Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: BoltBows on March 01, 2021, 07:44:42 am
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What's up primitive archers, Let me share some of my recent work; a bamboo backed black locust bow.
This specific one was made for a customer who mainly does target archery. I couldn't be happier when he told me his very first shot was a straight ten!
After much experimentation with bamboo backed locust I finally came to this design I call 'The Kronos'. When I was designing the bow I really wanted to push what I could do. Needless to say I wanted the bow to perform well (high arrow speed, smooth draw, little shock in the hand), but I also wanted to put a lot of effort in the aesthetics. Clean fluent lines, sanded to perfection and a nice natural finish. Fiberglass mentality? Maybe! I wanted to make a primitive bow that doesn't look primitive.
Now the black locust - bamboo combo is perhaps not the most obvious choice for such a design. And as many here know, black locust is relatively low in compression elasticity. Many ''experiments'' ended as firewood because the locust began to fret. Although that caused some headache, the locust told me exactly how to tiller this design and what the limits were. For example 8'' of reflex was just too much for the locust and it showed light fretting over the entire length of the limbs somewhere halfway through tillering. I could've designed the whole bow wider, but I didn't want to sacrifice the looks.
Anyways, here is the result!
- NTN length: 67''
- Draw weight: 46lbs
- Draw length: 28'' from the belly of the grip (about 29,5'' from the back)
- String(s): 12 strand B55 & 10 strand Spectra 652
- Max width: 42mm
- Stain: Osage/ammonia
- Finish: Tung oil & beeswax/carnauba wax
- Arrows: 5/16 pine shafts, 100gn points, 4'' feathers.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50992609481_a0998e5bbf_h.jpg)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50986545581_562dd0c2aa_h.jpg)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50986562751_4372a7bc82_h.jpg)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50986545651_861282549d_h.jpg)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50986545101_adca4846ba_h.jpg)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50986544886_41fddf40cb_h.jpg)
Cheers,
Jaap
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Good to see your work on here. Don’t see many working recurves these days. Looks flawless!
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Beautiful bow, very nice in all aspects. :)
Pappy
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It seems you made exactly what you wanted, the tiller and craftsmanship are amazing!
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Oustanding bow !!
yes, primitive is not an adjective that jumps in my mind looking at it
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This is probably the coolest looking bow I've seen posted here! VERY nice!
Matt
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Fantastic work. Almost too polished for my taste. I guess for target shooting accuracy matters more than speed. But I sure like to know the speed. There is a challenge going on here.
As I am making some bamboo backed bows now, I would love to know how the recurve tips were glued up. Thanks.
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Unreal! This is a bow that I’m going to go back to over and over again I’m sure, and if I get courageous enough I might someday try to emulate aspects of it. This is just plain “wow”.
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Does the bamboo backing help relieve pressure on the black locust belly?
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absolutely astonishing work, I'm so jealous of your skill... Hope I'll get there someday!
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Wow! Gorgeous weapon. The extra attention to detail is always worth it!
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Fantastic looking bow!! I love it! It has a great shape to it, I bet it shoots very nicely. I’m gonna have to try that combo sometime.
Kyle
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Flawless x 2. First words in my mind, "simply gorgeous"!!
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Outstanding in all aspects! It will make the FG-Boys' eyes wet for sure ;D Definitly looks like I have to get some boo for future backings instead of ash ;) Is the handle glued on? How about durability of these bows, especially kepping reflex and drawweight over the time?
Lookalike I now also have THE suggestion to my wife for my next birthday (-S
cheers
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Thank you guys for your nice comments, I appreciate it!
Fantastic work. Almost too polished for my taste. I guess for target shooting accuracy matters more than speed. But I sure like to know the speed. There is a challenge going on here.
As I am making some bamboo backed bows now, I would love to know how the recurve tips were glued up. Thanks.
I've got something a little less polished coming up I'll post in a while, curious to see what you think of that one :D
I didn't measure the speed of this bow, but previous bows of this design shot around 180fps.
I bent the wood and bamboo separately in shape first, then glued them with epoxy. I kept the wood wide to prevent misaligned curves. The bamboo was just a tad wider than the final width. Hope that helps!
Does the bamboo backing help relieve pressure on the black locust belly?
No on the contrary. The bamboo almost dictates the tiller so it's important to keep it thin and trapped. Very small tiller adjustments will show instantly on brace height. Small mistakes can easily be ''fatal'' so it's quite a delicate matter tillering these bows! I'm assuming a flat belly would make it a lot easier, but that's not what I live for lol.
Outstanding in all aspects! It will make the FG-Boys' eyes wet for sure ;D Definitly looks like I have to get some boo for future backings instead of ash ;) Is the handle glued on? How about durability of these bows, especially kepping reflex and drawweight over the time?
Lookalike I now also have THE suggestion to my wife for my next birthday (-S
cheers
Thanks a lot! Yes the handle is glued on. About durability: The thing with this design is that it's either spot on, or it's rubbish. If the tiller is not exactly right it will be clear to see and most of the time also shows in the fretting of the BL. Also the bow returns fully to it's original unstrung profile after shooting, so I think that alone is a good indicator of durability. I've made a shorter version about a year ago that I've shot at least 1000 arrows through. It takes about 1cm set right after shooting and returns to half that after a while. So I'm happy with that ;D
Haha I hope your next birthday will be fulfilling then ;)
Cheers everyone,
Jaap
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That bow has a radiused belly? :o
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Very nice bow! Great reflex. That is fast and smooth . You don’t have to shoot it to know. Arvin
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That bow has a radiused belly? :o
Looks concave to me
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Wow! This would be a Gorgeous bow no matter the materials. But for a BL boo backed no christals and no set for these figures I think it means Incredible craftmanship.
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Absolutely beautiful bow! Did you heat the black locust and bamboo with dry heat separately on a form prior to glue-up? Also, what type of glue do you recommend on these bamboo-backed bows? Thanks for sharing your work here. I can’t quit looking at this bow.
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Very nice bow. I've made a few Bamboo backed BL bows and not one chrysaled
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cool TD (as well as the awesome bow)...how is it made?
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Not bad :)
Could you show a picture of the lower limbs sleeve and how it marries with the limb, from the back.
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That bow has a radiused belly? :o
It does, yes.
Absolutely beautiful bow! Did you heat the black locust and bamboo with dry heat separately on a form prior to glue-up? Also, what type of glue do you recommend on these bamboo-backed bows? Thanks for sharing your work here. I can’t quit looking at this bow.
Thank you Will! And yes, that's exactly how I did it. I use EA-40 epoxy. I've tried titebond III which is fine, but It won't hold the reflex as well.
Very nice bow. I've made a few Bamboo backed BL bows and not one chrysaled
Thanks Marc. I really like the combination of heat treated BL & bamboo. Do you think it differs much from an osage-bamboo combo?
cool TD (as well as the awesome bow)...how is it made?
Thanks Bob. I found fitting brass tubes and hammered them in shape! A lot of work, but worth it imo.
Not bad :)
Could you show a picture of the lower limbs sleeve and how it marries with the limb, from the back.
Haha thanks ;)
This is the best I've got right now. The tubes are over the bamboo. I didn't cut in the bamboo to get the tube flush with the backing's surface. Does that answer your question?
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50986665201_877e19fd7c_h.jpg)
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Very nicely done.
Bjrogg
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Thanks Bjrogg!
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Beautiful bow. Hard to imagine any better. Great craftsmanship.
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Beautiful work! Love those recurves.