Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Springbuck on February 27, 2018, 10:44:51 pm
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Marc informs me this is a link to a commercial enterprise.
If you want to view this video, PM me, or simply search Youtube for "FuJian Archery Tradition"
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Awesome! What tool was he using at 4:14?. It's like a cabinet scraper but crazy fast and lots of wood removed.
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Fascinating clamping method. Seems like a lot of work. Was that bow just bamboo and wood? I didn't see any horn, yet they achieved some pretty impressive bends.
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Awesome! What tool was he using at 4:14?. It's like a cabinet scraper but crazy fast and lots of wood removed.
Looks like a spokeshave to me, a bit like the old european wooden handled type.
Del
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Springbuck - Thanks for posting - amazing what true artisans can do with the bare essential materials and tools! Funny how in this world of advanced technology that they preserve the "Old Ways" and make fine weapons. Great video!
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Awesome! What tool was he using at 4:14?. It's like a cabinet scraper but crazy fast and lots of wood removed.
Looks like a spokeshave to me, a bit like the old european wooden handled type.
Del
Either that, or possibly a scraping plane, sort of like Dean Torges' "bowyer's edge" tool. Cool video!
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Bow making in China was nearly lost during the Moaist revolutions. Many traditional martial artists moved to Taiwan to escape persecution, so a lot of that knowledge is actually no longer on the mainland. One of the last traditional horn bow makers in China relearned the practice after exhuming a bow his father had cut in half, wrapped in some kind of fat and cloth and buried in their house. His father asked him to unearth it and relearn the art once things had cooled down. After he unearthed it, he was able to piece the process back together using his knowledge of the process he had observed as a child, the bow itself and little written material he could find that wasn't destroyed. Something similar happened in Turkey. Pretty interesting. The only thing that makes me cringe about this video is their use of eagle feathers. I can only imagine how a Chinese national got them and I don't like the thought!
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Marc St. Louis has brought it to my attention that this video is, in fact for a commercial interest, which IO assume means it needs to be taken down. I did not post it for any gain, myself.
I was in fact quite impressed at not only the construction techniques and tools, but the long siyah's and impressive bends they achieved with such short working limbs. My Mandarin is rusty, but this vid was even better with a little narration.
As Greg said, that little shaving tool was interesting, and I was impressed at how that tool+ sandpaper achieved a close enough fit to use hide glue to fit the limbs, esp. where the tip wedges and handle transitioned.
The clamping method has been seen before on both yumi's from Japan and in some videos I have seen re: Asiatic composites, both Korean and Turkish, if I remember, correctly.
I think bamboo holds a LOT of potential for improving some designs.
Anyway, I will copy the address to my messages and if you want to see the video, PM me and I'll link you.
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Ever seen Dave Meads bamboo shortbows. Mine draws only 39# and is the fastest primitive bow i own.
Didnt Byron Ferguson or Howard Hill(sorry im blanking out here) shoot and all bamboo(albeit laminated) bow?
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Hill shot all bamboo and laminated bamboo was given glowing reviews back in the early days of American bowyery.