Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Blink on January 31, 2022, 10:00:52 am
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I finally got around to making a bow. This was to be my daughter's 15th birthday present.
There were a couple of knots which I could not avoid but managed to place symmetrically in the stave.
I steamed some recurves and shaved the limbs down until they were pretty thin, this was to be a light bow.
Made some nock overlays from beef bone and glued them on with Araldite epoxy glue.
I didn't spend a huge amount of time tillering, it was never going to be perfect with these knots but I got it looking pretty nice.
Got some rawhide from a big dog-chew, stuck it on using wood glue and sanded the edges smooth when dry.
Using a hobby plotter I cut a vinyl design and stencilled onto the bow in mix of scrubbable emulsion wall paint and acrylic tints.
I used Osmo poly wax oil to finish, one coat of clear on the painted rawhide back and two coats of white and 'terra' tints on the rest.
Linen cord whipping was wrapped at the transition points.
Wet-moulding was used to shape the leather handle but in fact it was soft enough that I really need not have bothered with that stage.
Found an old dacron string hanging around from decades ago from a cheap take down recurve (I didn't try to get rid of the knot).
Finished bow is 20 pounds @ 26" which what I was aiming for although maybe I should have made it 5 lbs heavier for her to grow into.
The design was based on plant cells, knowing that it also hinted at stylised animal scale. But my daughter insisted on it being brown not green so it's ended up looking quite African which is fine by me and she likes it which is all that matters.
I feel lucky that my first effort came out nice and didn't break (I presume breakage is a bit less likely on very light bows but maybe it's all relative.) I enjoyed the process and will probably have a go at more bows soon.
We've had a bunch of storms here in the UK recently and there's a big yew down nearby which I found yesterday. I harvested a limb as heavy as could managed to bring out of the woods on my shoulder which could make a couple of staves although one will be gnarly. I think there's about 8 feet of straight trunk laying there which is more than a foot in diameter.
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This bow looks very good! I like your finish work very much! First bow? It looks so nice that I am honestly, and politely, skeptical! :)
Very thoughtful gift and welcome to PA. I hope to see a picture of the full draw.
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Looks great for first bow. Hope she enjoys.
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This bow looks very good! I like your finish work very much! First bow? It looks so nice that I am honestly, and politely, skeptical! :)
Thanks, I'll take your skepticism as sincere form of flattery!
I'm 55 years old and am a practical sort of person. With major DIY projects and all sorts of crafts, hobbies and projects over the years I have a decent skill set that transfers to this sort of work. In the last few years I have done a bit of green woodworking, spoon carving and made the shave horse I used for this bow - see pic.
But it really is my first bow!
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That's pretty amazing for your first bow. My advice is don't stop now - you have some talent.
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Great story. Much better bow than my first one for sure.
Can't wait to see your next one.
ps, you need to get that downed yew!!!
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Fantastic work on your first bow... looks like she is happy with it
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Only point of critique: tips and overlays are WAY oversized!
Hard to believe it's your first bow. Looking forward for your second.
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Welcome to Primitive Archery site. Very nice first bow indeed. I can see why some are skeptical but we are genuinely impressed. Keep em coming.
Bjrogg
PS from the full draw picture with your daughter. It doesn’t look like the first time she has drawn a bow either. Nice form. Way better than mine.
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Beautiful bow, wished my first had turned out like that, she should enjoy that for a long while. :)
Pappy
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Only point of critique: tips and overlays are WAY oversized!
Yeah, I wasn't sure.
I saw some tiny overlays and skinny tips on this forum and although over the years you get some kind of a gut feeling for different material strengths it's still hard to believe that some of those beautifully slender forms are are able to deal with the forces involved.
Also I got lazy at the end, I was going to file down the overlays way more but just said that'll do.
There's no surface finish on the bone so I still might go ahead and shape them some more, I'll probably leave the ash tips as they are though.
Thanks for the feedback.
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Very nice bow for your first one. Congrats and welcome to PA!
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Excellent picture. Great work, there. :OK
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Fantastic and welcome to PA! It’s going to be really hard to beat that bow.
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Very nice bow! Always great to see a kid taking up the art, too. ;D
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So I spent the afternoon cutting and splitting the yew trunks that had been left long enough by the volunteers cleaning up the woods.
Looks to me like they are mostly too wiggly to use, please let me know what you all think?
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Too wiggly...not a chance, you have some good looking staves there. Some people pay a premium for staves like that. Not as easy to tiller, for sure. These are the staves a master bowyer pines for, they don't come around very often(in any species of bow wood), and you have scored them first go.
As you have only made one bow so far, you might want to get a few more under your belt first before tackling them. Confidence from experience is the key(plus a pair of calipers to check thickness taper of the wriggles).
I have faith that you will be able to do them justice, after the skills you have shown in your first bow.
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What a beautiful bow. She is so lucky to have a great father like you!
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Welcome to PA. You did an excellent job on your first bow. Agree with BJ... your daughter has very good form. Hope she has many days enjoying her new bow.
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Very nice design! Looks good for a first bow ( or second, third, etc). Welcome to P.A.
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Too wiggly...not a chance, you have some good looking staves there. Some people pay a premium for staves like that. Not as easy to tiller, for sure. These are the staves a master bowyer pines for, they don't come around very often(in any species of bow wood), and you have scored them first go.
As you have only made one bow so far, you might want to get a few more under your belt first before tackling them. Confidence from experience is the key(plus a pair of calipers to check thickness taper of the wriggles).
I have faith that you will be able to do them justice, after the skills you have shown in your first bow.
Thanks.
Until these yew staves have seasoned (can I get away with 18 months or less?) I still have a few ash staves that are far from perfect but well seasoned so worth trying something with.