Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: aero86 on April 10, 2010, 08:59:02 pm
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id like to make a take down bow. heres the dimensions id like to use. 23 or 24 inch draw length, 48 inch length, 4 inch handle. the arrows are gonna be 25 inches long so i wanna be able to put it all in 3 inch pvc tube i have, so i can carry it in the car. id probably use a red oak board for the wood.
i just dont know how to make the take down section
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Ryan, Theres a cool buildalong in the Buildalong section using (*gasp*) Fiberglass tape. :o I have been meaning to try it but haven't got around to it yet... Why don't you give it a shot and tell me how it works? Looks to be pretty straight forward instructions too. I am anxious to see your short bow you make too. :) :) Good luck!
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Check out this thread
http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,17644.0.html
If you use the Search feature in the Bows Forum and search on "takedown sleeve" you will find a number of discussions and links to other discussions on how to make your own sleeve.
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thanks for that link, and the hints for the section!
now that ive got my idea for the handle, im wondering if i might be asking too much for making a bow that short. should i go for something a bit longer? maybe 50, or 52? i dont know how to approach short bow design.
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seems like even 52" is short for a takedown, but give it a shot and see what happens, think I'd use hickory though.
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i know it seems rather short, but im probably going to go for a lower draw weight because of it, and a shorter draw length. im going for portability. for such a short bow, should i keep it wide for a while, then mid limb start to taper? or can i do a pryamid style?
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48" is not too short by any stretch. In Java/Indonesia, they have been making 46"-49" take down bows for at least a couple hundred years. Here's a wooden one being used in their traditional archery competition. Note the sitting cross-legged style.
(http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b282/kenhulme/JavaBow1.jpg)
This bow is in the Grayson collection. The limbs are water buffalo horn, the recurved and carved tips are spliced on
(http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b282/kenhulme/JavaHornBow.jpg)
(http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b282/kenhulme/Javahorndetails.jpg)
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that first bow he is shooting looks nifty. wondering how its made. looks tied together. i may try to make one like that or one that butts together in a sleeve
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The wooden one is the same basic design of handle, but with wider flat wooden limbs rather than the more D shaped horn limbs. It's a cylinder of bamboo or wood, with a plug, and one limb glued in place. The other limb is seated into the slot between the plug and handle, and the bow is strung. The "reverse" handle is pretty much an Indonesian innovation.
Draw lengths are in the 22"-26" range. Draw weights up to 40-45# - they are used for hunting, especially from blinds. Their competition is to sit cross-legged like that and shoot at gourds, wads of cloth or styrofoam balls of varying sizes, suspended at various heights off the ground up to about 6 ft. Arrows are 30" or more, 1/4" diameter or a bit less, and often made from sanded round splits from a thick walled bamboo.
The take-down bow was also use against the Japanese during WWI, and in later skirmishes against government soldiers as well. Take-down meant "easy to hide"....
This sketch was made by an Indonesian friend, of a regional military museum specimen which was used during their 1945 War of Independence. It has single piece bamboo limbs with horn tips, and is almost exactly 48" TtT
(http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b282/kenhulme/Indonesian.jpg)
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i like it! thanks a lot!
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wow Ken, thouse are cool little bows, it's just that at 6' 3", a 48" bow is very portable, I built a 50" modoc style bow with 22" draw, 52# and love it
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I'm currently experiemnting with hinge take downs after several miserable failures with sleeves (both home made metals and fiberglass and epoxy). Right now I'm trying to find/make a bow to cut in half to test how strong the hinge take down is. Here I was thinking I had tons of junk bows laying around to cut in half- must have already turned them into firewood ???