Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Buck67 on March 18, 2014, 09:53:30 am
-
I picked up an old Yew longbow over the weekend. It is 72" long, has an arrow shelf and has what appears to be an ivory sighting aid adhered to the belly of the bow. The ivory is engraved with the name Folberth. Not sure how old this bow is but Folberth was making bows and bow accessories from about 1933 into the 70's.
Ivory became illegal to sell (with some exceptions) in the US in 1973 so this bow predates that time.
Anyway, the bow has sat for a long time unstrung and did not come with a bow string. I want to shoot the bow but I was wondering how best to get the wood to get used to active duty again. So far all I have done is go over the bow with a coat of a Linseed Oil, Turpentine and Vinegar mix that I have used for years on other wood items. I have some B50 string material that I want to use for a Flemish twist bowstring and my plan is to make the bow string 70 inches long.
I tried to post photos yesterday but apparently it didn't work. So I thought I would post the question to at least start getting some advice.
-
Sounds pretty cool, got any pictures?
-
If yew gets too dried out it will gain some weight. You could set it at a low brace height and slowly excersize it up in draw length. Monitor the weight as you go and how much it gains an inch. If it looks like it has picked up some weight it might be too dry. I have had pretty good luck with old yew bows going right back into service. Too dry is the biggest enemy if you don't know where it was stored.
-
Better to not string it. The bow could be rather rare and of some value. By the 40s most bowyers had moved to laminated bows so this bow likely predates that time.
Keep in mind that Folberth sights were found on bows by other manufacturers. Here is a bow by Pierson from the Grayson museum that has a Folberth sight.
http://anthromuseum.missouri.edu/grayson/modernarchery/1994-0936bow.shtml
-
If you can't find a way to get the photos posted here, you will be inundated with people asking you to email them the pics!!!
Since most of us can't read, myself included, we love to look at the pretty pictures! And pretty pictures of old yew bows are the best! Congratulations on such a great find. Be cautious with this one, please.
-
;)
-
Posting pics is kind of a pain. It has to be under a max size of 200KB. A lot of guys use a remote hosting site such as photobucket to host the photo, from there you can copy and paste an "image tag" into your txt of your post, and then when you post, your picture will appear there.
Are there any markings indicating draw weight?
If you plan to shoot it, you have to be prepared for the possibility that it could break. If it was well made and free of damage or exposure it should be able to be brought back into service. If it has been exposed to hot or dry conditions for any period of time in recent time, then allow it several weeks at moderate humidity (40-60%) before stringing. Otherwise, give the bow some gentle test bends by hand to check for any ticking or cracking sounds. If it checks out, then you can proceed to brace it. Let it rest a bit at brace. While braced, check the back of the bow for lifting splinters...a cotton rag is good for this. If it checks out, proceed with slowly exercising the bow. When pulling on the string do so from a nocking point, as if you were actually shooting, rather than just grabbing the string somewhere near the middle. Work it out to full draw. Not a bad idea to fling some arrows from it during the process at progressively longer draw lengths. I wouldn't push the bow past 28"
If you hear any ticking or strange noise, stop immediately, if you cant eliminate that the source of noise was the string in the nock grooves, then hang it on the wall.
Make the string 3-4" shorter than the nock to nock distance.
Good luck!
-
Well let's see if this will work. Every website seems to do photos differently.
(http://i1254.photobucket.com/albums/hh607/klatchman/3d3b5249-e0f4-4393-b2c1-2a22d308ffc0_zpsc76750be.jpg) (http://s1254.photobucket.com/user/klatchman/media/3d3b5249-e0f4-4393-b2c1-2a22d308ffc0_zpsc76750be.jpg.html)
(http://i1254.photobucket.com/albums/hh607/klatchman/aad060af-334d-4af0-be71-f55b81faea7f_zps17d36903.jpg) (http://s1254.photobucket.com/user/klatchman/media/aad060af-334d-4af0-be71-f55b81faea7f_zps17d36903.jpg.html)
(http://i1254.photobucket.com/albums/hh607/klatchman/DSC02559_zps9ba7e4ba.jpg) (http://s1254.photobucket.com/user/klatchman/media/DSC02559_zps9ba7e4ba.jpg.html)
(http://i1254.photobucket.com/albums/hh607/klatchman/DSC02561_zps9558db05.jpg) (http://s1254.photobucket.com/user/klatchman/media/DSC02561_zps9558db05.jpg.html)
-
To me, it looks like the ivory is on the back. How would that be used for a sight?
Don
-
I am leaning towards agreeing with Pat about not stringing this one
Normally I feel that a bow you won't shoot ain't worth calling a bow but this is a bit different than normal
I see no reason at this time to try to put a string on it
Please consider this carefully over time , if you have no use for a bow you can't shoot resell it !
Guy
-
I'd call that a collectors item and be super careful with it. It's beautiful, as all old yew becomes, and the risk of breaking it is not worth shooting it IMO.
I am intrigued by the sight too. It's clearly attached to the sapwood. Seems impractical, unless somebody has taken it off, and replaced it wrongly?
-
Look at the link I posted. That's where the sight device goes. I think there is supposed to be some sort of sliding pin on it that perhaps runs in grooves on the side of the ivory and pokes out of the window side. You can see the elevation numbers marked on the back, each surely corresponding to a known yardage.
Here's a pic of another Folberth with the same sight. Zoom in and you can see the extra piece that appears to be missing from the bow on here.
http://anthromuseum.missouri.edu/grayson/modernarchery/1994-0946bow.shtml
-
The guy that had this bow and several other old bows said that the sight was used with straight pins. They were wedged between the ivory and the wood and stuck out beyond the bow so that they could be seen when shooting. That would make for an infinitely adjustable vertical sight. If you used long pins with a long stem you could also adjust for windage.
-
Wow, that is awesome. Yew really gets beautiful with age
-
I have owned and shot 200 year old flintlocks and I intended to care for and shoot this bow. If wiser heads say I might damage it then I will leave it alone. However, I don't collect old bows. Is anyone interested in trading a new bow for an old one?
-
I wouldn't shoot that either. I would proudly display it.
-
I agree with you, if the bow breaks it wasn't really a bow anyway. A wall hanger is worthess. I vote for shoot it.
-
Unless it has been stored next to the wood fire or took a good ding across the back, there is no reason it wont joyfully fling arrows under the sun as its maker originally intended. Just take it slow as outlined above just to err on the side of caution. Would be great to see more photos, including brace and full draw.
-
I will gently try to bring this back into use. The wood does not look dry, the old varnish still looks in good condition except for a few worn spots. Original muzzleloaders seem to be better taken care of if they are shot, cleaned and oiled on a regular basis. I hope that I will be able to report the same for this bow.
-
If it was mine, I'd shoot it, wall hangers don't interest me either
-
Its probably okay to try and shoot as long as its structurally sound, and its slowly retrained. Problem with old bows that they get broken by ignorance, as the vast majority of people(not people who frequent this site) have no idea of what they are doing. I personally wouldn't do it because its a waste to risk something original, and authentic. At some point if a bow keeps getting shot it will break.
With a bow that might be historically rare or valuable it is probably better to have an experienced bowyer make a copy of the design.
I personally have shot old bows that probably shouldn't still be shot. They were vintage tubular steel bows, they had a reputation for breaking from metal fatigue and rusting in the internal tubing. I was warned not to risk shooting them.
Fortunately none of them broke, but after I realised they were very mediocre performers, I lost interest in shooting them anyway. I feel they are better as curio's, left intact rather than as broken junk.
Most of my antique wooden bows(especially yew) have scratches, bruises or other dings on the back and I know it would be too risky to try shooting them. The funny thing is many of these old bows don't follow the standard information we have been left in books. Differences in limb design, handle lengths and layouts, nock design and other small nuances are apparent. Bows that have been layed up in billets with intentional deflex yet haven't taken any more set along the limbs that you would usually expect. Some of these old bowyers really knew what they were doing. It would be a shame to lose this kind of information.
Also that "ivory " strip does not look like genuine ivory to me, because of the series of parallel lines running down its length look too even, like some kind of manufactured synthetic.
Hamish.
-
The bow could still be very valuable even if it isn't to you personally. It would be a shame to lose a bow that really represents the high water mark of the wooden bow era.
-
The bow has an arrow shelf cut into it. I doubt it has a value of over abou t$50.00, plenty of old yew bows showing up.
-
An arrow shelf is a real value killer? I'd do some research on the bow before breaking it.
-
Its likely that the arrow shelf is original. Folberth was a real archery innovator. Later models laminated from hickory and osage and lemonwood are the forerunners of modern traditional glassed recurves. They had arrow windows and shelves.
The fact that it has a Folberth stamp makes it more collectible than an unattributed bow. $50 is an absolute bargain price. More likely to be worth $100-200, possibly more to the right collector.
That being said a modern repro or interpretation by Badger or another top bowyer is likely to be a better performing bow if you wanted a shooter. A good modern yew could go from $700 to $1600 or more. Average retail cost of a full length yew is around $250( and has been for around the last 15yrs) Though they can be gotten for a lot less.
As you're a muzzleloader I'm guessing you're more of a hunter than a target shooter. That 72"Yew bow is primarily a target bow. Whilst yew is beautiful to shoot I probably wouldn't use unbacked yew for a hunting bow. Hardwoods (like osage) have better durability than yew under hunting conditions against dings and scratches.
Hamish.
-
I did some research on Folberth. He actually patented the shoot through the bow idea. His patent shows a metal handle with wooden limb inserts. The handle has a large hole in it that the arrow is shot through, so the first center shot bow. Fred Bear paid a patent license fee of 5 cents for each bow that they made to Folberth for as long as the patent lasted.
Folberth got rich patenting the first automatic windshield wiper and then selling it to the Big Three automakers. His patent used the vacuum off the intake manifold to power the wiper. Those of us who are old enough may remember the windshield wipers that slowed down every time you stepped on the gas.
Well, I'd rather trade this bow to a collector than risk breaking it. I'll know not to buy any more old bows from here on unless they are fiberglass. I have other bow options, I reckon I'll sell this off at the next big event that I attend.
-
Folberth may have patented the shoot through the bow idea but the idea is much older. The TBB 3 shows a center shot bow from 1879 by "Wright and Thorne".
Folberth still had some great ideas and innovative bows.
-
I'd try to shoot it if I were yew. I'd work super slow excersing the limbs hard for ever inch of tip movement if start without a string just looking at the floor tiller
-
I spent about 2 weeks getting this old Yew bow used to being bent again. Thanks to information here I started with gentle floor tillering and worked my way up. When the bow seemed to be bending well without any funny sounds, I made a Flemish twist bowstring and started working the bow that way. Started off with a 3" brace height and shot a number of arrows with a 28" pull. Then the next day I twisted the string some more and had a 6" brace height and shot 30 or 40 arrows. Finally I twisted the string to a full brace height and shot about 50 arrows with the bow. It appears to be about a 35 to 40 pound pull.
It appears that this Yew bow stayed amazingly supple through the decades. Sure would like to know it's story, it was well used and not abused and survived years of non-use.
-
Good to hear. Match some nice light cedar arrows to that bow and I bet it will shoot like a dream. :)
-
An update. This old Yew bow shoots quite well. It pulls about 25#. My wife likes to shoot it. A bow maker friend says he bets it was a 45# bow when it was new, before age and string follow kicked in. I'm guessing the bow was built pre-1945 by some unknown talented builder who bought and installed the Folberth sight on the belly of the bow.