Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: ajbruggink on November 22, 2016, 12:11:54 pm
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Greetings,
I have a question regarding shooting wooden bows in freezing temperatures. Do I have to 'warm' up my bow by giving it a series of short draws when I'm shooting in freezing temperatures to prevent it from breaking or is this a waste of time? I use to give my bows a couple of short draws in colder weather but then I stopped doing it and had no problems but while hunting on a cold morning in October I had a bow make cracking sound when I pulled it back to see if the cover in the spot I was in would interfere with my raising and drawing my bow in the event that a deer would show up. I heard a similar cracking sound on a bow that broke on me two months before right before it blew into two pieces so I feared for the worst. I looked for any signs of breakage and I ended up taking the handle wrap off to look there as well and I saw three deep hairline cracks that went across the belly and the deepest one went half the thickness of the bow. I would call these cracks crysals as I have seen similar cracks on badly tillered bows I have made but this bow wasn't made by me and had been shot continuously for a year, had textbook tiller for an ELB, and hadn't had any problems before then so I figured it was well made so I'm hesitant to call them such. The only design flaws I could say it had was that at 1 1/8" wide at its widest it seemed quite narrow for a 53 lb hickory bow that is 72" long and it had over 3" of set but maybe I'm wrong, maybe these things cause a bow to break over time. I ended up going home instead of pulling it again to find out if would blow. This whole episode has made me leery of not warming up bows in cold weather again and now it is that time of year for cold weather so I'm trying to figure out if this bow's breaking was caused by the cold weather or not. It also got rained on while I was hunting the weekend before but I practiced every day of the week afterwards with no problems and I used it on a bear hunt in September and it got rained then as well and there were no issues except my fletchings got wet but luckily I was relatively close to the bear when I killed it so it ended up not being a issue at all but I mention it because I don't know what wood that suffers only from water damage looks like so I won't rule it out. I apologize for getting off the original subject but I'm trying to figure out why this bow broke and how I can prevent it in the future. Your advice is greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
Aaron
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I don't do partial pulls but I leave the bow strung in the cold for a few minutes.
It is unlikely that water damage would cause a problem.
Your bow probably bends too much in the handle in relation to the rest of the limb.
What wood is it?
Jawge
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The warmth gained by flexing a piece of wood is negligible.
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I don't do partial pulls but I let the bow strung in the old for a few minutes.
It is unlikely that water damage would cause a problem.
Your bow probably bends too much in the handle in relation to the rest of the limb.
What wood is it?
Jawge
It is a hickory English Longbow made by Rudderbows. I did not make it. I will attempt to post a picture of its tiller.
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That may be the answer right there.
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That sucks, hope it works out for you. This may have been asked many times over but how cold is too cold?
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Well I got to full draw on the tillering stick. I was expecting it to explode. It didn't, so I don't know what's going on with it. I provided a pic of the tiller and handle where that crysaling is going on. The tiller is not as good as I thought it was, not textbook, all the bend is in the handle.
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Oh my.
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Was that a U-finish stave or complete bow?
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Was that a U-finish stave or complete bow?
Nope it was a completed bow. I bought it a year ago, I have built bows but I wanted a 55 lb bow and I knew to build one myself would probably take me 2 years to get it done right, the current bow I'm working on is my ninth attempt because I've been either breaking bows or making them 30 lbs too light but I shouldn't make excuses.
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Oh my.
Exactly what Id expect from them. Aaron, I cant believe your teeth aren't chipped :)
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Not sure where Oostburg is, but if you come to Marshall, Mi next spring for the rendezvous I will personally promise you a GOOD 55# bow when you leave. Just bring a decent stave.
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Someone needs to be told that the handle is supposed to give at full draw, not give out. ;)
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They just saw it out and sell it. At that price they can send out 3 or 4 per buyer and still be ahead. One might just stay together. I had one run in several years ago with them and wont even think about using them for anything. They sent me a "straight grained" POS hickory backer I wouldn't make a measuring stick with. I called them and they said they use them all the time......really? :)
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Is it just me, or does this bow appear to be off to the left in the tree? not pulling strait back in the handle.
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Maybe a little, Ed. But that's the least of the bows problems.
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Oh my wow. That bow has a few issues, the bad tiller just being one. I would take pearl up on his offer and build a bow worth something.
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That's not a bow... it has no taper at all by the look of it..
A bit of 2x1 straight from the lumber yard would bend about the same as that.
Del
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About shooting a bow in the cold.I have and am sure many of us have shot bows in just below freezing weather.I really don't think it makes a diff.I leave the bow strung a little while before going out to hunt in the cold weather.Lots of different experiences and opinions on this.One thing though is as the winter goes on the dry air can increase the poundage of a bow a little.A couple of pounds at times and more.I think as long as the humidity does'nt constantly stay below 30% the bow should be ok.Some woods become brash quicker than others,or are'nt as elastic so to speak.
That ELB bow was not fine tuned tillering at all in my opinion.I would send it back for a refund.
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Omg that is a piece of dung to be somewhat polite.blows my mind that it was sold.some have no shame.just wow.
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People really sell that?
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They sell it and people gobble it up.
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Insane. To think that they actually can make money by selling this sort of things (I've been looking at the prices of their and let's say the prices don't reflect the quality seen here). Surely this bow must be an accident. If it's not...
then it's sort of hilarious that they have a motto on their website that reads; "The Lord is my shepherd".
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Their business runs mostly on impulse buys. You don't see a whole lot of complaints because after a month or two the bows are put into a closet and forgotten about. Or they're bought by people looking to get a traditional bow but don't want to spend $100 for a fiberglass one or the even more expensive price for a REAL primitive bow.
So you end up with kids shooting a set ridden handshocky hickory bow with mismatched carbon arrows and it's a wonder they don't stick with the sport. :-\
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For sure. Still, in the 15 years or so since that company launched itself right here on the message board the complaints have come in like clockwork.
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ajbrugg....Just make your own.
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I'm sorry for you but that 'bow' is not a bow. It is criminal that the people who sent that to you are in business. Take Pearl up on his kind offer. Send that thing back and demand your money back- you are lucky you don't have a large bump on your head and have two eyes left.
Rudderbows - you need to take a long, hard look in the mirror.
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I always string my bow and short draw as I move out to full draw before I head to the woods. Especially when it is cold but do it most times anyway. Can't hurt and it is a wood bow so you never know. Not sure it is necessary but makes me feel better. ;) Don't think that was the problem with your bow though. ;)
Pappy
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I've made war bows in temps around –15-20 °C. They held up nicely. Made a bunch of bows in similarly cold temps, never a problem. I do in cold temps like I do in warmer, string it for a while, draw it half way or there about a few dozen times before going to longer draws. One thing I think might be important is to make sure the temperature is homogenous throughout the bow, i.e. don't string it indoors and bring it out on the lawn and shoot it. Then the outermost wood will be colder (and shrunk) compared to the warmer center of the bow. But that's hardly an issue for hunters. Unless you've got deer lining up on you lawn. :)
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I usally shoot half dz arrows on the way out the door on the way to the woods or even loose a few judo's at a stump or two
Loosen myself up,check my equiment and i guess its a way to warm up a bow
I think i read somewhere Rudders went out of business recently
Ive never bought a bow or stave from them but they used to have a good snake skin pattern fabric backing that ive used
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yes oh my,, wow,, :)
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The only warming up that will help that bow is a small fire.
You can't "warm" a bow by half drawing it, or rubbing it, or doing anything to it. Think about how much heat it requires to gently move a bent limb. The only thing half drawing does is warm up your muscles.
I've shot with people who will take a 160lb self yew warbow out of a box, brace it and crank it back to 32" in horizontal snow without a problem. If a bow is going to break at full draw, it's going to do it whether you half draw it first or not.
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Those are basically my thoughts about the subject too.