Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: bigcountry on May 22, 2009, 11:10:15 am
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I have seen these bows in Primitive archer from one writer I really like. They are I guess pacific coast type indian bows. Real wide mid limb limb tapering to the nock, and also tapering to the fades. Real wide handle also. I like em, but do not know the general layout or design considerations. He usually shows the bows painted up.
For a guy like me with 29" draw, what would be a good layout, and do you guys know the ones I am referring too?
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I think the guy your looking for is El Destructo. He just posted one lately in a thread called something like snake skin paddle bow.
Hope that helps.
Ron
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cracker is right check out Mike's paddle bow, just click on the link :)
http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,13018.0.html
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cracker is right check out Mike's paddle bow, just click on the link :)
http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,13018.0.html
Yep, that was a beauty. But that one is real long more of a stiff handled bow. I am talking more of the shorter ones.
With a 29" draw, can I make one less than 58". I figured the width, I can go short.
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El Destructo has like a thirty inch draw length why not give him a pm he is a fountain of information.
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In the Bowyer's Bible, Tim Baker made a flat self bow (with a bendy handle) from hickory that was 48" long with a draw length of 28". The bow had limbs that were about 3-1/2" wide and the handle was 1-1/2" wide.
For a 29" draw, you can make a self bow that is 58", and you wouldn't need to go more than 3" wide, but to go shorter, you would need to back the bow with sinew or rawhide....to be safe.
I'm sure others will chime in with exact dimensions.
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I have never been able to get 29" out of one of my "paddle" bows. This one is hickory backed with sinew. It pulls about 26"
Dan(http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm219/spiermo/hupa%20bow/hupaandcamo001.jpg)
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Good looking bow Dan.I like the geometric shapes.
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Thats is cool Dan. Thanks for shareing. So bottom line, is for my draw, a good rule even for these paddle bows is to give myself 29" of working limb?
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Yep, 29" of working limb, in your case, is a good place to start. Paddle bow design hasn't been explored as much as pyramid style bow design, for example, and I haven't seen any rules of thumb specifically for paddle bows. Most of us who build them have to experiment with the dimesions based on climate, type of wood, length of draw, and type of backing material (if any).
Native American paddle bows were usually drawn to around 20"....so, obviously, you shouldn't try to use the same dimensions as an original if your draw is 29".
Hope that helps.
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Hey Big country,
That's funny, cause when I was attending GA Southern Univ. a friend of mine used to call me "Big Country!"
I've made a couple of California style paddle bows. I like them, they're really cool, but if you're making something to handle your 29" draw then I would suggest making a longer bow than the originals, which were quite short (35-42 inches long). There is one in a museum in California that is 56" long, is made of yew, and it's sinew backed, so they did make them longer. But it is plain with no painting on it.
I've copied the originals though, and I have a bow that is only 36" long and pulls 48 lbs. It's kinda unpleasant to shoot though because you can only draw it around 17 or 18 inches, and I've got a 30" draw! Long arrows work best with those types of bows, and that concept was well known by the natives because many of the original CA arrows I've seen were between 29 and 33 inches long, although they weren't drawn that far on those short bows.
I now s-t-r-e-t-c-h my CA bows out, and make them longer to handle the draw imposed by my super long gorilla arms.
Here's a pic of some Original California bows and arrows that I found online. Enjoy!
[attachment deleted by admin]
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And Here's the description of the above photo. If you want to replicate authentic California style bows, copy the photo and text and print them out so you can use them as references. That's what I do!!
Antique Painted Indian Bows Artifacts photos:
Old, reflexed, recurved, traditional bows of historic period from northern California. Yew wood with painted designs on sinew backs. The paint in some of these historic pieces appears to have been obtained in trade with European Americans. Left to right: Tolowa (93.2 cm long). Next, Hupa, reflexed with static recurved tips (96 cm X 9 cm at maximum width X .94 cm at mid-limb). Last, Pomo (90 cm long). I don't think that bow is Pomo. It appears to be Hupa or Yurok in my estimation, though I could be wrong. Sapwood can be seen on the edge when viewed from the belly. Cross-section is thin and lenticular. Nocks formed by wrapping with sinew and covering with thin rawhide. Buckskin wrapped at grip. The sinew backing was covered and waterproofed with grey-brown powdered earth mixed with pitch. The pitch mixture also filled in the irregularities of the sinew on the back. Dated to around 1900. (Photographs on this and facing page courtesy of Museum of Anthropology, University of Missouri at Columbia. The Grayson Collection. Photography by Daniel S. Glover), page 162 of book (full-page photo), Painted Surfaces and Spiritual Power.
Antique Painted Indian Arrows photos:
Hupa hunting arrows, first five collected during the late 19th century (lengths from 77 to 80 cm, diameters around .84 cm). Dark blue and red bands under fletching as crests. Sinew binding of feathers painted red or blue. On left, foreshaft of bone with four barbs painted black with a red jasper point, side notched. Next two are slate points with saw-tooth edges. Fourth is a bone point and last, small red jasper. Area behind points, including sinew reinforcement, painted in blue and red bands. Next six Hupa hunting arrows (around 76 cm long, diameters .8 cm) appear more recent. Blunt self points, two with short foreshafts. Red and blue bands for cresting and for decoration on shafts, red painted sinew. Detail on right is of second arrow from left of this second group: criss cross pattern in blue under the fletching made by painting over sinew spiral wraps and then removing the wraps. Photographs on this and facing page courtesy of Museum of Anthropology, University of Missouri at Columbia. The Grayson Collection. Photography by Daniel S. Glover, page 163 of book (full-page photo), Painted Surfaces and Spiritual Power.
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Thanks Billy, lots of good info there.
I didn't realize they only drew em 20". I just thought they made em real wide for that purpose.
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And all of my Paddle Bows bend through the Handle...they are not stiff Handled...and I have gotten up to 33 inches of Draw Length form the also
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And all of my Paddle Bows bend through the Handle...they are not stiff Handled...and I have gotten up to 33 inches of Draw Length form the also
Ok, so I guess that design is officially a paddlebow, where midlimb is widest? For a 58" paddlebow, slight bend in the handle bow, how wide would you make it midlimb and at the handle?
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Depends on the Wood....for Hickory....I would make it 1 to 1 1/4" wide at the Riser...Grip...or Handle...what ever you wish to call it....and 2 1/2" to 2 3/4" wide at the widest part of the Fades...now Paddle Bows are a bit tricky to tiller...so take your Time...and Patrick (Jackcrafty) he also does them.... They get way thin in the paddles and thicken back out towards the nocks...so go slow and watch it closely.
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Depends on the Wood....for Hickory....I would make it 1 to 1 1/4" wide at the Riser...Grip...or Handle...what ever you wish to call it....and 2 1/2" to 2 3/4" wide at the widest part of the Fades...now Paddle Bows are a bit tricky to tiller...so take your Time...and Patrick (Jackcrafty) he also does them.... They get way thin in the paddles and thicken back out towards the nocks...so go slow and watch it closely.
So your saying you can hinge the paddle in no time flat? Bet its hard removing wood from 2.5" with a scraper.
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Thats all I use is a Scraper....and now that I got that Wood Hogging Scraper from Shannon....man does it come off nice!!!!
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Tillering those thin limbs can be tricky, so I would suggest using coarse to medium-grit sandpaper. That seemed to work the best for me, and it allowed slow and controlled wood removal.