Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: SLIMBOB on November 26, 2012, 09:54:44 pm
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I saw a bunch of really cool bows on PA over the long weekend. Some were "Works of Art", others were "Work Horses", beauty in their functionality and simplicity. Many were "Works in Progress", with the makers looking for a helping hand. One post in particular struck a chord with me. A new bow maker was looking for advice on a pretty advanced build. Different people chimed in with various nuggets of wisdom. The best advise given came from Badly Bent (Greg) in my opinion. He suggested that maybe the guy/gal should try something a little less ambitious for starters (very good advice for most new bowyers) and he posted pictures of one of his early bows. Very cool bow, long, wide, flat and durable. I think it would be interesting and informative to see some of the early bows from all you guys (and gals). So, I'll start it off. And for those in our viewing audience you can play along from home. ;D I made my first one in 1994 I think. Tipi Stuff (Curt) had the knowledge and the staves, I brought a whole lotta "want to". Off I went, and I'm still not sure how deep the rabbit hole goes. Haven't picked my wheel bows up since. Now this bow is far from perfect. The tiller's a mess. Not enough happening in-board. The tips are nearly 1 inch wide. It's got some hand shock! But... it's made from the king of bow woods, it was a fairly clean stave with few knots or problems. It's wide at 2 inches near the fades, and though not a great tiller, it was tillered properly, slow and steady. 58 inches long, straight taper to 7/8 inch nocks. 57lbs at 27 inches. Shoot off the hand. It's shot a thousand arrows, killed several deer and hunted with me all over Texas, as well as trips to Montana, Wyoming and Utah. I've touched up the tiller on it once, but decided to just leave it as it is. Looking forward to seeing some others!
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Thanks for sharing Slim, that's a great looking piece of yeller wood :D
Graylan
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Definitely a cool bow! Thanks for sharing!
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took some searching but here are some old ( year or so) pics of my first, this thing is over built and has a huge amount of hand shock and is a little lacking in the speed department, but its accurate, consisent and my first ;D
(http://s1135.photobucket.com/albums/m631/fishfinder401/?action-view¤t=fulldraw1.jpg#!oZZ1QQcurrentZZhttp%3A%2F%2Fs1135.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fm631%2Ffishfinder401%2F%3Faction-view%26current%3Dsideprofile1.jpg)
(http://s1135.photobucket.com/albums/m631/fishfinder401/?action-view¤t=fulldraw1.jpg#!oZZ1QQcurrentZZhttp%3A%2F%2Fs1135.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fm631%2Ffishfinder401%2F%3Faction-view%26current%3Dsideprofile1.jpg)
(http://s1135.photobucket.com/albums/m631/fishfinder401/?action-view¤t=fulldraw1.jpg#!oZZ1QQcurrentZZhttp%3A%2F%2Fs1135.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fm631%2Ffishfinder401%2F%3Faction-view%26current%3Dsideprofile1.jpg)
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ok, not sure why they didn't show up, but here's the links
http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m631/fishfinder401/th_fulldraw1.jpg
http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m631/fishfinder401/th_sideprofile1.jpg
http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m631/fishfinder401/th_7.jpg
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http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m631/fishfinder401/th_7.jpg
http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m631/fishfinder401/th_7.jpg
http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m631/fishfinder401/th_7.jpg
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Here is my first all wood bow - It's a bendy handle BBI 64" tip to tip and #53 @ 28"
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8318/8041192017_4aaf3686b0_z.jpg)
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8462/8041192427_45281956f4_z.jpg)
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8316/8036974488_7812bfea7a_z.jpg)
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8035/8036971507_72f294b170_z.jpg)
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8310/8054855779_888f93b280_z.jpg)
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uhh....uhh...yeah....lmao...my first shooter...a hideous red oak board....go ahead n laugh it up guys....some string follow,and that handle is nasty!!!!!! lol :laugh: no full draw from me with this one,altho tiller is decent on it
(http://i1181.photobucket.com/albums/x436/blackhawk28/100_0606.jpg)
(http://i1181.photobucket.com/albums/x436/blackhawk28/100_0608.jpg)
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This post was worth it just for that! And then I saw the new BBO....
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That is one manly moustache you have there Slimbob. When I saw your picture I instantly thought of Texas. I checked your profile and bingo. I have some relatives in the Dallas area.
That's a nice first bow you have there. I'll have to get mine out and take some pictures.
Blackhawk, I love that handle ;D
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these are very nice bows
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Here's my first. It's a hickory pyramid flat bow 55# at 26". I love it, it shoots like a dream and hits hard. This bow however is much less due to me being a bow making prodigy (trust me, I'm not ::)) and much more of an example of why getting help from experts is a good idea when you start. Mark Lambert gave me the stave and got me started and Gordon and John Strunk helped me finish it.
(http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e113/olivewn/DSCN4840.jpg)
(http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e113/olivewn/DSCN4842.jpg)
(http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e113/olivewn/DSCN4838.jpg)
(http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e113/olivewn/DSCN4835.jpg)
(http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e113/olivewn/DSCN4836.jpg)
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Well my first came in 15# under weight along with the hand shock and string follow and it took me over 6 years to complete. I'm still working on numbers 2 thru 12.
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Cool pictures,wished I had taken some of my first bows, digital camera's weren't around back then. ;) ;D ;D but I can tell you they were pretty crude. :) All of those look much better than my first shooter. :)
Pappy
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Those are some nice firsts. My firsts are here. These are all black locust.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v331/Jawge/Broken%20Bow%20Gardens/IMG_2953.jpg)
Here's my first hunting weight shooter which was bow #15 from 1992 or 93. I still have this BL bow.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v331/Jawge/Fibbonacci/IMG_3937.jpg)
Jawge
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My first about 10 years ago with much help from Brad Merkel and others, 52 @ 28 osage
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v613/shaunw/1stbow001.jpg)
still no set after much use
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v613/shaunw/1stbow003.jpg)
Retired to wall hanger after noticing hairline cracks on back (too much sanding to make pretty thinned the back ring) still has nice braced tiller but don't draw it any more
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v613/shaunw/1stbow002.jpg)
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Well, I guess I am getting in on this discussion a little late, but I enjoyed the thread and had a contribution to make. I don’t remember which year I made my first bow, but I still have it. Almost all of the bows I make are Indian bows; Plains style. This one is an Osage bow, about 46 inches long. It has a sinew backing on it, which is completely unnecessary. The bow shot well without the backing, but I backed almost everything bow I made when I first started. I thought the backings were cool. At one time it had snake skin on it too, but I revamped it several times and removed the snake skin years ago. Currently, it needs to have the tips rewrapped. I might get the glue pot going and fix that today. It has a bit of a propeller twist, but still shoots fairly well. Curtis
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Very cool Curt. Thanks to everybody that posted. Lots of really cool lookin' bows.
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I can't believe some of the firsts on here. Definitely out does my firsts! I don't have a pic of my first first but i do have my second ever made. For a while i tried using alder, and failed over and over again so then i tried out VIne maple, which is what this is.
It was probably 59" ntn and 50#. Now it's burnt.
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Oops the pics:
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my first is dead and gone, no pics, here's #2, probablly still around 'cause it's my wife's bow, red oak with a strip of an old sheet for backing, my son did the fancy paint on it ,i have a fd, i'll see if i can dig it up, bub(http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt320/bubncheryl/100_1451.jpg)
(http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt320/bubncheryl/100_1449.jpg)
(http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt320/bubncheryl/100_1581.jpg)