Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: superdav95 on June 08, 2025, 09:06:19 pm
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I know its been a while since i posted any bows. i got busy and like many of you here i have other responsibilities to pull me away from what id rather be doing sometimes. oh well back in the saddle as they say... The hinge for the folding feature is a piece scrap deer rawhide from a couple years ago. These versions also have a pronounced arrow shelf in them and the one shown in the video is a near center shot. they are both deflex in handle and reflex in mid limb. i get great speeds out of these. My speeds ranged in the low to mid 180's fps at close to 10gpp or just over. anyway have a look at some pics of the construction process of the folder option. it didnt hurt the speed at all and is rock solid still with just the leather wrap. You could use really anything like cordage to a shoes lace even to secure it down in a pinch. I have seen Dave Mead do something similar with a piece of leather and jute cord wrap. my version suits me and i like the option of the alignment socket built into it too.
Here are a few video clips of me demonstrating my newest 5 piece take down bamboo bows or more accurately folding bows.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcmyRiNcyuM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2YC4E6y0KQ
(https://i.imgur.com/bh08qww.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/oPppolI.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/H3qq6GM.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/PsStECT.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/zVk5yfM.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/9BfqQ8G.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/vMFYqHb.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/Pjs8257.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/2snuMVX.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/6ZnGjwn.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/nH9jjgx.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/4BMUVJK.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/fr03fjf.jpg)
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Wow, not that is cool, very nice work. :) Who would have ever thought of that :-\ :)
Pappy
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I think you are changing something in primitive archery, you really have something innovative here.
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wow!. thanks gents. very generous of you guys to say. There are a lot of pieces of the puzzle that finally clicked to get me to this point. A-lot of broken bows and trial and error if you know what i mean. I was thinking of doing a comprehensive build along for these bows soon and posting on youtube and or here. do you think there would be enough guys here interested in these and would this is wise to do?
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Yep I think so, I know I would like to see it and I don’t watch much YouTube. Pappy
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Pretty darn cool. That's the only type of hinge you want to see on a bow.
What sort of boo are you using Dave?
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Pretty darn cool. That's the only type of hinge you want to see on a bow.
What sort of boo are you using Dave?
Thanks hamish! It’s mosso bamboo pole. I get it from a distributor in Toronto. So
Times I get it early and he saves the larger diameter ones for me. 5” diameter or larger are best. It give the least amount of crown.
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that's really something ! great craftmanship as always!
the narrow hinge would make me a little nervous tough
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that's really something ! great craftmanship as always!
the narrow hinge would make me a little nervous tough
Thanks GlisGlis! Ya I wondered about that too. I used the thicker rawhide and it reassured me a bit more. I put about 150 shots through both of them now and still rock solid and no apparent strain on the hinge. The wrap is what holds it together.
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Wow, this is the most impressed I have been in a long time, certainly in the top 5 of things I have seen in archery innovation. You are really onto something big here.
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Wow, this is the most impressed I have been in a long time, certainly in the top 5 of things I have seen in archery innovation. You are really onto something big here.
Wow! Thanks badger. Very nice compliment indeed. I may need to take Kevin up on his offer to post an instructional video build on the pa tv channel.
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Wow, this is the most impressed I have been in a long time, certainly in the top 5 of things I have seen in archery innovation. You are really onto something big here.
Wow! Thanks badger. Very nice compliment indeed. I may need to take Kevin up on his offer to post an instructional video build on the pa tv channel.
You should. For everyone who makes a video they are able to plug themselves, the only requirement is family friendly and add at the end to head over to Primitivearcher.com to learn more. Im trying to keep the videos I 30 minute episodes but you can cover a lot in 30 min. Ill edit it if you dont want to, just send me the clips.
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Wow, this is the most impressed I have been in a long time, certainly in the top 5 of things I have seen in archery innovation. You are really onto something big here.
Wow! Thanks badger. Very nice compliment indeed. I may need to take Kevin up on his offer to post an instructional video build on the pa tv channel.
You should. For everyone who makes a video they are able to plug themselves, the only requirement is family friendly and add at the end to head over to Primitivearcher.com to learn more. Im trying to keep the videos I 30 minute episodes but you can cover a lot in 30 min. Ill edit it if you dont want to, just send me the clips.
Roger that! I’ll get on putting some clips together here. That means I’ll have to clean my shop! lol. That’s probably a good thing
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Dave..."ya done good" :OK It's really nice to see something new once in awhile. I'm also looking forward to seeing the build. Thanks!
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Cool bows, Dave and the hinge is incredible. :OK
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Many thanks Bob and Pat.
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Pretty cool stuff, Dave. I subbed to see more. Looking forward to following along!
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Dave Meade came out with his super inexpensive bamboo horse bow kits some time back. I bought one for $99 and the bow he sent me had been sending 9.2 grams per pound of draw arrows at over 200 fps. He had a take-down design similar to this, but your design takes it to a more refined level!
This is a game changer, right here!
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Thanks fellas. Very kind. I’m gonna work with sleek to get some vid clips put together. JW. Dave Meade is who I spoke with years ago. He was out of his kits at that time so I started experimenting on my own since then. I do a few things differently but that’s fine. To eachs own. Thanks for having a look!
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Very cool build Dave. I’m not sure I understand the limb design but it seams that your limb that hinges should fail at the fades. Maybe it’s the wrap that presents it.
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wow!. thanks gents. very generous of you guys to say. There are a lot of pieces of the puzzle that finally clicked to get me to this point. A-lot of broken bows and trial and error if you know what i mean. I was thinking of doing a comprehensive build along for these bows soon and posting on youtube and or here. do you think there would be enough guys here interested in these and would this is wise to do?
I would LOVE that.
Really cool bows, I haven’t seen anything like them before. I’ve got some bamboo on order, looking forward to trying it out.
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Thanks guys! Ya I’m gonna get to it soon. I’ll likely do this end of July. I’ve got two youth camps that I’m running the archery for in July hence the mad rush to get these little boo bow builds done. Just got 6 more of them all shot in and stained up. They range in draw weight from 15, 23, 25,25, 30, and 30lbs. All have heat treated limbs but no folding feature on these ones. Here’s a couple pics.
(https://i.imgur.com/88nkATk.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/8c3lYdy.jpg)
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top class !!! :OK
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top class !!! :OK
I'll second that, Dave makes superb bows.
Mark
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Beautiful work Dave, I know the kids will enjoy them. :)
Pappy
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Thanks guys!
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Oh wow, those are excellent! Always a pleasure seeing what weird and amazing things you're up to, Dave. ;D
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I have made my share of Meade bows, but with arrow shelves like yours. Some have laminated bellies that are made with bamboo floor boards using AD 40 for the glue up. No idea what kind of bamboo back I am using. I buy it off Ebay in 24 inch lengths. Shortest bow is 44 inches, and have made them up to 56 inches long. Really nice work on yours while thinking outside the box.
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Beautiful bows Dave. I'm sure the kids will love them and shooting them also. :OK
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Thanks guys. Very kind. I’m hoping the kids will appt them a little more than the cheap fg bows they have been shooting.
Here’s a short video of my recurve jig for these bows. This will allow for an integrated tip making it a 3 piece bow. Anyway have a look.
https://youtube.com/shorts/ymPxD1P11zg?si=2xMOeh8gMHThUW6e
(https://i.imgur.com/k1lAfwl.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/zC2c3N0.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/bvjEu5z.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/VTY4DRT.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/vpv5Pn4.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/P4gS9vm.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/8mAHWiv.jpg)
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If you have a reliable way to recurve the bamboo and allow for 50 pounds draw weight, you have an absolute game changer.
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If you have a reliable way to recurve the bamboo and allow for 50 pounds draw weight, you have an absolute game changer.
I believe I do. This is the first set of limbs I’ve done that were not just test pieces. So far so good. Now to get a number of these done and ready to test at various draw weight.
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wow!. thanks gents. very generous of you guys to say. There are a lot of pieces of the puzzle that finally clicked to get me to this point. A-lot of broken bows and trial and error if you know what i mean. I was thinking of doing a comprehensive build along for these bows soon and posting on youtube and or here. do you think there would be enough guys here interested in these and would this is wise to do?
PLEASE DO! Those bows are beautiful, they perform very impressively, and holy mackerel does that design open up a ton of transportation options. I'd never be without a bow during my travels, and I'd always have a backup option in the backcountry when hunting. That is simply fantastic! Love it man! Thanks!
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wow!. thanks gents. very generous of you guys to say. There are a lot of pieces of the puzzle that finally clicked to get me to this point. A-lot of broken bows and trial and error if you know what i mean. I was thinking of doing a comprehensive build along for these bows soon and posting on youtube and or here. do you think there would be enough guys here interested in these and would this is wise to do?
PLEASE DO! Those bows are beautiful, they perform very impressively, and holy mackerel does that design open up a ton of transportation options. I'd never be without a bow during my travels, and I'd always have a backup option in the backcountry when hunting. That is simply fantastic! Love it man! Thanks!
Then the next hurdle to overcome is the arrow. Are you imagining a hinge in the middle, or telescoping sections like a fly rod?
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Jw, you joke, but I believe socketed arrows are a thing...
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If you have a reliable way to recurve the bamboo and allow for 50 pounds draw weight, you have an absolute game changer.
I believe I do. This is the first set of limbs I’ve done that were not just test pieces. So far so good. Now to get a number of these done and ready to test at various draw weight.
what does the metal strap do to the bending process?
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The strap puts hard pressure on the wood being bent, trapping the wood so it can't splinter.
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hey sleek, that sounds possible, but its hard to visualize in action. It looks from the pics that the strap is clamped down after the bend is made. Maybe Dave can tell us more about what it's for.
I was hoping you can say more about the "game changer" idea. What limitations do you hope to overcome?
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Hey guys. Sorry I was away at our youth camp running the archery for the boys and didn’t have much cell coverage. The metal strap is likley redundant but I put it on to help put little pressure on the bend to keep it from splintering on me. Bamboo is really tough stuff but does not like to bend when it’s been dried. These recurves turned out amazing. I got home today and pulled them off after 2 weeks or so to dry in the air conditioning house. I set them with some heat to hold them too. I will post some pictures soon of these revived limbs. The game changer may be what sleek is referring to in that these recurves all boo limbs may qualify for certain flight competitions that it may not have been able to before. If I can get the same performance out of these limbs it will be a game changer I believe. Add to this the folding hinge feature will be the next thing. I did a bunch of shooting with my 2 folder this week at camp and had a number of parents there with their boys eyeing them up and I gave some a chance to shoot them. They were wanting to buy them right there. That sound promising. I got some names and phone numbers for later as I was not there to sell anything. I had one 17 yr old boy shooting the 44lbs folder who wouldn’t put it down. He must have shot that bow 300 times! Anyway. It was put through it paces and still holding up great.
Thanks again for all the interest and generous comments guys. I have another youth camp for the girls that my wife runs and yet again I’m doing the archery. I love it and the kids do too. Once I’m done this camp mid July I’ll get working on putting together the video series on YouTube and link it here. Sleek and I can work out the editing a bit to keep it reasonable and not be a bore.
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The metal strap is likley redundant but I put it on to help put little pressure on the bend to keep it from splintering on me. ......... If I can get the same performance out of these limbs it will be a game changer I believe.
sometimes a metal strap is incorporated to force the off side of the limb into compression while bending, but it has to be clamped before bending. Maybe something to experiment with if one wants to put reflex into a working section of the limb
actually with bamboo, the opposite action might have performance potential.
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hey sleek, that sounds possible, but its hard to visualize in action. It looks from the pics that the strap is clamped down after the bend is made. Maybe Dave can tell us more about what it's for.
I was hoping you can say more about the "game changer" idea. What limitations do you hope to overcome?
Here's a video for it likely ship building. Notice the strap on the tension side of the bend.
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/18RTHTaKwB/
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Here's a video for it likely ship building. Notice the strap on the tension side of the bend.
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/18RTHTaKwB/
Yes, the strap is applied before the bend to limit stretching of the convex surface of the piece.
Raising a splinter is likely the sole concern of the shipwights.
With a bow limb, a strap applied (prebending, and in the location Dave shows above) will compress the limb's back, maybe unduly if it is expected to serve as the tension side of the limb.
Experimentation might be neccesary with similar methods to bring a bamboo working limb into the best balance of tension or compression qualities for becoming a game changer.
As bamboo excels in tension already, My guess is that whatever works best for the belly side of the limb will be where you find a game changer.
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Here's a video for it likely ship building. Notice the strap on the tension side of the bend.
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/18RTHTaKwB/
Yes, the strap is applied before the bend to limit stretching of the convex surface of the piece.
Raising a splinter is likely the sole concern of the shipwights.
With a bow limb, a strap applied (prebending, and in the location Dave shows above) will compress the limb's back, maybe unduly if it is expected to serve as the tension side of the limb.
Experimentation might be neccesary with similar methods to bring a bamboo working limb into the best balance of tension or compression qualities for becoming a game changer.
As bamboo excels in tension already, My guess is that whatever works best for the belly side of the limb will be where you find a game changer.
Yes. Very true. A balance struck. I’ve blown a lot of these up knowing where the safety margin is and how far it can be pushed before failure. Heat treatment really is the key component of all this to get the belly to resist compression crush or failure. In my opinion bamboo properly heat treated is tough to beat pound for pound.
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Yes. Very true. A balance struck. I’ve blown a lot of these up knowing where the safety margin is and how far it can be pushed before failure. Heat treatment really is the key component of all this to get the belly to resist compression crush or failure. In my opinion bamboo properly heat treated is tough to beat pound for pound.
Have you managed to heat treat the bellies to the extent tnat the backs fail?
there were some test results published a few years back that indicated with certian species of Banboo, the core materiel (belly side) had compression qualities that overpowered the outside (back side) in bend tests.
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Yes. Very true. A balance struck. I’ve blown a lot of these up knowing where the safety margin is and how far it can be pushed before failure. Heat treatment really is the key component of all this to get the belly to resist compression crush or failure. In my opinion bamboo properly heat treated is tough to beat pound for pound.
Have you managed to heat treat the bellies to the extent tnat the backs fail?
there were some test results published a few years back that indicated with certian species of Banboo, the core materiel (belly side) had compression qualities that overpowered the outside (back side) in bend tests.
Yes I have. Although uncommon. More often it just splits up the middle. If the heat treatment is too deep it will make the back be more brittle and find a weak point and lift a small section of the In early tests this happened as I was purposely pushing limits to see. Bamboo can take a lot though.
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Here’s a few pics of the steamed revived limbs. They are heat treated now will be set up like my other deflex out the handle style with gentle reflex mid limb but now incorporating the recurves.
I estimate these limbs will make about 40-45lbs bow.
(https://i.imgur.com/7iUyBcf.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/e6umWxp.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/wewsJlP.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/iJVymD0.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/ABpzcuU.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/G2gGPeD.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/QRpnVjH.jpg)
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there were some test results published a few years back that indicated with certian species of Banboo, the core materiel (belly side) had compression qualities that overpowered the outside (back side) in bend tests.
I don't suppose you recall where to find these test results? That would be interesting reading for those of us looking for good belly wood to use in lam bows.
Mark
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Hi Mark,
As I recall, the tests were published by a bamboo trade group and discussed breifly on paleoplanet about ten years ago.
While searching paleoplanet just now, I came across this interesting comment attributed to Tim Baker. re:outer surface as belly
Takes more set per mass than any hardwood. It can be tempered with heat and gain in compression strength and elasticity. Fly rod makers do this, and bowmakers in the past also. Howard Hill for one. Untempered bamboo works well as belly wood if Perry reflexed. If making a bamboo selfbow its helpful to let the outer surface serve as belly, to prevent extreme set. The back is then composed of weaker inner fibers, but is more than strong enough. Yes, tiller on the back..
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here is some test data from the organization that most likely published the study I remembered
an example for one species......
This intensive investigation, although confined to a new world bamboo species viz :
Guadua angustifolia from Costa Rica in respect to just one important property, i.e., bending
strength
https://www.inbar.int/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/1489473435.pdf
6469 other resources are available for download at https://www.inbar.int/resources/search/?resource-type=all&keyword=
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here is some test data from the organization that most likely published the study I remembered
an example for one species......
Thank you, sir.
Mark
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Here’s a few pics of the steamed revived limbs. They are heat treated now will be set up like my other deflex out the handle style with gentle reflex mid limb but now incorporating the recurves.
I estimate these limbs will make about 40-45lbs bow.
(https://i.imgur.com/7iUyBcf.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/e6umWxp.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/wewsJlP.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/iJVymD0.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/ABpzcuU.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/G2gGPeD.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/QRpnVjH.jpg)
Those look fantastic. If you can figure a way to make these work your bows may take my record. Do you think you can keep the recurves stiff or will they want to open at full draw?
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Ok so I put a handle on these limbs and balanced them and only got 29-30 lbs draw. Oh well they still worked very well and I would say test was successful. The tip remained set and I suspect they are only slightly working tips. They seem to be holding. I put about 60 shots through it today and it shoots fine. It’s light in the hand and no shock. Very quiet and snappy for only 30lbs. I’ll make the next one with thicker limbs now that I know it’s gonna work. Either way good test. Enjoy this little video clip showing me shoot it a bit. Also included is a new 5 piece build folding version that is about 48lbs at 29”.
https://youtu.be/wgHSxLW00c0?si=EoIPknzAwt-7R85E
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What draw length did you get? Can you chrono it with a 300 grain arrow?
Yes, definitely a successful test! Looking forward to seeing future ones :)