Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: mmattockx on September 04, 2020, 05:12:16 pm
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Does anybody keep a log book of the bows they have made? Or perhaps other record keeping methods? I'm looking for ideas on how to organize the record keeping and the kind of things people have thought is important to track.
Thanks,
Mark
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I always thought it would be a good idea but I could never figure out what to record. I was always afraid that 5 years down the road I would realise that I'd been recording the wrong stuff. Oh and I really suck at keeping records.
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After 30 years of making bows I regret not keeping records. It is a good idea. If were to do it now I would do it on a spreadsheet. Jawge
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It’s funny - I’m new to bow building and was just thinking of this. I imagine that if I carry on with this venture, in 20 years I could have some really invaluable information stored in a logbook - I might not be able to necessarily interpret it all but I’m sure someone could. I’m thinking of including the following:
Wood identification (species, board or stave, location where obtained, how seasoned, rpi etc)
Design: (profile, length, width, recurves, shelf, draw weight, draw length, tiller profile, Backing, finish etc)
Noted flaws: (imperfect tiller, knots, ring violations, Limb twist etc)
Early Shooting: (initial string follow, speed, Hand shock, etc)
Later shooting: (string follow, damage, failures, etc)
Probably have to identify each bow with either a name or serial number or something. It’s be nice to be able to look at good bows and be able to recreate them from a numbers/profile perspective and maybe something could be gleaned from failures in terms of identifying a common issue not immediately apparent. Those are my thoughts.
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Never even crossed my mind.
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My logbook is in my head :)
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That's what my "Bowyers Diary" is :)
It just happens to be online... the great thing is I can put my pics and links to vids on there. The built in search engine is handy too.
It's interesting to look back over it, over 10 years now!
Not every bow is covered, but most of them, and the interesting ones.
Del
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yes I do it, have stats from 25 years ago,, its nice to go back a reference,, and remember what bows did what,,
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I have kept one for 25 years, your bows may change hands a few times. Someone will call you wanting to know about a bow with your name on it, a quick look in the log book with the stats and you can find out more about the bow in question.
Here is an entry from my log;
#140, July 2012
"A guy sent me some wool clothing for free, later he wanted to buy one of my bows. To return the favor I sent him a bow for free. Nice bow, 65", R/H, osage, split finger tillering, made from sister billets. Frank Schutte"
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Some of them. I have been saving the web pages on the bows I posted on PA going back to early 2000
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alot of times when I give advice on a bow design or draw length etc,, I can go back and tell you what kind of performance I was getting from different designs ,, or if I piked a bow 10 years ago,, what weight increase i got and if the cast was improved or not,, etc etc,,also what things I did that failed,,,
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Mine is more simple. 67” right hand Osage , pyramid , 26 oz 50@ 28 , then serial # I am at I think about 275 then the date 320 March and Of twenty . So 275320. That’s about it. Arvin
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I guess I need to find me a logbook or journal! I can fill page one, and make a entry on page 2 with a ? mark (lol)!
Hawkdancer
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I guess I need to find me a logbook or journal! I can fill page one, and make a entry on page 2 with a ? mark (lol)!
Hawkdancer
+1 (lol)
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Width, thickness, tapers, style, performance amount of set, draw weight and wood-type are what I log, so if I change anything I can get a comparison
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Here is a neat example; I made a bow out of a splintered stave to see if I could, adding parts in places that no parts should hold up, I bamboo backed it to help hold the parts together. The bow shot fine, I called it my Frankenstein bow.
I was helping a friend buy some equipment for his Cowboy Action rig and needed $80 more dollars. I offered this bow on line for the needed $80 telling the buyer full well what he was buying and I that I wouldn't guarantee it. Off it went to Connecticut, the buyer loved the bow.
Years later a guy called me about a bow he found in an archery shop in Chattanooga with my name on it, he wanted to know about the bow. A quick check of the stats in my log book and I determined out it was my Frankenstein bow. I asked him to send me a picture to verify this, the glue line was visible in his picture.
Here is a before and after picture;
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I started the bow with this in the handle section, I dished out the bad wood and glued in new wood. This bow was another of my hair brained experiments just to see how things would come out and what I could pull off and get away with it.
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Sounds like everything went well with that build! Nice to see the bow still shooting!
Hawkdancer
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since almost every bow is trying something new, I wished I had kept more notes about what I hoped to learn with a particular bow, and how it worked out in that particular regard.
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I keep detailed records of every laminate bow I build. Specs including lamination thicknesses, taper rates, final limb thickness/widths exc... I also keep records of the amount that set/reflex the bow had, as well as the arrow speed the bow achieved once broken in. Finally I add notes of what could be improved on the for next bow.
I have been keeping these notes for 3 years now and I am constantly looking back on old builds to compare them to projects I am working on now. These record books have been really valuable to me.
Cheers,
Taylor
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two of the first pages from 1997.... this bow shot well and I learned about heat box and fixing a splinter,, and the design was a bit narrow,, or not long enough for long term heavy tournament use,,
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I saw a rather comprehensive form blank (probably by Tim Baker) in one of the Bowyer's Bible. I made several notes following the form, then just gave up. Not easy to keep up for a hobbyist. As I never sell or give away my bows, all specs are still with me. I will get around to cataloging them when I cannot make bows anymore. Now I just keep stave drying notes. I might start to use a simplified log book as I tinker with some of my around 50 bows to see if I can make any of them shoot better than 170 FPS. It would be interesting to have the before and after specs.