Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Capt on September 08, 2013, 11:15:53 am
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I'm receiving my first Osage stave this week and considering recurring the tips? What are the advantages and disadvantages of doing this? Will it be faster?
Maybe smoother? I hear a lot about recurves being noisier?
What are people's thoughts
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Recurving the tips makes for a smoother draw.
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Reflexed or recurved limbs store more energy, and the bow will shoot faster. Any recurves I have aren't any noisier than any other bows.
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I think it's easy to make recurved tips too bulky if you're not careful. The excess weight can cancel out the benefits of the increased early draw weight. Just something to keep in mind.
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Thanks for the Tips Guys... I think i will recurve a bit and keep the tips light... I'll be aiming for aroung 55 to 60# does this make a difference to the choice of recurve Vs Straight?
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Is this your first bow?
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will be my second, you can check out my first in my other posted topic..
search Tzalam if your interested.. thats the type of wood i used...
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Recurved tips and tiller on an osage selfbow is a bit more advanced work. I didn't make a recurve until I had several years of bow making under my belt. Pound out a few more bows, get more experience with seeing proper tiller and then give your recurve a go. Just a thought.
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Recurved tips and tiller on an osage selfbow is a bit more advanced work. I didn't make a recurve until I had several years of bow making under my belt. Pound out a few more bows, get more experience with seeing proper tiller and then give your recurve a go. Just a thought.
Appreciate the advice but i want to test my skills... Im the kind of guy that thrives in challenging situations... Its been a real learning curve building my first bow but i'm ready for the recurve...
Im an artist and an engineer... and know i can do it. any errors will be slight and just provide opportunities to learn / progress as a bowyer....
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I inadvertantly posted this on your other thread so I'm moving it here ;D ....
There are trade off with each style of bow. A recurve can be faster but it has more stress on a shorter section of limb because of the ststic recurves themselves and the fact that the tips are farther past the handle, pre-stressing the limbs when braced. Also,IMO, you want a short bow for your draw length so you allow the recurves to do the work intended.
A straight limb longbow can be as fast as a recurve if the proper design is used and executed for full potential. A straight limb longbow is easier to shoot well and more forgiving when shot. It took me a while before I learned to shoot a short recurve well. A longbow was always easy for me to shoot well.
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I inadvertantly posted this on your other thread so I'm moving it here ;D ....
There are trade off with each style of bow. A recurve can be faster but it has more stress on a shorter section of limb because of the ststic recurves themselves and the fact that the tips are farther past the handle, pre-stressing the limbs when braced. Also,IMO, you want a short bow for your draw length so you allow the recurves to do the work intended.
A straight limb longbow can be as fast as a recurve if the proper design is used and executed for full potential. A straight limb longbow is easier to shoot well and more forgiving when shot. It took me a while before I learned to shoot a short recurve well. A longbow was always easy for me to shoot well.
I concur. ;D Pat's easy to agree with.
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My thoughts are, based on what you said above, go for it. If you are willing to scrap a bow or stave in order test your skills then there's no reason not to try. It doesn't matter if there are advantages to the recurve, you want to test your skills--so have at it.
If you said your goal was to become a good, all-around bowyer, and should you recurve your second bow, I would say no, stick to the basics for awhile.
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Recurved tips and tiller on an osage selfbow is a bit more advanced work. I didn't make a recurve until I had several years of bow making under my belt. Pound out a few more bows, get more experience with seeing proper tiller and then give your recurve a go. Just a thought.
Appreciate the advice but i want to test my skills... Im the kind of guy that thrives in challenging situations... Its been a real learning curve building my first bow but i'm ready for the recurve...
Im an artist and an engineer... and know i can do it. any errors will be slight and just provide opportunities to learn / progress as a bowyer....
I made 10 longbows and tried two recurves...One survived the other is in the corner of education. I am far from an expert bow maker and dang it was a pain. The one that survived is a really nice shooter though. I say give it a try and remember to be patient. Don't be too surprised if it ends up being kindling though. If it works out you will have a heck of a nice bow :)
Don't forget to take lots of picts and keep us filled in.
Greg
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My thoughts are, based on what you said above, go for it. If you are willing to scrap a bow or stave in order test your skills then there's no reason not to try. It doesn't matter if there are advantages to the recurve, you want to test your skills--so have at it.
If you said your goal was to become a good, all-around bowyer, and should you recurve your second bow, I would say no, stick to the basics for awhile.
Message taken on board steve...... Thanks alot for the advice. I was really just quite eager to be experimenting with heat and bending but with just the straightening and removing twist from the osage i should have enough to chew on... Who knows how the stave will bee anyhow? it may have some natural recurve????
Im all about working with the wood... letting the bow be the bow it wants to be... With this build i think im going to concentrate on becoming one with the wood and not forcing anything.... i.e. no crazy horn Bends just Yet...
Thanks Again your input and criticism much appreciated....
Bests
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My thoughts are, based on what you said above, go for it. If you are willing to scrap a bow or stave in order test your skills then there's no reason not to try. It doesn't matter if there are advantages to the recurve, you want to test your skills--so have at it.
If you said your goal was to become a good, all-around bowyer, and should you recurve your second bow, I would say no, stick to the basics for awhile.
Couldn't agree more. Ill rarely tell anybody to avoid a certain build, regardless of experience.
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Ok, so my Osage is nearly here.... It's stuck with Mexican customs and import at the moment... :-\
I've been doing quite a bit of thinking about what kind of bow to go for and thanks to advice from the forum and doing quite a lot of research I'm thinking to go for a center shot flatbow.
I'm quite sure I don't want to recurve the tips but think i want to go for putting some reflex into it before tillering.
ive been told and have read that the heat treatment will reduce the amount of set that the bow will take...? And that Osage flat bows shoot incredibly well when slightly reflexed rather than being 100% straight? Is this true ?
Would love some opinions on this?
Examples of bows would be great!!! ???
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Go ahead put some reflex in the tips it isn't that hard to do if ya got the materials heck you could go out into the woods make a fire heat the tip up wedge it between two trees growing right close togeather and bend the reflex in so you really don't need anything but of course they might not come out symmetrical if you do tht
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I did my first recurves with a charcoal fire from my grill and bent them over the toe of my steel toed boot. Just sayin...
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This is all hypothetical talk and pretty meaningless until you actually have the stave in front of your face 8) ...I can't say either way until I see it and what would be best for that piece of wood
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Yes it's all swings and roundabouts until you see the wood. Not all staves will make a good recurve but most will make a good flat longbow. :)
My 3rd bow was a sinew backed osage recurve. I took a lot of time on it and she is still a great shooter...originally 63#@28 and shoots about 170fps with 10 grains per lb. It can be done! There is no magic to bow making!
My advice is to forget about centershot...as a concept it works but is far from necessary. The way I see it centershot cutaways don't really sit well on selfbows and you are making a large weak spot that needs to be compensated for with added thickness....but each to his own ;)
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Capt.........All of your questions will get answered in time.By you really.You can take things to the extent you want.Sounds like you might want to get the best out of a piece of wood and that's great.That's where you're really gonna learn & get disappointed occasionally too,but just be honest with yourself and your wood and you''ll be ok.
You might want to look for access to the north of ya or where ever for some more hedge.Or make it to the Tennessee Classic or Ojam or Mojam.Like your enthusiasum.
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Wood actually does grow on trees so go for it >:D
I started out with working recurves before playing with statics. Not sure if that's the right way round or not but they are all fun and challenging. Not to mention the pure aesthetics.
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This is all hypothetical talk and pretty meaningless until you actually have the stave in front of your face 8) ...I can't say either way until I see it and what would be best for that piece of wood
Thanks everyone for the feedback...
Blackhawk - great advice, that's kinda what was in my mind when I mentioned letting the wood become the bow it wants to be and becoming one with the wood..
Beadman - also many thanks, very wise words in your post... I believe I'm very lucky to have stumbled upon this forum and be gaining uncheck wisdom from you guys...
Also thanks to everyone else that has commented and contributed to my learning curve... Thanks for sharing your expertise. I'm looking real forward to sharing the fruits of my labour and the combined wisdom with you all...
Bests to everyone
Capt Rob
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Cool man...when ya get your stave make sure to post pics of it....some required pics to see if its recurve worthy would be end cut showing growth rings and its ratio....side profile..front profile,and any mention of knots and the location of them....and knots in a location where a static recurve bend is to be made is a no no....