Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: JayRob on July 03, 2014, 04:28:11 pm
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I'm making my first bow out of an ash board I had laying around, mystery Indonesian hard wood handle and hickory tips. Essentially my goal with this project is to further understand the process and gain experience.
I dont have a band saw so it was all done with a hand saw, table saw, and chisels. Im using a spoke shave and a rasp for tillering and I'm just using 90lbs nylon rope right now, any suggestions on rope?
Im also unsure about the handle shape and arrow rest. Ive taken a pictures of the area I thinking of cutting out. All criticism is greatly appreciated.
-Iben
(http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e397/darkbydesign06/Bowyer/166.jpg)
(http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e397/darkbydesign06/Bowyer/167.jpg)
(http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e397/darkbydesign06/Bowyer/174.jpg)
(http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e397/darkbydesign06/Bowyer/171.jpg)
(http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e397/darkbydesign06/001.jpg)
(http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e397/darkbydesign06/002.jpg)
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Looks to me like your right limb isn't bending much mid-limb
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I don't do boards so take this as I see it. The grain in that board looks scary to me. Let someone else comment before taking me too serious though.
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thats a lot of run offs buddy, id be suprised if this one produces your first, shooting, bow.
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It may produce your first wooden pipe bomb. Normally u want it rift or quarter sawn. Like it shows in your handle. U already got this far. Take it slow and careful
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I know the grain on the back is pretty bad, down the sides isn't too bad. Like I said in really just doing this for practice. I had this board laying around from a different project. It's wishful thinking that it will shoot for sure.
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Its best to practice on something that has a chance. Kicking flat soccer balls isn't good practice.
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The reason why I chose to practice on this board is because I already had it, ive never made a bow before and I didnt want to use an ash limb I picked up a week ago on my first attempt. But I definate understand what your saying.
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Hickory, hickory, pecan and hickory. Those are the best four kinds of boards to start on.
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Great screen name. You get to building bows and you'll need to change it to IBEN BOWYERIN ;) Sometimes you need to know when to stop practice and start over, especially if its a safety issue. Good luck.
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You might as well practice backing it too and you may even get it to hold together. Silk, linen, or brown paper bag.
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You might as well practice backing it too and you may even get it to hold together. Silk, linen, or brown paper bag.
That's a great idea. Good practice.
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I decided to slowly press on last night. I have never measured a draw weight before but i measured 28" on the wall and weighed it at 50lbs. I do not intend to shoot the bow for obvious reasons pointed out above but here it is.
(http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e397/darkbydesign06/Bowyer/0012.jpg)
(http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e397/darkbydesign06/Bowyer/003.jpg)
(http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e397/darkbydesign06/Bowyer/004.jpg)
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If your goal was getting practice at good tillering I'd say that project was worth your while. Good job! Get a good hickory board with straight grain, or better yet a nice stave and do that again. You'll have a great shooter. 8)
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I decided to slowly press on last night. I have never measured a draw weight before but i measured 28" on the wall and weighed it at 50lbs. I do not intend to shoot the bow for obvious reasons pointed out above but here it is.
You have to shoot an few arrows through it else you will seriously annoy the deities of bowmakin' and the spirits of the trees...
"Hey whadda ya do eh? You cutta da tree, you maka da bow and you donna shoots the arrows?..." :o
(Yes folks, the tree spirits have faux Italian accents ::) )
Del
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Yeah even if the grain is dodgy, if you can't see any cracks or splinters and you've pulled it to full draw on the tree plenty of times I don't see why you wouldn't grab some protective eyewear and shoot some arrows
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I decided to slowly press on last night. I have never measured a draw weight before but i measured 28" on the wall and weighed it at 50lbs. I do not intend to shoot the bow for obvious reasons pointed out above but here it is.
You have to shoot an few arrows through it else you will seriously annoy the deities of bowmakin' and the spirits of the trees...
"Hey whadda ya do eh? You cutta da tree, you maka da bow and you donna shoots the arrows?..." :o
(Yes folks, the tree spirits have faux Italian accents ::) )
Del
I will have to make a few arrows first ;D
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I think you did well, It may not have been the best selection to start but you did the rest well , please don't cut a shelf in it and risk losing it now !
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You did very well, considering this is your first bow! I'm sure you've learnt a great deal.
I don't entirely agree with some others that said the grain of that board is not good enough. It looks pretty acceptable to me. I can see some grain run outs in the middle, but that is the (stiff) handle, so it shouldn't be much of a problem. And you've proven that.
There are a few things that you should still improve on this bow. First off, the tiller is not good enough for me. The left limb (http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e397/darkbydesign06/Bowyer/0012.jpg) is a bit hinged in the middle. You really need to scrape the inner third of that limb, to take some stress off the middle section. The right limb is also not perfect; please scrape that limb between 3" and 12" from the handle. You'll loose maybe four pounds draw weight, but the bow will be much safer and shoot better that way.
Another thing is the tip overlays. The sole reason to put on a tip overlay, is to strengthen the tip, so you can safely file in the grooves. At the moment, those overlays are massive. The add a lot of (dead) weight, slowing the bow down. Remove about 75% of the mass of the tip overlays, and file in the string groove again. This will make the bow look much better, shoot with less handshock, and shoot faster too.
Then onto the handle...You've made some good improvements already, compared to the first handle picture. I highly recommend you to not cut in a window for the arrow pass. Instead, you could add a small shelf to the side of the handle. Just glue on some cork or leather. If you insist on a cut in sight window, please see this picture on where you should cut it in. It should be about 1" above the absolute center of the bow. Not as high as you drew it! Also, it must be far away from the fade, as to not create a weakness there.
(http://i60.tinypic.com/2lnk082.png)
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Whip tillered on the left limb, needs more bending out of the fades. Right limb appears to be hinging about a foot in from the tip, needs a lot more bending out of the fades for about the first foot. You need a tillering gizmo to help you spot the places that need work.
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You did very well, considering this is your first bow! I'm sure you've learnt a great deal.
I don't entirely agree with some others that said the grain of that board is not good enough. It looks pretty acceptable to me. I can see some grain run outs in the middle, but that is the (stiff) handle, so it shouldn't be much of a problem. And you've proven that.
There are a few things that you should still improve on this bow. First off, the tiller is not good enough for me. The left limb (http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e397/darkbydesign06/Bowyer/0012.jpg) is a bit hinged in the middle. You really need to scrape the inner third of that limb, to take some stress off the middle section. The right limb is also not perfect; please scrape that limb between 3" and 12" from the handle. You'll loose maybe four pounds draw weight, but the bow will be much safer and shoot better that way.
Another thing is the tip overlays. The sole reason to put on a tip overlay, is to strengthen the tip, so you can safely file in the grooves. At the moment, those overlays are massive. The add a lot of (dead) weight, slowing the bow down. Remove about 75% of the mass of the tip overlays, and file in the string groove again. This will make the bow look much better, shoot with less handshock, and shoot faster too.
Then onto the handle...You've made some good improvements already, compared to the first handle picture. I highly recommend you to not cut in a window for the arrow pass. Instead, you could add a small shelf to the side of the handle. Just glue on some cork or leather. If you insist on a cut in sight window, please see this picture on where you should cut it in. It should be about 1" above the absolute center of the bow. Not as high as you drew it! Also, it must be far away from the fade, as to not create a weakness there.
(http://i60.tinypic.com/2lnk082.png)
Thank you very much for sharing your critique. Very in depth. I appreciate you taking the time to show me where I can make improvements. Ill definitely get on it this week.
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I think you did well, It may not have been the best selection to start but you did the rest well , please don't cut a shelf in it and risk losing it now !
Thanks for the tip
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Whip tillered on the left limb, needs more bending out of the fades. Right limb appears to be hinging about a foot in from the tip, needs a lot more bending out of the fades for about the first foot. You need a tillering gizmo to help you spot the places that need work.
Thanks I will definitely work on making the tillering gizmo.