Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: kiltedcelt on August 05, 2014, 08:11:54 pm
-
Probably a couple years back someone posted a fairly extensive thread about their experiments building some pyramid bows. Going off of Tim Baker's info on the pyramid design and it's inherent efficiency, the poster was examining a way of building pyramid bows from boards that would require minimal tillering to produce a shootable bow. If I remember correctly the original poster was using a table saw to rip pyramid bow blanks at an even thickness for the entire length and then was cutting the tapers with a bandsaw. Does anyone remember this thread, or who the poster was? Also, I can't remember if it was actually posted here or over on Paleo Planet. I've tried the forum search on both sites and have come up with zilch so far. I have some interesting thoughts I'd like to experiment with by building some pyramid bows, but I don't want to duplicate effort either. If someone has already experimented with an easy way of kind of churning out the design, I'd like to see their methodology so I don't go reinventing the wheel so to speak.
-
you might be talking about me here's the link, and I bumped it up on the how to page http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,35312.0.html
-
Nice build-along Bubby, and a nice looking bow at the end! It's not the specific thread I remember but it certainly distills down the process to a very simplified build. Are you tillering by scraping on the sides of the bow, or using the gizmo to mark the flat spots and then scraping those areas on the belly? I was under the impression from what I'd read in the Baker piece in TBB that you're scraping the sides of the bow versus the belly, similar to what one does with a f-glass bow, since you can't actually scrape the f-glass to get the limbs bending evenly.
-
I'm sure I have read that thread... it wasn't in TBB was it? It's either here on PA or in there, because I don't really go anywhere else. I can't find it either right now, will let you know if I do.
-
Just from that description it sounds like something Woodbear on PaleoPlanet might have had something to do with. I can't find a specific thread.
Another possibility is this: http://paleoplanet69529.yuku.com/topic/53333/The-Four-Horsemen-bows Unfortunately though it looks like it was never followed up. I would have liked to see the results.
But my hunch is that it was on PP.
-
ezc - it's not that thread you linked to. It might still be on PP, but it definitely had to do with making bows from boards with a table saw, not staves for sure.
-
Have you looked in "Tradgang"
-
No, the thread was on PA or PP, that I know for sure. I just can't remember which site and the search wasn't exactly helpful.
-
A pyramid will have little thickness taper but it will have some. Mostly near the fades to stop it bending too much there. If you are reducing it from the sides you are increasing strain (all else being equal), so if you want to lighten the limbs (grams/ounces!) and you don't have any set then tiller from the edges.
Once you've figured out the thickness your wood likes to be then adjust the width to get required draw weight or make it thinner for a longer draw/thicker for a shorter draw.
Thats pyramids in a nutshell :D
-
It sounds like something fiddler49 could have done. But I ran a Google search in PaleoPlanet for his username and the word 'pyramid', which then comes up pretty empty.