Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: DC on May 27, 2016, 02:39:43 pm
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Has anyone tried guitar picks as an arrow pass? The one I have looks like mother of pearl. It's very thin and and I'm wondering how well it will wear.
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They seam to last a while with a guitar. Try it out I bet it would look good!
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Mother of pearl is surprisingly hard wearing.
I'm sure a guitar pick would work just fine.
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There was a guy on here who used them for tip overlays once.
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I have a bunch of raw shell if you need some. Shell is 10 times harder to carve/sand than antler. It looks amazing and I would use it more if it wasn't such a pain. Plus the dust can make you quite ill.
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I live 100 yds from the beach, shell is not a problem. :D :D I've found that the shells are mostly bent the wrong way. I want a shiny convex surface and shells are mostly concave. If you know of a way to bend them I'm all ears ;D ;D
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Black Cherry & Pin Cherry bark makes an attractive pass - the deep red color looks real nice on Osage or Yew. Bob
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If you grind away the outside of the shell won't the mother of pearl appear as a convex surface as well if it has any thickness?
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Whats wrong with shooting of the wood shelf with no side plate. Adding a side plate makes your arrow LESS closer to center shot. Some people do it for the looks because they grew up lesarning that way.
Closer to center shot you have less to worry about arrow spine. If your releasing right there's no noise or arrow slap off plain wood. Adding a 1/8 side plate not a smart move.
Your going back to your recurve days where you learn you have to have a rug and side plate. I've shot off the shelf for over 20 years. Not saying this is for every body. Not very many people have a crisp clean realease.
Just saying you don't need rest or a side plate.
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Side plate, I guess is just in case your arrow spine is too weak or release is off and your arrow is hitting the handle on release?.. to avoid wearing the wood or handle wrap
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Whats wrong with shooting of the wood shelf with no side plate. Adding a side plate makes your arrow LESS closer to center shot. Some people do it for the looks because they grew up lesarning that way.
Closer to center shot you have less to worry about arrow spine. If your releasing right there's no noise or arrow slap off plain wood. Adding a 1/8 side plate not a smart move.
Your going back to your recurve days where you learn you have to have a rug and side plate. I've shot off the shelf for over 20 years. Not saying this is for every body. Not very many people have a crisp clean realease.
Just saying you don't need rest or a side plate.
People typically recess an arrow pass of harder material.
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I live 100 yds from the beach, shell is not a problem. :D :D I've found that the shells are mostly bent the wrong way. I want a shiny convex surface and shells are mostly concave. If you know of a way to bend them I'm all ears ;D ;D
Um... flip it over? The other side should be opposite. Of course you'll have to sand the dark outer layer off. I typically end up with a flat piece after I sand and shape it anyway. I take the sanding all the way to 2000 grit, then I buff it. It shines like jewelry. Plus as already stated you can carve a recess into the wood of the handle so that it sets flush with the wood.
How thick are the shells in question? The only way I see my methods being a problem is that the shells you have might not be thick enough. I got lucky and found some that range from 3/8" up to almost an inch in thickness. I had to go to a local stream because this species of mussel isn't found in lake erie.
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I just assumed that the MOP was a very thin layer that was only on the inside of the shell, not carrying on through. I will try and sand the outside off and see. Hard as it is it's going to be a pain to buff though. I will report back :D
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It must get laid down in layers so some thickness must be there. Just saw a cross section and view the prospective layers that way first.
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Yes you are right. I was afraid that coming in from the back with sanding and buffing might affect the colors of the MOP. I did a small piece and the result is not to bad. The little square in the middle was sanded in various grits to 1000 grit and then buffed with red buffing compound. It's not quite up to the original but it was tough holding that little bit. If I do the back of a whole shell it will be easier to hang on to and maybe I'll get a better finish. The pictured shell is abalone and its very thin. I'll go down to the beach and get an oyster shell and try that. Tha abalone has better color than the oyster but we'll see. Thanks for the clue.
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This one I just used the Dremel flapper wheel and the buffing wheel. It came out great. This took maybe 10 minutes. Thanks for the hint. for some reason I don't think I would have tried this.
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That looks real nice!
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I used shell , reclaimed Ivory ,Bone, old coins, leather, horn and likely a few that I've forgotten . Go nuts! Wear a dust mask and vacuum regularly . The harder materials make for a great surface to personalize with scrimshaw .
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Yah, but you've got talent. When they were handing out talent I was hiding behind the door having a smoke. I got a couple of oyster shells from the beach this morning. I'll see if I can get it flat for a start. I found this vid
www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBlkyu27JGc
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No problem as far as the advice goes. I'm always happy share what I know. I've learned so much from this site and all it members, it's nice to be able to return the favor now and again. The same technique can be used on some types of rocks and stones as well as most metals.
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Dremel is your friend ! Get some diamond bits (and a flex shaft if you can ). Sometimes simple is best . You only need to go to about 400 grit , then polish on the hard stuff . Horn , antler and ivory and bone will burn if you're not careful with the buffing wheel .
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WOW!!!!! Beautiful unique work.I've got some pieces of abalone.I'll have to try that once.I'll have to use my girl friends dremel tool though.
I shoot off my knuckle.My arrow passes are made in a way that the arrow only rides on a thin sliver of a raised area on the handle.Maybe 1/16" wide or less and less than that tall.Close to center shot.No obstruction/no catches/no nothing to inhibit the flight of my arrow.I put horn or bone there most times for wear on these whitewoods.Osage is usually harder than my arrow shafts really but I still put them on them too.Like said earlier though your release has to be in line spot on for practically 0 noise.Just the whisper of your string going by hitting home.
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Just stumbled on to this one....holy crap that's some amazing inlay work lostarrow! You should post a build along of that kind of work sometime it's very impressive!
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I like soft material that doesn't make any noise at all, ever. If I was going to add a hard surface to a hard surface, I wouldn't :) . But I'm a practical kinda' guy not so much a looks kinda' guy.
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What was historically used material or mark? For example I always wondered what was on the side of warbows.
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I'm with PD. I like soft materials and use leather sanded thinly.
I've tried horn, shell, etc.
I want my bows SBD. :)
Jawge
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I thought about using the guitar pick on the bow I just finished but thought it might make to much noise for a hunting bow so I cut a peace of the thinnest leather I can find and put it between to hard wood blocks and squeeze the crap out of it in the vice it comes out paper thin & ends up being whisper quiet !
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When Jay Massey asked Gilman Keasey about the noise created by a mother of pearl arrow pass Keasey smiled knowingly and said "nothing will cover up a bad release".
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I don't worry about the release it's about the arrow being drawn that concerns me !
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PatM, LOL, my arrows are silent on the draw and the release.
I tried the hard stuff years ago.
Jawge
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Geez lostarrow, that art of yours is, well, (A).
I just started experimenting with cutting shell. A friend of mine gave me a jeweler's saw for it. How do you get such unbelievable detail? Do you use a dremmel with diamond bits? If so, do you hold it like a pen? Please excuse my ignorance :D
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Beautiful work for sur, but as others have said, I like soft , my favorite is Brain tan. :)
Pappy
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When Jay Massey asked Gilman Keasey about the noise created by a mother of pearl arrow pass Keasey smiled knowingly and said "nothing will cover up a bad release".
Just the fact that Jay asked him that should tell us all we need to know. Gotta' hunt and KILL to know what works and what doesn't. Others opinions only take you so far.
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Hard to beat good old leather.You wear it out just replace it.Don't over soak it with superglue though it'll be as hard as horn though.....lol.
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I also use leather to compensate for a bad release... ;)
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I just used a couple pieces of leather, nice dark chocolate color for the pass and a light tan piece of elk for the rest. Can't hear any (noise), any way, so they must work, eh! >:D
Hawkdancer
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Real nice inlay work Lostarrow!
Hawkdancer