Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: joukahainen on May 22, 2008, 04:01:23 pm
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My first post. Hello everybody! Greetings from Finland :)
First I would like to say; Very nice and informal messageboard, I have learned a lot from you people, so thank you!
I would like you to meet the 2nd bow I have made (not counting bows I made out of pine-branches when I was a kid)
It's white ash. I made it out of a large board, same board from which I made my first bow last winter.
It's about 46-50# at my draw, which is about 28 inches. (I dont know the exact weight, as I measure the lbs with a cheap fish-scale.)
My intention was to make it about 70# but I used the long tillering string for too long, and when I switched to shorter string, I noticed that the limbs were very uneven. So once I had gotten them to bend about even, the weight was down to around 50. Anyway, at around 50 pounds, it's easy to draw atleast. After I have shot a few hundred shots with it I will put some beewax on it. I dont want to stain it with colours etc because I really like the natural color and look the wood.
So here are some pictures. Please share your opinion, thoughts, criticism, and so forth, so that I may make a better one next time!
Thank you!
The pictures are in following order;
1. Finished and strung, without handle.
2. Frontal shot showing limb shape
3. Full draw, or 28 inch draw at my tillering thingy
4. Finished handle, and my main tools (my cheapo bandsaw is missing though.)
5. Finished handle, closeup
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thats very nice! :) tiller is excellent :)
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Welcome to PA. Its nice to see more folks from other parts of the world. We have another Finlander here as well.
Your bow looks well made and the tiller is right on! 8) You may want to consider rounding all the edges a bit more. It shouldn't effect the draw weight(corners are dead weight) and it will help to prevent a splinter from lifting. Other than that, you did a very good job with this bow. The handle wrap is interesting. Will you explain your method? Pat
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hi there and welcome! - as pat says, rounding edges makes sence!
tiller looks REALLY good!
frank
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Welcome aboard. Great looking bow, I have a bow made from a white ash stave that is almost a twin to yours. How wide are the limbs at the fades?
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That looks great! Good job.
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Thank you all for your compliments! It's nice to hear such positive feedback from such professionals :)
Hillbilly;
The limbs are 6cm (or just under 2½ inches) near the handle, and 1½cm (or just a little over ½ inch) at the tips. The bow is about 75 inches long.
I have to check if I can find that twin here somewhere! :)
Pat B;
I will take heed of your advice and round off the edges, I suppose I will get the added benefit of losing some mass from the limbs, and perhaps gain some strike-speed as a result?
My method for doing the handle-thingy goes like this;
- I take a piece of leather (this one is from my wife's old leather skirt)
- I cut the corners, the idea is to make it circular, but close enough will do.
this is done to avoid sharp edges that can easily tear when pulled hard.
- I then cut the leather in a circular, or spiral -manner so that it forms a long strand, about 1 cm wide
(this is pretty thin leather, if you have thicker leather, it need not be so wide)
- I then roll the strand of leather between my hands, pulling it at the same time so I get it wound tight.
- If you want to be professional about it, you should grease the leather while twisting it, it will be stronger that way.
- I then put the unwound end of the leather against the handle and wound the twisted leatherstrand over it, so that it holds itself.
(I use the end that was in the center of the spiral to start because it's weaker due to the tighter angles.)
- I cover the handle entirely by just rolling the leather over it.
- Finally, I use a dull knife to push the other end under the wounding, so no knots or glue etc are necessary
(You could also wet the leather first, so that it shrinks on itself, that way it will be Very Tight once it dries up.
This is a method that you can use to make rope out of leather, clothes, tent, bedsheets etc, -when you need it. Survival-thingy :)
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For your second bow it looks very fine!
I like your primitive handle work ;)
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Thanks for the explanation. I'll bet you get a comfortable, positive grip with it. Pat
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Welcome to PA, glad to have aboard, glad you decided to join us. Your ash bow looks pretty nice as the other guys already
pointed some things out I will leave it at that. Good job and looking forward to more of your work. ;)
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Very nice job! Much better then my second bow! :)
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i add my welcome as well.. good to see that more people are becoming ensnared in this obsession..eh ehm.... ha ha.. i mean hobby >:D anyhoo.... the bow looks awesome and the leather work is fine... i too had a stave like yours... it came out to pulling just under 25 pounds at 26 inches so i gave it to a friend of mine's girl friend so he could get her into shooting... tiller is great though... you did a far better job at it than i did
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Very nice... It is nice to get new ideas for handles. Thanks for sharing and welcome to the message boards. Justin
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Just your second, huh? Looks pretty good to me! I like your handle wrap idea.
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That's a mighty fine bow. Very nice tiller. Jawge
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Nicely done - especially for only your second bow.
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very nice arc on that bow,
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very nice tiller.
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Thanks again for the compliments! I feel my ego inflating dangerously! :D
I rounded off the edges with sandpaper. Do you think they are round enough now, or should I still remove more?
Also I polished the entire bow with a wine bottle, took me a few hours, but it looks and feels much better now, all shiny 8)
A few more pics.
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Well done. That is a nice bow
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I am looking at how that grain crosses the limb and wondering if it should have been backed? Someone correct me if I am wrong...
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Very nice bow. And bookmarked for May Self Bow of the Month. (voting next weekend :)