Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: mikaluger (Mick Kay) on December 06, 2013, 08:30:25 am
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Been annoying the missus again,
Hi guy's this is my first post,
I recently got some Pacific Yew from across the water. ( thanks Carson @ Echo). I live in Melbourne Australia and I have always wanted to make a bow from yew. I started to do a self bow with the billets, and unfortunately, as sometimes happens, the cut stave broke in the tillering process............... Poo happens. Another story for another day, once I can bring myself together to talk about it...............
Luckily, when I cut the bow out of the spliced stave, I had a piece left off the bottom of one end, big enough to rip in half and splice together to make a belly lam. Phew!!!
So we have a Tri Lam Flatbow, Hickory back, Bunnings bamboo core, Pacific yew belly. 45lb @ 28", 66"NtN, Sambar antler arrow rest and nock tips. Yew 11 1/2" riser. 4" handle 90mm fades. 34mm at fades to 30mm mid limb to 10mm at tips. 40mm thick handle down to 15mm at fades, 11mm at tips.
Another good shooter, this one! lovely and smooth. Found a good combo here! Yew is the best wood I have used, I love the way it works and it speaks to me. I have since ordered more.
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the rest....
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Very nice bow,way to save what you could. :)
Pappy
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Good looking bow!
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Well done! Looks Gooooooooooooooooooooood!
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I'd say that turned out better than an unbacked yew :-X ;D
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very cool bow man, its a very striking piece of yee, bright colored with tight rings. love it
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Great job.
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Beautiful bow, I'm really digging that arrow rest, fantastic work.
On another note, where about are you sourcing yew from? I'm down in Brissy and have been trying hard to find anywhere/anyone to get
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That is a beauty. I like the combination and color. It's great seeing people contributing from around the world.
Welcome to PA!
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I'd say that turned out better than an unbacked yew :-X ;D
Would have to agree. Substance over style here, which in turn makes this bow very stylish in itself.
Really nice bow, Mick - well done! I must try backing yew at some point.
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Very handsome gotta love Yew.
Nice shootin'
Del
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Nice save!
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Very cool! Welcome to PA!!
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Sweet bow! Also, nice arrow spread, hot damn!
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Loooks like the top limb is bending big time in the fade........and not in the outer 1/3rd.
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Loooks like the top limb is bending big time in the fade........and not in the outer 1/3rd.
:o... outers are stiff, but that's not unusual... I don't see any bend in the fades????!!! :o
Looks great to me...
Del
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Nice save !!!
Welcome to PA !!
Guy
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That's a beauty!
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Loooks like the top limb is bending big time in the fade........and not in the outer 1/3rd.
:o... outers are stiff, but that's not unusual... I don't see any bend in the fades????!!! :o
Looks great to me...
Del
outers are stiff, but that's not unusual... don't understand..? could you elaborate on that..? if it was my bow I would not hear the end of it.........!!!!
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@ bow101.
Often the last 6 " of a bows limbs won't bend, one reason being that there is very little leverage on the end of the limb.
Say take a 50# bow with 24" of limb length. That's 100 foot pounds leverage at the fade, 50 footpounds mid limb, but 6" from the tip it's only 25 foot pounds, which would need a pretty thin limb to bend.
That's why nocks can be so slim... no leverage to bend 'em. You can bend an arrow and snap it... but try breaking a length of arrow shaft clamped in a vice with just 1/2" protruding by looping a string around it and pulling.
Also stiff slim tips help keep the the tips light... you want 'em light, 'cos that's the bit of the bow limb that has to accelerate quickest and move fastest. Obviously it's taken to extremes in designs like the Mollegabet with long thin stiff levers. (The bow in question has a hint of this in the tiller IMO, as maybe the outer 8" is pretty stiff)
Anyhow, all just my opinion but I couldn't see hardly any bend straight out of the fade... it looks like mid limb doing the bulk of the work.
I should prob' have kept my big mouth shut and let Mick answer your critique :-[
Del
Oppologies for hi-jacking the thread :-[
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Mick, Welcome to PA! Glad you found your way here. Beautiful bow. Love the design. Glad to see you were able to make the save. :D
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Pretty sweet. :)
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In the unbraced profile it looks like the reflex is mostly in the outer half of the limb, and more pronounced on the top limb, which may account for a slightly flatter outer limb?
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Beautiful bow, I'm really digging that arrow rest, fantastic work.
On another note, where about are you sourcing yew from? I'm down in Brissy and have been trying hard to find anywhere/anyone to get
Pm sent
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Super nice bow and a skillful save. I like the overall look of it as well as the details like the arrow rest and handle wrap.
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Loooks like the top limb is bending big time in the fade........and not in the outer 1/3rd.
:o... outers are stiff, but that's not unusual... I don't see any bend in the fades????!!! :o
Looks great to me...
Del
outers are stiff, but that's not unusual... don't understand..? could you elaborate on that..? if it was my bow I would not hear the end of it.........!!!!
Also keep in mind that this bow is reflexed from mid limb out. This will make the outer limbs appear stiff even if they are doing their fair share of work.
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Hi guy's
Thanks for the welcome and your comments. Firstly let me say I am very much an amateur bowyer and still working out what works in my bows and what doesn't. I am a carpenter tho, so I can say, I have a good feel for different timbers and how to work them.
In terms of design, this bow and an osage one I made before it, are a culmination of 2 years of making bows out of different timbers, both northern and southern hemisphere species, with mostly un performing or sometimes catastrophic results! :-[
Finally I can say with this bow and the osage bow before it, I am very happy with the result. I back all my flatbows with Hickory, its relatively easy to get here and is fantastic to work with, it also works!
I am yet to make a successful self bow that has lasted more than 500-600 arrows. These were American white ash which we use here alot in furniture making. I tried a yew bow a few weeks ago, but it broke in the tillering process and I managed to salvage this from the remnants. Thank goodness.
As you can see in the unstrung photo their is quite alot of reflex glued into this bow, and maybe I should of started it closer to the limb tips, so as a consequence, the inner and mid limbs are doing the bulk of the work. There seems to be no ill effects of this, thus far, the bow however, comes around quite smooth. The profile is quite square on the limbs. Just something I am toying with after reading a few post's on various sites. Trying to get some speed into my bows and i'm getting there!!!The bow picks up the draw weight early and is smooth to draw, it packs quite a punch for 45lb. The yew is fantastic to work with. I just ordered some more. Thanks Carson!!!!! ;)
When I tiller a bow like this, I cut and plane a nice taper from fades to tips, then start to tiller the limbs from the fades out and hardly end up touching the limb tips at all. I have done my last few bows like this and as a result, they have kept there shape with no or very little set, draw and shoot smooth and are the quickest bows I've made. The tillering was a little challenging on this bow as the mid limb took a bit of coaxing to "pop" and go back the other way. A few nervous moments there, but it was fine in the end. Hope this helps.
Mick.