Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: sourdough on January 16, 2009, 07:43:40 pm
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this is a kinda dumb question but what are the tools i need for making a decent bow? ??? i'm new at bow-making and am eager to make my first bow.but if you could give me a list that would be great! ;D
sourdough
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that all depends on how primitive you want to go about making your bow
there are some on here all they need is rocks for cutting down a tree all the way thru the bow making prcoess
as a beginner all ya realy need is a good rasp and a scraper
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Not sure what you have or access to, but here is a basic list from my perspective.
4-n-1 file
drawknife for inital wood removal
scrapers- many kinds to choose from
ferrier's rasp is a plus
Hope that gives you enough to start with. Others will chime in w/ their own preferences. Good Luck!
Tracy
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Hachet, sharp knife and rasp is really all ya need whether beginner er veteran, ifn ya wanna use steel tools......bob
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There's buildalongs on my site. :) jawge
http://georgeandjoni.home.comcast.net/~georgeandjoni/
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Check out Web Baby. I even took pics of the tools. :) Jawge
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What they said and I would add vice or some quality clamps and a table at working height for your back helps alot. I like a drawknife (flip it and scrape with it) and a rasp
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I I had to minimize it all, I'd say a hatchet, a C-clamp ro two, a farrier's rasp, a vixen file/wood file, and a heat gun.
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I shaped my first bows with a hatchet, a draw Knife and a wood rasp. That seems like a real basic kit to me. Ron
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what are some ideas for primitively making a bow. no rasps, files, or clamps. no tillering pullies. if any modern tools, it must only be a hatchet or knife. How do you do it then??
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I see you guys talking about ferriers rasps. Are these best used for rapid wood removal? There seems to be alot to chose from. Any suggestions on type, lenght, width etc..?
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nicholson #49 or #50 wood rasps,these i have heard are some of the best.
there are cheap ones like 5-10 bucks,and there are expensive ones like 50 bucks apiece :o
but they say they are worth every penny,i have a cheap one. it works and will take off a lot but you really get worn down too.
i like my semi round sur form works quit well and i dont tire as easy with it.
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again i ask " if there were no modern tools, other than either a hatchet or a small knife" how would these things get done? this is where the "primitive" part of your primitive skills comes in to play. now lets use those little noggins!!!
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A hachet and a small knife is not "primitive.'
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it is if you take into account that some ppl only use stone age tools. any ideas?
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Go ta Caveman Ooga Booga Forum and ya will get lots of information.
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You can make a fine bow with just a hatchet, rasp, knife, and sandpaper.
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I started with a knife and made a bow. it changed my life.
once I was hooked the farriers rasp saved me time. The bigger the better. 2"wide 14"long, mine was 30$ from a horse tack shop.
now that i'm addicted the band saw..... never mind.
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Simple tools such as old butcher knifes, a spoke shave which I use for most everything, a draw knife that I barely use. files, ect.
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Caveman, this bow was made at a 3-day shoot with no metal whatsoever-just stone tools from cutting the tree to final tiller. The string is rawhide made from a deer hide scraped and cut with stone. It's not really that hard-stone tools work as well as metal ones on green wood:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v325/hillbillync/My%20Bows/secondshot-1.jpg)
As for a basic metal tool kit: hatchet, drawknife, rasp, scraper. I have a farrier's rasp, Nicholson 49, and a cheap Nicholson rasp/file. I use them all at different stages of the process. If you want to go with power tools, a bandsaw and belt sander are two of the most useful ones. There are a lot of different methods of bow building, all work. I enjoy making bows with everything from power tools too stone tools.
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so hillbilly, what stone tools did you use? just wondering if I need to make something or if I have what I need
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see like i said earlier, there aare some folks on here who can make awesome bows ith nothing more that stone tools
now thats primitive,some day i want to be able to do that. need to learn to make the stone tools first.
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#49 Nicholson pattern makers rasp, Nicholson coarse half round file, chain saw file, draw knife, assorted scrapers.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/ekrewson/bow%20making/100_0861.jpg)
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Caveman, my friend Barry did most of the work on that bow, I worked on it a good bit and Pat B carved on it some also. We did it partly as an experiment to try different replica tools made from local rock, but you could make do with simple spalls and flakes. We cut the hickory sapling down with a rhyolite hand axe, cut it to length with a hafted stone celt and hafted quartzite Guilford flaked axe. We split it with an antler wedge, a rhyolite spall, and our hands. A lot of the reduction was done with a rhyolite adze and a big sharp-edged spall of rhyolite. We used a piece of rough sandstone to do some sanding and rasping on it. The nocks were cut in with a sharp flake with serrations pressure-flaked to make it into a mini-saw. We used snapped flakes for scrapers. All in all, it wasn't that much harder than using metal tools. Most of the reduction work was done while it was wet and green.
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My thoughts on bowyer's tools: http://analogperiphery.blogspot.com/2007/06/bowyery-tools.html
I hope that helps.