Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Del the cat on July 30, 2015, 06:01:14 am
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Another sorry tale. a lady who owns a gorgeous 35# Reflexed boo backed Yew longbow which I made sent me pics of it with one limb smashed.
Someone "helped her" by stringing it... unfortunately he didn't understand the reflex and tried to string it backwards >:( :o ::).
She was really upset... I am too as it was the fastest bow of that weight/style I'd made.
It's beyond repair, but I said I'd see what I could do in terms of pushing the boundaries of repair just as a learning exercise but with no expectation of sucess.
Makes you despair don't it?
Del
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So sorry to see that Del. Makes us all a bit sick.
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Perhaps you could finish the break, drive nails through both broken ends, whip tie off the frayed wood.......and then commence to beat that son-of-a-bitch right to death with it >:D 8) ::)
I will try to control myself in the future.
rich
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Good call Rich.
What also irritates me is I always give out a "Care of Self Bows" sheet.
Here's the first line from it:-
The biggest danger to a self wood bow is other people!
Nuf' said!
Del
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Good call Rich.
What also irritates me is I always give out a "Care of Self Bows" sheet.
Here's the first line from it:-
The biggest danger to a self wood bow is other people!
Nuf' said!
Del
That is too bad Del, been there done that. I always give one of those out as well, many don't even bother to read it
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Pardon me while i go throw up... :-\ ....that sucks. Im not the kind of person to bash the guy,call him names,and demand tying him to the whipping post tho,cus we all make dumb mistakes and are no better than anyone else in my book. $#+@ happens unfortunately. ...id look at it as a learning lesson for the owner and the guy who broke it.
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I had that happen once and the guy swore he didn't bend the bow backwards. It was very obvious he had.
Its a shame! >:(
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Bows are like kids, you spend forever investing patience and time into them in the hope that one day they will treated right and appreciated by others. Clearly this bow was a red headed step child that was abused from an early age.
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I double nock the top limb, widen the lower nock and give the new owner a simple stringer, this makes it so anyone can string their bow easily.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/ekrewson/bow%20making/doublenockwithstringer.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/ekrewson/media/bow%20making/doublenockwithstringer.jpg.html)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/ekrewson/bow%20making/bottomnockwithstringer.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/ekrewson/media/bow%20making/bottomnockwithstringer.jpg.html)
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I double nock the top limb, widen the lower nock and give the new owner a simple stringer, this makes it so anyone can string their bow easily.
Yup.. it had double nock grooves... the bloke obviously didn't even look... just grabbed it and heaved >:(
I imagine it went like this...
"Here, I'll do that for you ... crack...."
Del
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I hope he offered to pay for the bow he broke.
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Wow, I should add this to the owner's manual, didn't even think about people trying to string the bow backwards. "String the bow toward the side with the signature, the direction the tips point at rest is the opposite direction you draw the bow."
I've had my fare share of overdraws, only one ending in catastrophe. It's just really important that people understand their bow is their bow.
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I hope he offered to pay for the bow he broke.
Yes he's offered to pay any repair/replacement cost.
Mind who's to say I can make another like that? Or if if I even want to?
35# reflexed Boo Yew isn't something I'm that keen to do at the moment.
Del
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Wow i that made me cringe, all that work, just so someone else could learn a lesson. Lets hope he doesn't destroy any more bows in the future. I would have been heartbroken.
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Ouch! I hurt for you. :(
a couple years ago the local antique store came under new ownership and I checked it out. He had a couple of glass recurves and I asked if I could string one. He offered to do it for me and proceeded to string it backwards. I did my best to politely inform him that he'd done that wrong and his response was ' this is ABSOLUTELY the right way to string this!' I walked out an vowed never to return. Well, a few months ago I was visiting that town (I've since moved) and forgot about my promise and walked in. I found an otherwise beautiful yew ELB with horn nocks that was being used as a curtain rod for a tapestry that must have weighed 20 lbs. Poor thing must have hung there for over a year under the strain. I'll never go back.
I can't help but get upset when I see such ignorance combined with such machismo! ASK SOMEONE WHO KNOWS SOMETHING BEFORE YOU GO A BENDING THINGS! >:(
Very sorry to see. I pray you can resurrect it.
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damn.
It is a tricky thing putting wood bows in the hands of people who don't make woodbows. Selfbows require a bit of understanding, and it just about takes making one yourself to really get it. It is hard to beat that understanding in through a care sheet. I hate to make the things sound like they are fragile, because really they are quite durable and only fragile when simple cautions are not observed....but I find myself having to present this false sens of fragility to folks who don't know just so they err on the side of caution.
I havent put it together yet, but I think a short video demonstrating what is in these care sheets we put together, might be more effective for folks these days. I remember my old Bob Lee recurve came with a 12 min VHS video of proper care. It was great, and something similar would be great for new wood bow owners. But like care sheets, you can guarantee the person is going to actually read/watch the information.
Sorry to see that Del. It does make a guy sick.
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Back in the day we used to put the string on backward on our recurves to keep it with the bow. There was very little tension on the string or bow. Perhaps the shop owner had seen a recurve strung backwards like we did it and thought it was the right way .
I would have bought that yew bow on the cheap, taken it home, pulled out my heat gun and resurrect it.
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Del and Marc, can you post your "Care of Self Bows" sheets here, love to see 'em!
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the thought of that happening is quite upsetting.
unfortunately, i bet it happens more often than not.
on a lighter note:
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-eouzjkRbf1E/VbrJgNAWc-I/AAAAAAAAJ3k/AZCdZZfKdfA/w679-h778-no/the_wrong_way.jpg)
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That sucks Del. I had the same thing happen to an elm selfbow I made last year. Break looked almost identical. I did manage to resurrect it, so it is worth a try. A repaired/patched bow is a good reminder to the owner to beware who touches their stick. >:( :o
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Del and Marc, can you post your "Care of Self Bows" sheets here, love to see 'em!
Care of Self wood bows. DH 2012
The biggest danger to a self wood bow is other people!
Don’t let others draw your bow, with or without an arrow in case some macho guy over draws it, shoots it upside down or looses without an arrow etc.
Even an unstrung bow is at risk of being flexed the wrong way by someone who doesn’t know any better
Always string it yourself . Using a stringer or the push pull method is best.
Some primitives need a different method if they are wide tipped and the string loop can’t slide up the limb. I string these by putting the lower tip on the (soft) ground with the string on the bottom nock, I stick out my left knee and pull up the upper tip with my right hand with my knee pressing against the handle and slipping the string on with my left. This is fine as the only forces are on the tips and the grip. I’ve had people give me a withering stare and say ‘You don’t string a bow like that!’
To which I reply ‘You do if you made it!’
Once the bow is strung, check each nock to make sure the string is fitted snuggly; trust me I’ve had a string slip out of its nock. Flex it a few times to a short draw first to get you and the bow warmed up.
If you really must let someone else shoot it, then be sure they use arrows which are only as long as the permitted draw length.
My bows are usually tillered to 1” over the specified length to allow a little margin of error, but this can get exceeded if the wrong string is put on or over twisted. That’s why I shoot arrows of the right length. It would be easy to get carried away at a flight or clout shoot and use an extra few inches of draw. This could be fatal to a character bow, especially a primitive, longbows are a little more forgiving, but can take extra set and loose power if over drawn.
Enough doom and gloom!
Keep an eye on you bow run your hands over it look at every knot and ripple, get to know how it looks and feels, watch out for any knocks and bumps. Small dents aren’t a problem (the back of a spoon heated in boiling water rubbed on the surface can draw out the dent), but any damage which cuts into the fibres of the wood may need repair.
Similarly watch out for wear on the string.
Measure the bracing height and string length in case you need to make or buy another string.
I fit a continuous loop string but a traditional string with a bowyer's knot at one end is fine as long as it doesn’t over brace the bow.
My bows are finished with Danish Oil and then wiped over with a Beeswax based polish (Lord Sheratons Furniture Balsam is stocked in Sainsburys and doubtless other shops).
The occasional wipe over is all it needs, but if it gets wet, wipe it dry and then wax it in a few hours when it’s really dried out.
Storage:- You want somewhere that doesn’t get too hot and dry or freezing and damp. My garage isn’t heated , but has some hot water pipes running through it, the doors are ill fitting so it’s nice and draughty, it has a bedroom above it and only 2 short outside walls. It is cool in summer and doesn’t get much below 10C in winter, perfect! Ideally a bow should be lying flat, but I have mine standing near vertical. What you don’t want is it slouched at steep angle with piles of junk resting on it.
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Haha Leon, that's a great meme.
--Thumb weirdly angled to keep the arrow on the shelf - check!
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Del , I can sympathsise
Once I was in an a "hunting establishment" ie, everything from fishing to skiing to guns to kyacks etc etc
In the archery section amoung the rows of compounds and recurves there was hanging from the ceiling a braced Bickerstaff longbow. I asked the attendant about the bow , and he said that they had had it for about a year (braced0. I pointed out that longbows should be stored unstrung , and he swept his arm around ( to all the recurves and compounds ) and said we always keep our bows strung ...
Pip , if you read this I'm sorry to say I walked away before I got into trouble :)
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That's tragic del sorry for your loss of family. I haven't made a yew bow yet but if I did I don't think I would let anyone touch it.
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Does that mean I have to get someone to string my bow for me? ;) ;)
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Last comp I went to I saw a bloke trying to string a glass longbow backwards.....you would have thought the second time the string wouldn't stay in the nock that he might have noticed something was wrong. I had to go and do it for him......if that bow had been wood it would have died....
I'm sorry for you Del - it's real heartbreaker. If I was making a replacement i'd be charging plenty for it.
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Del, it looks like the bamboo is intact. If so, I think you have a fair chance of saving the bow. I'd try a two-part glue such as a urea-formaldehyde.
Jim
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Del, that sucks I know! I had such situation several times.
Sometime ago I had a customer interested in a really nice plum shorty with a lot of holes from dead pin knots filled with wild boar hairs. I just was out of the room fetching some beer when I heard the cracking ...
Got nno excuse, but a statement: that was a not well tillered bow --- I drunk the beer alone.
Sometimes there is every word one word too much ...
here are two pics
(http://i1252.photobucket.com/albums/hh576/orangesimson/plumwild%20with%20wild%20boar/Last%20Import%20-%201%20von%201_zpsgeegc1bt.jpg)
(http://i1252.photobucket.com/albums/hh576/orangesimson/plumwild%20with%20wild%20boar/Last%20Import%20-%202%20von%202_zpsmlq5ybke.jpg)
of course I tried to repair, but no way
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At least you got two beers out of it :'( :'( :'(
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Where did you dispose of his body? >:D
Yeah it's odd how some people who know zip manage to commission a bow.
I made an 80# elb for a guy a while back...
I was suspicious when he came to collect it 'cos he didn't try it, just watched me put a couple of arrows through it. Don't think he's managed to draw it yet... ::)
Del