2016 Primitive Archer Bow Trade Sign up and Information

[jeffp51]

I spent the afternoon working down the back of and interesting osage stave.  Lots of knots and red streaks in it.  Thick rings, but Lunar rings too that have made it a little tricky.  The two staves I am working with are this osage and a piece of Yew I got from Fred (Thanks again Fred).  If they both work out, one will be my trade bow, and the other will go to my brother for his birthday.  If only one works out, it will be my trade bow, and my brother will get the one sent to me--so whoever has me, make it a good one for him!

[hammertime]

WOW! you go away for a few days and it s hard to catch up on all the action, great progress all....sweet bows Rich. I will have pics of my elm progress in a day or two- Hammertime

[---GUTSHOT--->]

PlanB. Somebody is gonna be very happy. Nice bow

[---GUTSHOT--->]

Jeffp51 those are some good looking sticks on your shave horse

[Loope]

I pulled the red bud off the caul and put a string on the tips... they are now lined up with the center of the handle.  Also got the dogwood scraped and ready for a layout.

[PlanB]

Thank all you guys for the great comments, it's a real pleasure to make a bow for someone here, and work along side of you   

Wilie, yes the handle does bend some. I can't give away the draw and weight right yet, but I can say it's 58-1/2" ntn, black birch, and it's the leftover piece after I snapped off a good 6" chunk of one end while steaming that tip. The fades had to be lengthened in order for me to move the handle toward the unbroken end, so it is a little more Sudbury-like in appearance than it started, but not a real replica -- quite a bit shorter, less tapered to mid limb, and the handle is a little wider. Still I do like that it went a little in that direction -- by accident or luck or something. Thought it was done for when the end snapped off. 

Now I'm glad it did. It isn't perfect -- it has 1-1/2" string follow, so not quite as fast as the Plan A bow.  But it is by far the most accurate bow I've built. I couldn't believe how good I was shooting today.  Or it was..... I don't think I had much to do with it! There's a little twist in one tip, which I will leave. But I think it's my best bow so far and my favorite. I'm going to finish it, and then shoot it in for a few hundred arrows to make sure. And then it will belong to somebody here.

[---GUTSHOT--->]

Loope that sure is a nice character bow

[Swampman]

PlanB, that is a sweet looking piece of birch.  A little string follow can make for a sweet shooting bow. 

Loope, that redbud is looking real nice.

All I did today was take the deflex out of the ends of my piece of white birch with steam.  I hope to get in my shop tomorrow.  I still need to get string alignment taken care of before I do anything else.  I also started chasing a ring on another piece of BL.  I have trouble staying away from the BL because I have had such good luck with it.

[Dakota Kid]

I got the rock elm looking good on the tiller tree. The fades need just a little more scraping, but that's often the way my builds go. I glued on some water buffalo nock overlays and will be shaping them tomorrow after they dry. Prior to the glue up, I was only a few inches short of full draw and over weight so I should slide into home with no issues.

That's a gorgeous yew stave you got there Jeff. I don't know if you've ever worked yew before but, wood comes off with far less effort than osage that's for sure. Just a couple passes with the rasp and you remove as much wood as you do scraping OO for an hour. Just go slow, especially with the belly during tiller.

Fred, if you're just giving away perfectly straight knot free yew I'd like to remind you that you have my address sir.

Rich, when I started building I tried to make my bows look impressive, be it with the finish, fancy cut handles/shelf, or layered glue ups with exotic wood. Every time I focused on looks rather than function I ended up with firewood(even a good knot on my head once). When it comes down to it, bows aren't for lookin at. The true beauty in a bow lies in what they do with the arrow. Nice work.

Plan B, really impressive bow, especially with the chosen wood. Makes me look at birch in a new light. 

[ajooter]

Kid....I agree with your statement above through and through.  I end up in the same boat usually.

B....that bow is looking great.  That 1.5" string follow shouldn't hurt anything and with the design and stats it's probably right oon.  I would imagine e birch is a very light wood?

[ajooter]

While further reducing my second stave this Crack showed up.  Turns out it went clean through to the back.   I had left the cambium on and didn't think I needed to seal the back.  The Crack may have erupted from a small branch that was broken off when I cut it.

Anyway....I ended up with very little bow wood and made a small bow from the slivers that were left.  I was quite disappointed.   Had I know the Crack was there I could have split it early on and got a decent weight bow out of it.  Oh well such is life!

[mwosborn]

Jeff - those are some nice looking staves.  Someday I will find some yew to work.

Loope - looks like you have the tips lined up - that is one crooked stick - looking forward to seeing it take shape!  The dogwood looks perfectly straight - you are working on opposites with those two!

Fred - the weather warmed up a bit for us and the snow mostly gone - glad you could get out and work some on your bows.  Looking good.  Weather looks good for the next week anyway.  Better make hay before we get our March blizzard!!

ajooter - no chance of gluing that crack with some cyanoacrylate?

Not much time to work on my trade bow yesterday - did just a little bit of tillering.  Maybe get a little time today.

[ajooter]

The Crack went all the way through.  It was a hefty stave....4" wide by 2" deep.  Had a I seen the Crack early on I would have tried splitting it. 

[jandersson]

Some real nice stuff being posted the last few days,
Hat off for PlanB and half eye for some sweet bows!

Loope: Geez! And I thought mine had some funny curves init.

Dubois: How come you put a extra sinew along the center?  Yeah it's the lilac. I got it to 50 @12" and the way it look s now I don't think I'll have much limb left by the time I'm done with it.

[half eye]

Hey fellas,
    Got the strings made for the Penobscot, and checked to full draw and shot it some. Then happened to notice that the upper limb at a point of 4" or so from full draw out to full draw  torques pretty good (like twist)....and then returns to normal at brace......so I'm building another bow because this one aint going nowhere.....especially to one of you guys.
    Got a piece of real snaky stuff, nibbled that down to rough width, steam bent it to align  the tips and grip, will rough out the thickness later today.
   Here are some pics of Mr. Snaky
rich
PS: I hope all of you guys are having a good experience and a bunch of fun....I know I am and really glad to get the chance to be apart of this trade......no I dont want to get a room...but it's a real pleasure working with all of ya.