all along the areas you bent. If there is a splinter it will grab the cotton.

That is freaking ingenious. Thanks for the tip!
"The way of heaven is like the bending of a bow-
 the upper part is pressed down,
 the lower part is raised up,
 the part that has too much is reduced,
 the part that has too little is increased."

- Tao Te Ching, 77, A new translation by Victor H. Mair

Offline seabass

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Re: Snakey hackberry I'm about to start...
« Reply #31 on: January 15, 2012, 02:21:00 pm »
cool bow buddy.i might have to come down and shoot that thing when you get it done.great job,Steve
Middletown,Ohio

Offline Pat B

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Re: Snakey hackberry I'm about to start...
« Reply #32 on: January 15, 2012, 03:53:25 pm »
I wish I had thought of it but someone else gets the credit for this idea.  ;)
Make the most of all that comes and the least of all that goes!    Pat Brennan  Brevard, NC

Offline Elktracker

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Re: Snakey hackberry I'm about to start...
« Reply #33 on: January 15, 2012, 03:57:02 pm »
Thats looking very nice thanks for posting this I like your recurve jigs!

Josh
my friends think my shops a mess, my wife thinks I have too much bow wood, my neighbors think im redneck white trash and they may all be right on the money!!

Josh Vance  Netarts OR. (Tillamook)

Offline hammertime

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Re: Snakey hackberry I'm about to start...
« Reply #34 on: January 15, 2012, 08:31:26 pm »
Looking great....just love those snakey bows....looks like shes goin be fast...Hammertime

Offline toomanyknots

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Re: Snakey hackberry I'm about to start...
« Reply #35 on: January 15, 2012, 09:37:08 pm »
Here's some pics of the overlays I'm gonna use on this one. (osage)







I cut em at the end before I glue em or I will end up digging into the back when I'm trying to shape them.





Thanks for the nice words everybody! Having all kinds of fun over here...  :laugh:
« Last Edit: January 16, 2012, 12:42:29 am by toomanyknots »
"The way of heaven is like the bending of a bow-
 the upper part is pressed down,
 the lower part is raised up,
 the part that has too much is reduced,
 the part that has too little is increased."

- Tao Te Ching, 77, A new translation by Victor H. Mair

Offline toomanyknots

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Re: Snakey hackberry I'm about to start...
« Reply #36 on: February 04, 2012, 05:40:34 pm »
Ok, I had to put this recurve on hold for a little bit as I had a bit of a flirt with appendicitis, but now all is well. I got the overlays all shaped up. While I was a bit under the weather I got the sinew all broke out, and even separated into 3 different lengths. Just to find out later after I was better and able to tiller the bow, that this bow is not really gonna be worth the sinew anyway. Either one side of the limb being thicker than the other, or the snake it has, has given me some work getting the strings aligned. It's kinda crazy as the belly is not perfectly flat but has some wave to it, which I had to give it to weaken one side of the limb to get the siyah to not twist. Er, I mean recurve. It appears to be landing somewhat in the middle, or at least close enough to not come flying off the bow (I hope). Without the sinew, this bow could only be 40# at the most. Which is not bad, if only it had some reflex or something,... Here's some pics. I have it tillered out to 25/26 so far, but I need to finish sanding before I can get some longer draw pics though.











Took me a good amount of tweaking to get the string to lay in the middle... It still kinda rests to the side on both of em right now. This is the main reason I don't feel like sinewing this bow. I just don't know what it will want to do after sinewing. It was my stupid fault for not leaving the limbs wide and going on "faith" that I could guess where the string would lie... I hate myself sometimes. :) I got a couple hackberry staves that would be much better for sinewing than this one. I also forgot, that this bow has a bit of a deflexed curve in it toward the tip of one of the limbs, which made it a bit of an aggravating tiller. The other two I have are perfectly flat. I would like to see what a sinew backed hackberry is like.



Here's a low brace. I have lost a good amount of faith in this bow I would say, and thus have abused it a bit. It has been braced at like 8" or so on accident. I still don't have a proper string made. Also to note, I keep hear a scary little tick, but I can't find any source, which is making me think it is the overlays coming on glued? I did clamp them pretty hard when gluing, which I find ain't the best thing to do especially with oily woods that are hard to glue like osage.



"The way of heaven is like the bending of a bow-
 the upper part is pressed down,
 the lower part is raised up,
 the part that has too much is reduced,
 the part that has too little is increased."

- Tao Te Ching, 77, A new translation by Victor H. Mair

Offline paulsemp

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Re: Snakey hackberry (got er on the tiller finally)
« Reply #37 on: February 04, 2012, 06:00:59 pm »
What a cool bow! keep us posted on the finish

Offline seabass

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Re: Snakey hackberry (got er on the tiller finally)
« Reply #38 on: February 04, 2012, 09:58:26 pm »
i want to see this one finished too.i just started one of those hackberry staves that i got from you.it has been a pain so far but shaping up nicely.i still hve that very straight hackberry stave that is getting ready to be made into a bend trough the handle english longbow.i got a video from rudder.wish me luck brother,Steve
Middletown,Ohio

Offline toomanyknots

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Re: Snakey hackberry (got er on the tiller finally)
« Reply #39 on: February 05, 2012, 12:58:08 pm »
Just go slow steve. Make sure to correct any hinge or potential hinge before pulling the bow too much farther, working your way to your desired draw length. Have fun!
« Last Edit: February 05, 2012, 02:23:26 pm by toomanyknots »
"The way of heaven is like the bending of a bow-
 the upper part is pressed down,
 the lower part is raised up,
 the part that has too much is reduced,
 the part that has too little is increased."

- Tao Te Ching, 77, A new translation by Victor H. Mair

Offline toomanyknots

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Re: Snakey hackberry (got er on the tiller finally)
« Reply #40 on: February 05, 2012, 11:57:31 pm »
Here's 27". I'm just gonna say it's done now. I am hoping for at least 45# at least. It is a pretty light bow. If I wasn't planning on sinewing beforehand it wouldn't have turned out this light. I just hope it shoots ok. It has maybe 1/2" to 1" set right now (I am guessing).



I will have better pics up probably tomorrow. (Hopefully).
"The way of heaven is like the bending of a bow-
 the upper part is pressed down,
 the lower part is raised up,
 the part that has too much is reduced,
 the part that has too little is increased."

- Tao Te Ching, 77, A new translation by Victor H. Mair

Offline Bevan R.

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Re: Snakey hackberry (fulldraw pic... I guess )
« Reply #41 on: February 06, 2012, 12:00:39 am »
Looks like a nice bow to me.
Bowmakers are a little bent, but knappers are just plain flaky.

Offline toomanyknots

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Re: Snakey hackberry (fulldraw pic... I guess )
« Reply #42 on: February 06, 2012, 02:28:35 pm »
Thank ya Bevan. I got to shoot it for the first time this morning, I would of had a fulldraw pic but it was too hard to see the bow in the morning sun. After shooting and taking some pics (I am very happy with the way it shoots for a lighter bow, I am guessing a clean 45# at fulldraw, maybe going down a bit lower, but it is fast just from being light weight and very fun to shoot),...





...Anyway, after shooting it a couple times and taking some pics, I noticed this:



...so I guess i am lucky it is in one piece. I am sure this is the cracking/tick sound I was hearing earlier. So now, after sanding to 600, burnishing, and waxing, I now wish I had sinewed!  :laugh: I am leaning toward patching it though and calling it quits. It shoots pretty good anyway. I have linen fabric, linen thread, and sinew, as well as sinew scraps to make sinew glue. What would you guys recommend for a patch? (btw, the crack across the back is pretty bad, worse than the picture shows, I am very lucky this bow is in one piece I think.)
"The way of heaven is like the bending of a bow-
 the upper part is pressed down,
 the lower part is raised up,
 the part that has too much is reduced,
 the part that has too little is increased."

- Tao Te Ching, 77, A new translation by Victor H. Mair

Offline k-hat

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Re: Snakey hackberry *Ran into a problem, crack all the way across the back...*
« Reply #43 on: February 06, 2012, 04:07:08 pm »
Man, that's a heartbreaker, sure hope you can get'r fixed!  Somebody oughta be on here soon to give you better advice than i can :-\

Offline HickoryBill

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Re: Snakey hackberry *Ran into a problem, crack all the way across the back...*
« Reply #44 on: February 06, 2012, 04:50:20 pm »
Did the belly fret under the crack?You could back it with linen, silk, or rawhide then add a wrap in the cracked area
"He who hesitates usually misses"
"All you really need to make a bow and arrow are some sticks and a deer carcass"
Bill Stockdill
Clarion County Pennsylvania