Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: airkah on May 16, 2021, 10:59:19 pm
-
Hey everyone,
I know its been awhile since I have posted a bow on here, but I wanted to share this one with you all. It's a 59in red elm Penobscot style bow with a 31in red elm mini bow attached that pulls around 40# at 26'' with the helper bow or around 25# without it. At its widest coming out of the fades the main bow is 1.5'' tapering down to 3/8'' at the tips. After shooting it in, the bow has taken roughly 3/4'' of set. Going into it I really didn't plan on doing this style but I didn't think the tiller was good enough around the 40# mark and knew I would never use it how it was. I was just as unlikely to use it if I dropped the weight way down to fix the tiller too. I decided instead to get the tiller as close to perfect as my skill allowed and then attach the mini bow to get the weight back up using hemp cord. All together there is about 175 feet of hemp cord wrapping on the bow. As far as the performance, I'm happy with the way that it shoots. I don't think that it is the fastest bow that I've ever made, but its a solid shooter. I had been meaning to make a new one of these because while I make no claims of superior performance, Penobscot bows are always the ones that friends who know nothing about archery want to shoot. The other Penobscot I have in my house is one of my early bows that I really can't stand, so at least now the bow they gravitate to will be one I am proud of.
(https://i.imgur.com/XvftWlj.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/KYu4MrR.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/G5lVc1f.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/jlMJSi9.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/uWa7Vew.jpg)
I've made a couple of these in the past and always HATED how difficult they can be to setup consistently since the tiller changes so drastically based on the string tension between the two bows. I tried something different for this one and made Flemish twist strings and put purple heart overlays on the bow. So far I've been able to just keep the strings on the bow to keep the tiller from going to far out of whack and just make minor adjustments to keep the string tension even.
(https://i.imgur.com/I2trCPS.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/FucMiGc.jpg)
I know other people do them different, but I like to tiller out the main bow fully and just make sure that it is bending a little bit more than I would normally do it in the inner limbs because adding the 2nd bow will stiffen that area some. I took a picture of this one before I added the 2nd bow so I could show the difference with everyone.
Before:
(https://i.imgur.com/rFyGXMM.png)
After:
(https://i.imgur.com/FKzo5Xx.jpg)
Fulldraw:
(https://i.imgur.com/7DSiSfS.jpg)
Thanks for taking a look at this one!
-
Really nice. I have never shot one, much less try and build one. The tiller looks great!
-
Very cool. One of the best bends I’ve seen on a Penobscot.
-
Aye but what does the chorno say???
These bows are plain funky!
-
Looks good. I never found any performance advantages to the Penobscot bow
-
Really nice. I have never shot one, much less try and build one. The tiller looks great!
Very cool. One of the best bends I’ve seen on a Penobscot.
Thanks so much! I think getting the tiller dialed in (and to stay that way) is the hardest part of these bows. I don't think its perfect, but I was worried posting it because I struggle with being objective on my own bows when I really like them. I'll look at a picture and think its amazing and then see it a few weeks later and see really obvious flaws that I totally missed at the time.
Looks good. I never found any performance advantages to the Penobscot bow
Thanks, Marc. I'll agree, they seem to be no better or worse speed wise for me either.
-
I never understood the Penobscot bows but your execution of it sure is spot on, Airkah. Well done. Nice to see you back on PA with your bow. :OK
-
I never understood the Penobscot bows but your execution of it sure is spot on, Airkah. Well done. Nice to see you back on PA with your bow. :OK
Thanks Pat, I never really stop reading and seeing what others are up to. I know I should post more, but really there are so many people here with more experience with me. I enjoy just reading and learning from you all.
-
I think you did an excellent job. Tiller looks great. Well done on all aspects.
-
I agree. Thats the best bend I've ever seen on a penobscot
-
Very nice job! Good to see you back!
Hawkdancer
-
looks good congrats,, :)
-
the hemp cord in the mini bow gives a nice look. thanks for posting again :)
-
Very good looking work. Yes, that f/d looks spot on.
-
Don't see that every day. Very special...thanks for posting.
-
Awesome bow! Great bend. Looks like it would be very challenging to tiller but you obviously have that figured out. Thanks for posting
-
Spot on full draw on your bow and nice work using the hemp cord and mini bow.In my experiences of making red elm bows I usually had to make the limbs close to 2" wide at least to mid limb at 64" to 66" length to get at least a 50# bow.Still a sreviceable bow but I don't really care for limbs that wide myself.That's just me.It does'nt take extreme designs very well IMO.I have a lot of it growing around me here.It will gain some poundage from heat treating.It is of such a light weight density type wood and lowest of any type elm I've made bows from,but good enough for some FG makers to use it as a core wood yet.
I've often thought of sinewing it sometime but never tried.
-
looks good congrats,, :)
Don't see that every day. Very special...thanks for posting.
Thank you! It means a lot to get such positive feedback from everyone. Its a little intimidating for me posting my bows on here because of how much I admire the work of all the members here.
I think you did an excellent job. Tiller looks great. Well done on all aspects.
I agree. Thats the best bend I've ever seen on a penobscot
Awesome bow! Great bend. Looks like it would be very challenging to tiller but you obviously have that figured out. Thanks for posting
Very good looking work. Yes, that f/d looks spot on.
Thank you all so much! It really isn't awful to tiller. I like to do the main bow out to full draw before even starting the mini bow. I do a really good thickness floor tiller on the mini bow and then attach the two together. I made a few scrapes on the main bow to tweak it once the two were attached, but for the most part it was finished before they came together. Adjusting the tension on the strings connecting the two bows can really change the tiller to get it where I want it. The downside is in having to check tiller and potentially make tension adjustments to those strings on the fly every time I string it. That part is awful. :)
the hemp cord in the mini bow gives a nice look. thanks for posting again :)
Thank you! Initially I was not going to wrap the mini in the hemp cord, but I wasn't getting enough draw weight added from it so I debated starting over on another billet before coming up with the idea to wrap it out for function as much as the design element. It took me awhile to do, its something like 175 feet of cordage wrapped over and over, but as soon as it was done and I looked at it I knew it was the right choice. It added in some weight between the cord and the TBIII to keep it secure, but in my mind added weight on the mini doesn't have that big of an impact on the performance. I have 0 science to back that up, so I could be wrong there.
Spot on full draw on your bow and nice work using the hemp cord and mini bow.In my experiences of making red elm bows I usually had to make the limbs close to 2" wide at least to mid limb at 64" to 66" length to get at least a 50# bow.Still a sreviceable bow but I don't really care for limbs that wide myself.That's just me.It does'nt take extreme designs very well IMO.I have a lot of it growing around me here.It will gain some poundage from heat treating.It is of such a light weight density type wood and lowest of any type elm I've made bows from,but good enough for some FG makers to use it as a core wood yet.
I've often thought of sinewing it sometime but never tried.
Thanks. I totally agree that it is such a light density wood, but I enjoyed working with it. Then again I also always do like 35-45# and never go any higher. My opinion my be different if I did :)
-
Great seeing your work again Airkah.
You know I can only remember one other bow you posted. I kinda liked that style better than this one. But I think this one is a winner to. Very well done.
I like how you used the Flemish twist and overlays to adjust the two bows.
Bjrogg
-
Beautiful bow and the tiller is spot on for sure. :) Nice job.
Pappy
-
Great seeing your work again Airkah.
You know I can only remember one other bow you posted. I kinda liked that style better than this one. But I think this one is a winner to. Very well done.
I like how you used the Flemish twist and overlays to adjust the two bows.
Bjrogg
Thanks BJ, I think that other one you are thinking of is the only other I've posted here. Maybe someday I'll post some pictures of an old bow or two.
Beautiful bow and the tiller is spot on for sure. :) Nice job.
Pappy
Thank you! Getting the tiller correct was what I was most worried about.
-
If my memory serves me correctly. It was a BOM winner. Pretty sure it beat my Trilogy bow.
I hope you post more. I think you have a good tillering eye and nice work.
Bjrogg
PS it’s nice to see the ladies represented to.
-
Thanks for sharing this, Airkah. The penobscot design is really interesting. Seems like a lot of extra work! I wonder why they did it this way...was it to make up for inferior bow woods, or some other reason?
-
Thanks for sharing this, Airkah. The penobscot design is really interesting. Seems like a lot of extra work! I wonder why they did it this way...was it to make up for inferior bow woods, or some other reason?
I don't think it was for some kind of compound mechanic to improve performance, my guess is the same as yours - that it was to improve durability. I've made a few that feel like an overdraw of an inch would end in disaster, but this bow doesn't really feel like its on the limit. I haven't drawn it past 27'', but it feels like it could keep going further without much complaint even though it is only 59'' long.
-
maybe it would draw further than a conventional bow,, how will we know,, :D
-
maybe it would draw further than a conventional bow,, how will we know,, :D
That might be an interesting project to try one day, see if a REALLY short one can still get like a full draw length.
-
very cool bow Erica. Neat how the tiller changed with the front bow, that was some excellent foresight to keep the tips stiffer. When I made one of these it reminded me a lot of a cable backed bow. I had a similar impression, seems to me like the biggest advantage wasn’t performance or adjustability but being able to use sub par wood that wouldn’t handle being a self bow.
-
Excellent! Tiller looks great. Jawge