Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: jesswprater on January 09, 2015, 03:39:02 pm
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Hey fellas, any advice would be appreciated.
I have a bow bought in about 2002 in Duluth, MN (I lived up there about 10 years). It is a plains flatbow. If I remember correctly, it stated 70# at 27 in. I shot it awhile then lost the hand made bowstring. I thought it would turn up but never did. Well, this has stretched out until today. I have been back in Oklahoma for 5 years. The bow hasn't been shot since 2002. I bought a bowstring from 3Rivers and strung it up for about 5 hours the other day, but remember somebody at this forum telling me not to draw it back until I could limber up the wood again. I got a thank you gift from Horsefeathers for an order that was a PA from Winter 2003. In the issue there is an article from Michael Barham on how to build a Tillering Board. I think I need to build the board to bring back the flexibility a little at a time. Does anyone know how this should be done? Do I gradually creep the bow until reaching 27 inches, or start an inch or so per session over time until it can be stretched to the 27 inch draw again?
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My grandpa had a real ol one from when he was like 30. I bent the limbs like i was floor tillering it for about a week maybe 2 just doing a few "reps" with it a day. Usually will bring back the limberness of a bow
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I don't buy into "warming up" bows. Id simply brace and pull it back. If it breaks, it was bound to anyway. If it holds, it was made right.
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Yup i agree with pearlie, if it hasn't been shot in a long time i brace it and let it sweat for a while then shoot it
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If it where 30-40 years old Id take a slightly different approach, but yours is still new.
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I wouldn't pull it back to full draw right off the bat but I would certainly pull it back a ways and maybe work it up to full draw in a few pulls
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Thanks Men!
I still need the Tillering Board if I'm ever going to make one. I will just take limbering up a little slow. It has been in the house for a couple of years now, but it stayed outside in a storage building for 3 years. I thought I would have to leave it braced at 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 for hours or days. If it breaks, it breaks. I have a good Bois d'Arc stave to work on if I ever get around to making the shaving horse. Thanks for your input.
Jess
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yes just leave it strung a a few hours a day to be safe,,, then work up to the draw slowly,, as stated it could probably be strung and drawn,, but a few hours of being patient won't hurt a thing :)
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Jess, scroll down a page or two and there is a recent threat "Your tillering tree" that you can check out. Good info on making one.
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Thanks for the lead, Drewster! That is a good topic thread.
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Where in Oklahoma are you? Im in bartlesville about an hour north of tulsa. Think about this. We make bows of 100+year old fence post. The wood is fine. Your bow will be fine, unless you stored it in a hot or dry area and made it to brittle.
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I'm in Stillwater, Sleek! I did store it in one of those storage facilities for 2-3 years while we moved back to Oklahoma and built a house. It was as hot and dry as hades during that time. The bow has been in the house for two years now. I haven't drawn it full yet but have been teasing it and leaving it strung for a day at a time. There are some checks partially across the bow belly next to the handle. It feels ok and limber, so far. This warm patch of weather ahead will let me make a tillering board. I think that will help.
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Well you aint to far. 2 hours about. I work allot but maybe we could meet up some time. I bet the bow is fine. Brace it and check its tiller at brace. If it wont take the stress of brace there is no hope. If the tiller looks good stary pulling on it.
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Hey Sleek, I would really like to meet up with you sometime. I have been thinking about starting this hobby for almost 20 years. Now I am semi retired and better late than never! I have the tillering board set up now. I need to make a run to the hardware store for a yardstick to use as a draw indicator. When you say brace are you meaning strung or full draw? I have been pulling on it but not to full draw yet. It won't kill me if it breaks, but I will have to jump into building a bit further than I wanted as of yet. I have a Bois D'Arc stave waiting on a shaving horse and some new tools.
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Lets make plans man. By brace I mean just strung not pulled back. Im working on refurbishing an old delaminated rawhide backed bow myself. Now thats a trick. I work gunshows almost every weekend but sometimes there isnt one. So maybe one of those weekends, or if not maybe we could figure something out for a weekday.
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Well, I drew the bow to 27-28 inches and it broke. I want to kick myself for pulling it all the way on the tillering board, but then remembered what Pearl Drums said. It was a bow I purchased. I doubt that it was made right. I didn't see a consistent "Back to Belly" taper. It looked like it maintained the same taper from just past the handle to the nock. The width did taper. Oh well, time to stop belly aching / procrastinating and build my own. I have a dry Osage stave. I've read the bibles and have the two PA issues with Osage Bow Building Parts 1&2 Dec/Jan 2014 and Feb/Mar 2014. Any other advice or direction for a first bow build? My draw length looks to be 27 1/2 inches. Somewhere I read how long to make the bow for that draw length.
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Pics?
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Not sure how well this will show. 2nd picture shows the picture. Dang! I have to figure out how to shrink the size of my pics. I will try again in the morning, Sleek.
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Try using photo bucket! Patrick
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I adjusted the Cell camera, then used Microsoft Picture manager to reduce the resolution. Hope you can see the cracks on the back next to the handle. I recently read that the bow should have a consistent taper from handle to nock. Note that this does not. This must be one of those 10 year bows. It shot fine in 2003.
Ok, let's try this time.
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Looks like all the bend must've been happening out the fade. You can still wall hang it. When we get to meet up I will give you a hond on an osage bow if you dont have one completed by then.
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Hey Sleek! Did you get my e-mail on contact information?
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Yes I did. Im sorry I completely forgot to let you know. Im looking forward to a gap in my schedule where we can hangout and make some wood chips.
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I don't buy into "warming up" bows. Id simply brace and pull it back. If it breaks, it was bound to anyway. If it holds, it was made right.
If you do what you just said and it holds likely it was overbuilt and you've been lucky!
If you leave a bow unused for a long time then the belly loses a bit of it's 'tillered in' compression (set). Just stringing it up and 'pulling it back' is asking for trouble.... Like when you are tillering a new bow - you find a stiff spot so you remove some wood then exercise the bow to 'bed in' that freshly exposed section of belly wood - same principle is applying with a long unused bow.
You don't need to string it up and pull it back to see if it was well made. Look at the distribution of set when it's unstrung.
Personally the way I see it why not take your time with it? All you have to do is string it up and let it sit for gradually increasing periods. Then gradually start increasing the draw.
An old bow deserves some love ;)
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Too much bend at the too abrupt fade if you ask me.
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Yeah, those fades look awfull. Very short and not much actual fading going on.
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Hi SlimBob and Sleek! When you refer to fades, are you talking about the side taper from the handle to the nock? If so, that is why I included that picture. There was nothing gradual or consistent about them. The handle dropped right off to a fairly constant thickness clear out to the nocks. That must be why it broke.
Hi Mike! I did gradually extend the time the bow was strung over two or three weeks. I worked up to 36 hours. My mistake was pulling the bow to full draw once I had the tillering board made.
Anyway, it will make a good wall hanging. I heard too late last year of an annual bow building meet in Perkins, OK. I think it had been happening for several years. Does anyone know if it will be held again this year?
I'm looking forward to meeting with you when you get a gap in your work, Sleek!
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The transition from the handle to working limb should be a gradual one without any sharp angles, anywhere. The thickness taper itself, (no taper in this case as you stated) is not the problem here. No thickness taper (or very little) is proper for a pyramid design. The problem here is that the handle goes from 1.5 inches thick to a thickness of 3/8 of an inch at the start of the working limb. The transition from 1.5" to 3/8" should be feathered out gradually so that there are no sharp angles that separates one from the other. If there is, it can result in what you have here. It takes some practice to get that feathering right.
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^ what he said.
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I don't buy into "warming up" bows. Id simply brace and pull it back. If it breaks, it was bound to anyway. If it holds, it was made right.
I agree some what, but not for bows that have been sitting for a long time.
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Looking at that bow, its age had nothing to do with breaking. With the fades left that way I doubt the person knows how to properly tiller a bow either. BOOM....