Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Almostpighunter on January 23, 2012, 01:46:05 am
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Okay, old joke.... "How many (insert target group here) does it take to screw in a lightbulb?" :laugh: :laugh:
Well, in this case the joke would go "How many bowyers does it take to make an Ojibwa bow?" Normally, when one of those bowyers happens to be the Native Bow Whisperer "Half-Eye" the answer is "one." Unfortunately, whenever you put the "Almostpighunter" into any mix, things go sideways fast! O:)
In this case, when I traded some rattlesnake skins to Rich and asked for this particular type of bow, my little goober of a request was for a 65#-70# bow @29". Rich, being Rich, was far too gracious to turn down my request, but he warned me that he would not be able to tiller the bow because that weight was beyond his ability to draw and, even if he could, the 29" draw length would put his anchor somewhere behind his ear. Either way it would be bad on the poor guy's shoulder...I can be such a jerk sometimes... >:D
So Rich carved the bow out for me and did what he could and sent it to the Desert. I was in love as soon as I received it and couldn't wait to start tillering....and then life got in the way and I had to shelve it for a bit (sorry for the delay Rich). When I was finally able to get to it, I realized I had never tillered this style of bow before and was a wee bit confused. A couple of e-mails and phone calls to Minnesota later and I went after it. I'm thinking it turned out purdy dern good.
This Ojibwa style bow is Birch backed with Birch, 64" n2n and has a final draw weight/length of 63#@29". My hunting arrows are soaring off the bow, it's wonderfully smooth to draw and has little to no hand shock. The snake skin is one I received from Criverville (I think its either Texas Chicken Snake or Texas Water Snake...definitely from Texas in any case), the wood has a slight light brown stain I made from instant coffee, glycerin and alcohol while the belly is from a charcoal pencil I rubbed into the wood, then dusted, before sealing. The black "bands" are B-50 bowstring, only one was for support of an ugly spot while the other 3 are just for decoration. Rich tells me that the Ojibwa used big water snakes to make their "medicine" bags and that the black bands represent a color they used when they went to war, so I'm on the right track with the decor ;D...even if it is purely by coincidence ::).
Thank you so much to Half-eye for your carving and guidance and thanks to Criverville for the beautiful snake skin...whatever it is ::).
Hope you all like:
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Sweet lookin' bow, those skins look awesome with the scalloped edges!
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Sweet Bow! Hey what're those things with wheels on em hangin on the wall behind you? >:D
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Sweet bow. The early primitive bicycle collection is cool too ::)
Del
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cool bow, like the skins, if it shoots half as good as my ojibwa bow it's a pleasure to shoot, Bub
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Full draw pic taken at the local Archery range. Been there so often I totally spaced the museum of compounds on the walls. Will try to get another full draw pic up asap.
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Sweet looking bow, and I liked the back-story to it as well, quite funny ;D
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Full draw pic taken at the local Archery range. Been there so often I totally spaced the museum of compounds on the walls. Will try to get another full draw pic up asap.
I would leave it as is. It shows wheeled stuff hanging on the wall (where it belongs) and a hand made wood bow on the floor being exercised. Sends just the right message. :laugh:
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Great looking bow. nice job finishing it out.
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Very nice bow. The tiller is right on and the snake skins sure do dress it up. It has a neat effect with the scalloped edges.
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Allmost,
You sure put a nice circle on that stick sir 8) I sure dont know about that "team" thing though cause it was a "stick" when you got it.....now it's a bow.
rich
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looks good, i have to agree w/everyone else those skins fit that bow perfect.
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Great looking bow..Well done. I need to try one of those...If you got those skins from Cip...( I got some as well) They are Texas Rat Snake skins....I believe
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I would leave it as is. It shows wheeled stuff hanging on the wall (where it belongs) and a hand made wood bow on the floor being exercised. Sends just the right message. :laugh:
Atta boy! "Stick" it to 'em! Show 'em what it really all about!
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Yes Sir!
That is a Fine Looking Bow you have there!!!
:)
-gus
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this is a nice looking bow. Can someone explain to me, are there any benefits to having scalloped edges or is this purely for aesthetic reasons?
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Very nice :o
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Thanks for all the kind remarks guys. Really keeps me inspired to keep going forward. Gonna finally give the sinew thing a try for the trade...poor, poor recipient. >:D >:D >:D >:D >:D
@ Bevan R: Ya know what? I think you're right. Gonna leave it as is. :)
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Very nice bow ,and a great team effort. God Bless
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I'm new to the forum and jsut found this. Beautiful bow, especially love the taper to the tips which I haven't seen on a bow like this before most of those in the Encyclopedia of Native American Bows Arrows and Quivers seem to be less narrow at the tips.
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That sure is nice
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Whoa! :D
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Those scallops and skins look awesome. Makes that bow look alive!
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All accolades I can think of have been posted. So will just say, "Congrats!!"
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I love everything about it.
But...
Am I missing something?..where's the birch backing?
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I love it, really like the eastern woodland bows. One day, one day.
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Great looking bow..Well done. I need to try one of those...If you got those skins from Cip...( I got some as well) They are Texas Rat Snake skins....I believe
Lovely bow!. I really like the dark brown color you put on that Birch wood. Is there a lammed up backing on the belly that is also made of Birch I suppose?
Could you be persuaded to give us an UNbraced pic or two of the bow?
BTW - I'm thinking those snakes in Texas will eat a chicken as easily as a rat, ...basically anything up to Javalina size can like as not be eaten by one of those dudes or if not then one of their cousins could do the job. :o :o :o
OneBow
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Here I was excited to see AlmostPigHunter posting again....and it is a recycled post, dang!
This bow was a favorite of mine at the time, still is.
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Here I was excited to see AlmostPigHunter posting again....and it is a recycled post, dang!
This bow was a favorite of mine at the time, still is.
Old Post Necromancers got me too... -OneBow
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Oh man, I'm usually good at spotting that but I missed it this time too, lol.
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Thanks for posting this! Very pretty bow, and the scalloped edge is cool. I'm doing some academic research with Ojibwe communities in Minnesota, so it's cool to see the traditional style (and material) showing up here! One quick question: I'm new to backing wood with wood - what's the virtue of backing a piece of wood with the same type of wood (i.e., Birch with Birch)? Why not just make a thicker self-bow from Birch rather than laminating another piece of the same wood on the back? I'm sure there's a reason to do that, I just don't know what it is.