Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: horsetime on October 07, 2013, 09:24:35 am
-
Hello all, after being interested in traditional/primitive archery for years (especially with all the archery on TV shows) and doing lots of googling I made an impulse purchase at a renfaire yesterday. I purchased an off the knuckle selfbow(I think) that is 58 inches from tip to tip across the straight side of the "D" The part where your hand goes appears to be a different piece of wood. for what I hope was a good price of $40. The person I bought it from said it had a 30lb draw weight, I'm a small female so the bow is almost as tall as I am and that sounded about right but I have no idea if it's correct. I know the draw weight on wood bows changes depending on how far back you pull.
I'm hoping to shoot with it, but if it turns out to not be a good bow I can just mock it up and use it as a costume piece since it looks "primitive" I thought that the set curve reminded me of a recurve or horse type bow and since I'm also an equestrian I bought it. I was told that the set curve is bad, it has either been overused or is not meant to be used at all. Can someone help me with the quality? Can I actually shoot targets with it? What kind of wood is it? What is it actually worth (is it a steal or did I get taken)?
I posted it on another archery BB and they said that it isn't a real bow and suggested a couple inexpensive plastic bows I can shoot with but that I check here first.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/20892581@N04/sets/72157636284998524/
-
If the pics are of the bow you purchased then that is a real bow. And it looks like a really nice one especially for the price you paid. I myself get very irritated seeing fiberglass bows at ren-fairs. It's ridiculous how they will go al lout to dress the part and then carry around a modern factory manufactured bow.
-
That bow is in sad shape. It looks braced, and its not. I wouldn't draw it. Tim Im thinking you assumed it was braced in that pic? I cant see a string.
Yes, you got taken if that's possible on the internet. I have floated around the internet bow scene a few years now and once in a while I see bows posted from folks who claim to sell a bunch and I wonder who the hell pays for them? Im afraid you bought one of those bows. Absolutely no offense to you ma'am. If you really want a shootable bow, stick around here a month or so and you will clearly see who you can trust.
-
Wow yes that thing has a ton of string follow Which does not mean it was overused but It was poorly made in the first place. Just by looking at the string follow it looks like there's a hinge in the limb on the right even tho it's cut off in the pic.
-
I wouldn't shoot that on a horse! I'd hate for you to take spill if that thing flanks your horse.
-
Well bummer.
I guess I can just fake a string on it and use it as a costume piece.
-
Ok. I did miss that it was unstrung. Yikes! :embarassed:
But at least it's wood. ;D
Now I see why others may have told you to get a plastic bow. People who make wooden bows such as this do a lot of damage to the craft of all wood bow-makers. It gives ammunition for plastic-bow shooters to say "Ha! see wood bows are no good". I am very sorry this happened to you. Like others here have said you can find bow makers you can trust here.
-
That's a good use for that one.
-
For further reference if you do get another all wood bow don't leave it strung...other wise what will happen is what happened to that one....you can string it for your renfair day,but at the end of the day unstring it....when your not using it or shooting a wooden bow you must unstring it...even if its a good bow,and made and designed well it will still do exactly what that one did...
-
What about these bows on Ebay, also cheap but good enough to shoot a few times?
-
Those both seem like fine bows. Hickory is great wood for bows and they appear to be made well enough by the pics shown.
-
72" is a lot of bow for a short gal. You will be lucky to get 20# at your draw length.
Where are you located?
-
Honestly, you get what you pay for most of the time and $40-$50 should not normally get you a bow that is worth your spit. It all depends on what you want it for. If it looks pretty and you're just using it for a costume piece then it really doesn't matter but if you want to shoot it then you should buy/make a decent bow that wont give you a concussion and put out your eye went it breaks. If you're wanting a really cheap bow to shoot then I hate to say it, but you should consider buying a cheap fiberglass bow to start archery with. Then you can build some confidence shooting and when you feel more serious about it you can either pay the hundreds of dollars that it costs to buy a decent, well made wood bow or better yet, you can learn to make your own.
-
Thanks for the help. I'm located in Indiana. I'm also lefthanded so that makes it a little more difficult.
I've also looked at the PVC bows for price and looks, they seem have good performance based on all my googling.
and this fiberglass recurve was suggested to me as well
-
That Ebay "bow" is a complete piece of junk. It angers me seeing so many making a joke out of bowery. Id love to meet these idiots in person. How tall are you lefty?
-
Which Ebay bow are you talking about so I know? The hickory ones or the PVC one? There are quite a few different PVC ones on Ebay as well.
I'm 5' 3" on a good day. I'd be fine shooting off my hand if I couldn't find something with an arrow rest.
-
Both. For the most part ebay sellers of bows are just money grabbers because they see opportunity. The "bows" they sell are junk. Anybody that will sell a complete wood bow for $35-40 doesn't have 30 minutes into it, red light. We see people come on here asking how to build a bow and 2 weeks later they have "customers". You can probably tell by now its a peeve of mine. Most of study and work hard to get where we are.
If you can wait 3-4 weeks I will throw a simple bow together for you. 30# @ 23" sound good?
-
Ok! The bow she posted and removed is in all fairness not a piece of junk. That is a tad of a harsh judgment.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Handcrafted-English-Style-longbow-45-28-/261243702064
And no I have no connection to the seller nor even an ebay account. But seriously it is well enough for a 1st time archer for the price. As to time spent. I've seen guys bandsaw a bow out in 10 minutes then an hour or 2 of tweaking with drum-sanders and sell them for over 100 dollars. The bow she showed was all wood. Now she is looking at PVC bows. Too much criticism can turn many off.
I make all my bows with 100% hand tools and sometimes all stone tools, but that doesn't mean I can charge 500 dollars because I chose to do it that way. I do it because it's fun and I like to put them in people's hands who may never get the chance to try something like that out. Simple as that.
-
That Ebay "bow" is a complete piece of junk. It angers me seeing so many making a joke out of bowery. Id love to meet these idiots in person. How tall are you lefty?
The group the seller purports to be affiliated with and support seem to be a group formed initially by university students in Scotland, UK aimed at promoting historical re-enactment and authentic reproduction of historical artifacts.
http://www.triquetra-services.org/index.html
Odd that they would allow such junk sold in their name.
The only means to contact them is via email directors@triquetra-services.org, which I have, asking them about how their values reflect the quality of the item displayed.
PS. @ TimPotter the link was admin removed (Pat B), and not the wooden one you show, but a bad bad bad pvc joke.
-
Horsetime- Pearl Drums is absolutely right!!!!! Most of these Ebay "Bowyers" Learned just enough to make a bow that looks nice strung. However these bows perform terribly if at all and break within a few weeks presuming they even last that long. The PVC bows lose poundage with each shot and are unreliable at best.
You were, for lack of a better term, ripped off in your purchase by someone who most likely knew that they were ripping you off. I did the renfaire circut for years, and to the best of my knowledge, was the only one selling all wood bows both period and modern style. The rest were selling these modern f@$#%&*%ss bows. At least now you know better. You get what you pay for.
Hey Pearlie- let me know when you get close to finishing her bow and I will happily throw in a set of arrows for her, no charge at all!!!!! Do you have a preferred set of colors there Horsetime? That way you can at least have a set that fit you and not an "Off the Shelf" set. :)
G
P.S. I would also need to know where to send them so PM me your address
-
Well I have not really made up my mind yet so I'm trying to ask lots of questions so I don't make a mistake again. I don't like the "modern" looking bows and what interests me about the PVC bows is that they have such a "pretty" curve to them and the possiblity of shooting off my horse, although I'd have to talk to my horse first. They seem to shoot pretty well and have a large following based on my very limited googling. There is someone on youtube named backyardbower and he makes some pretty nice performing and looking pvc bows. I'm still open to pretty much anything.
I'm not entirely sure why the links were removed so if someone could explain that I'd appreciate it. I'm not trying to advertise anything, just trying to get an idea of useability.
The renfaire guy had several bows to choose from so I'm sure I probably picked the worst one!
PearlDrums, shoot me some more info on price and all that if you could please.
-
Horsetime, I'd jump on Pearldrum's offer if it were me :D
-
Horsetime, I sent you a PM of why I deleted the direct links you posted. It is against our rules to post a direct link to any commercial site unless they are sponsors of PA(Primitive Archer).
I agree that you should take Pearl Drums and Warpath up on their offers. Their genersity reflects our Primitive Archer membership to a tea!
-
I see the PM feature now! Ooops and thanks!
-
P/D and W/P ,you guys blow me away with your generosity!Awesome,just awesome!
-
horsetime, I'm a fellow Hoosier. I attend a lot of traditional archery events around the state, I would be glad to help you out with any archery introduction if you like.
BTW, That offer from pearl drums / warpath is a good one, these are people you can trust!
-
I have taken them up on their offer, thanks so much everyone!
-
Horsetime, Had you posted to reddit a few weeks ago? If so, welcome to the site! And if not... Well welcome to the site anyway!
-
Now come on guys, you are talking about a professional bowyer here......everybody has their skill level.... :laugh:
-
Just re-proves my theory on saddle time being totally insignificant.
-
Nope, never posted on reddit.
-
First of all I gotta say hats off to PD/War for yall's generosity. That's one of the things I like about PA.
Horsetime, you did right by not buying a bow of the bay. I am new to this bowmaking addiction and my wife got the bug for a selfbow. Since I am new and broke my first attempt I bought the $45 eBay special for her to shoot with until I get enough experience making them "safely" myself. Needless to say the bow had lots of hand shock! I had to put a cork handle on it to offset some of the shock.
If I had it to do all over I would have spent my money on a good stave! Anyway, looks like these guys saved you from another bad experience. Oh, btw, welcome to PA.
-
Welcome fellow hoosier. You will be happy with what you get from Pearly and Warpath, and it will be usable. I have a bow from Pearly and one of Warpaths arrows. Both are top notch.
-
Before I was even interested in bowyery I bought an ebay bow for eighty dollars and didn't know enough to tell it was hinging in both limbs. Shot it twenty times and it blew up in my face. The things money gobblers will disgrace online :(
-
Horsetime, there is one caveat to accepting the bow/arrow deal with those too knuckleheads....you gotta post pics of you, with the bow, and full SCA kit!
Squirrel Drums and Warped Path are adequate for the job, I guess. Just remember, you have the same qualifications to learn to make the gear that they had before they started. Stick around a while, learn a little, pick up some used hand tools at a flea market...AND MAKE YOUR OWN!
If you think those two were quick to jump in to help you out, we'll all pitch in even faster when you decide to make your own. THAT is what we live for around here.
-
Before I was even interested in bowyery I bought an ebay bow for eighty dollars and didn't know enough to tell it was hinging in both limbs. Shot it twenty times and it blew up in my face. The things money gobblers will disgrace online :(
Jeez, huisme, how many times do I have to say I am sorry?! ;D
-
It will be enough next time >:D
-
Horsetime you will be happy with a bow from P/D. I have seen some of his and they are awesome.
-
Hey JW- "Wapred Path" ? :o You don't know how right you are!!! >:D HA!!!!! But you're right. Making your own equipment is much more satisfying!!!
G
-
One thing about your bow, is it can probably be rescued with a strip of hickory glued to the back, and a good going over with a heat gun on the belly. I feel like the seller sold you a bow that someone left strung for a very long time or was possibly was green wood to start with.
-
Couldn't be a prop could it? A bow made to look braced for film sets etc?
-
I'll be sure to post pictures for everyone to see! I'm just blown away by the awesome people here.
I don't know if it's a prop, overused, or if someone made it that way. The riser is a different piece of wood and has been glued and sanded down really nicely and I don't see someone taking that kind of time on a prop. It does have some flex when I step through it, but I'm not sure I want to put a string on and try to shoot it. I fear it might explode. I just need to be patient for the bow being made by Pearl Drums.
-
I'd put a string on it. Not very tight. Just to make it look like it's at brace. Hang it on ur wall
-
Look at the picture of the bow where we see the nock end (where the string loops go), horse time. You'll see a ton of grain lines that run off.
You want straight grain lines tip to tip.
There are internet bowyers who do take pride in their work and actually spend time in selecting board stock. Phil Silva is one. Contact him.
woodbows.com
He sent me a bow years ago as a gift and it was good. You'll spend more than the $40 you spent but it is well worth it.
Of course, you could always make your own.
http://georgeandjoni.home.comcast.net/~georgeandjoni/index.html
Jawge