Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: simk on February 15, 2026, 01:42:59 pm
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That ist my recent 77# @ 34 paddle bow. I had a hard time deciding what length would be appropriate for this project and went with 73" ntn. Better safe than sorry :) what ya think? Overbuilt?
Btw: Extremly orange, heavy and dense Osage Orange we have here, from Hungary. Comes from a sapling, maybe 15yrs old - maybe this one comes from the same tree as my 2021 bow of the year. plenty of thorn clusters all over the belly but none visible on the back.
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thanks for watching!
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It certainly exhibits all of your usual elements of graceful flowing lines and attention to finishing detail. Tiller, as usual, so close to perfect that I couldnt say what - if anything - is wrong with it. That just leaves performance and "feel". I can't shoot it and feel how it reacts in the hand, so that's up to you to report, but I doubt there is any problem with this bow in that department.
While I may not comment on every bow you post, I NEVER skip anything you offer us. I'd even admit to taking notes if I am being honest. Thank you for sharing, brother. Always appreciate your work.
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I wonder how far that can shoot with a 34" draw? Looks great and not overbuilt at all. I would have been at about 78".
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That's a really beautiful bow. I've never built a paddle bow or a bow that long but it does not look overbuilt to me. That looks like a serious shooter.
It's pretty cool to see the paddle bow built on something this long in any case.
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There is almost no such thing as overbuilt. To qualify for that, the bow will firstly take absolutely no set, it will shoot slower than it should, and likely have some hand shock.
Almost all bows are underbuilt. I made a program to tell you how much to build your bow based on density and draw weight. As soon as I am able it will be attached to this site as a feature.
That is a beautiful bow too, your craftsmanship is superb. Did it take any set?
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There is almost no such thing as overbuilt. To qualify for that, the bow will firstly take absolutely no set, it will shoot slower than it should, and likely have some hand shock.
Almost all bows are underbuilt. I made a program to tell you how much to build your bow based on density and draw weight. As soon as I am able it will be attached to this site as a feature.
That is a beautiful bow too, your craftsmanship is superb. Did it take any set?
Well said. +1. Looks very well built.
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Well executed bow. Looks really good. 34" is a long draw, so its unlikely to be overbuilt at 73" btn. The real test is how it performs and whether it has too much hand shock. I bet it shoots just fine.
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That is a really nice bend. I agree. At 34” draw it doesn’t look overbuilt
Bjrogg
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Very nice job, but I beg to differ on the type.
The following definition is how I have always seen a "paddle bow" described:
A paddle bow is a short (typically), wide-limbed, and, or sinew-backed bow historically used by Native Americans in the Pacific Northwest for hunting in dense brush. Characterized by wide limbs (often) that resemble paddles, these bows are designed for short draw lengths and high efficiency at close range, frequently featuring short, stiff recurves.
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Nice bow and no on overbuilt. If I would have built it it would have been about 2-1/2” wide at the fades and about 74-76” long on that draw length.
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Very nice bow and well executed. :OK
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Very nice bow and well executed. :OK
+1
:BB
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thanks very much guys. I originally thought about making it 70"ntn and I think it would have worked. however a longer draw imho imho does matter more than drawweight for the minimal length - and 34" indeed is a lot. but everything is just a rough guess here of course, not my usual class. I didnt even try to shoot an arrow that bow even if could maybe draw it a 27". But I made similar design warbows that work pretty good.
Jim, the paddle design seems around all over the world since stoneage and was made in lengths from 50"-80" - for me the paddle is the most sophisticaed and logic design of all bows around. It just represents the pure idea of the bend following the front profile. It just makes a lots of sense :)
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It actually reminds me of the meare heath artifact. But this is more elongated and with more efficient and narrow tips.
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Beautiful bow, clean, simple, lovely.
Del
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Beautiful bow.
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This is a really beautiful bow!
However, the title is something of a joke… I would call this bow underbuilt. It has a very long draw length relative to its overall length; its length-to-draw-length ratio is only 2.15. I personally prefer a ratio of 2.4–2.5 (although Baker recommended 2.3), because then I can be more confident that the bow will take less set and will not break in the long run. This bow also has quite a heavy draw weight, which means it is very highly stressed. I would not dare to make a bow like this myself (I’m not good enough yet!). But you clearly had a very good piece of wood and excellent skill.
A completely different, but very interesting, topic is how to determine what you can get out of a specific piece of wood. For example, with this bow – how did you decide that the stave was good enough to make such a highly stressed bow? Experience and skill, of course, but even then you can never truly know what the wood is capable of giving you.
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Haha Tuomo :) you never know :) until you try. But first you have to trust....because If you want to sell a bow you need that good feeling.
I first should have made that bow from yew and figured out it must be at least 78" ntn to feel good. But 78" imho is too long for a good shooter. My customer comes from shooting a glass recurve and I didn't want to make him a snail bow - I wanted a fast bow that would do well with lighter arrows too and therefore switched to osage. In my personal experience osage is unbreakable (no fail so far) and I had seen a lots of extreme bows made from osage. I first even wanted to go for a 70"ntn but then chickend out again to a "safe" 73". I think I had made a bow from the same tree already and it felt very good.
Time will tell. I hope I will not have to build that bow again. Thanks for the compliments!