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Bows / Re: Ipe

« Last post by jameswoodmot on Today at 07:26:19 pm »

I absolutely love it! I have been thinking about the same design for heavy poundage white wood long bows. looks like some pretty complex tillering in your core, too!

Just had a look through your past bows and they are all gorgeous, look like you are in europe?

Bows / Re: Hickory Processing ??s

« Last post by Hamish on Today at 07:17:10 pm »

Never a good idea to remove bark whilst it's in log form. It's too big to dry evenly without cracking badly.
5 days shouldn't be too long to split it.

Split it with wedges at least into quarters. This will let you know if the tree has any propeller twist, or any other character that you need to account for, when laying out staves.

You can use the circular saw method to kerf the inner, pointy part of the quarters. Then use the kerf to split off these sections cleanly, with wedges.

Deal with the inner splits first, either seal the back area, or take it down to one growth ring, then seal it.

Horn Bows / Re: grooving vs roughing up

« Last post by Mafort on Today at 05:41:56 pm »

so i grooved and glued up y horn however instead of using rope i used clamps. i only have enough clamps to do one side at a time. i was wondering how long i should leave the horn clamped onto the one limb for before i risk taking them off and clamping down the other limb. ive seen a few hours in some older videos and ive seen a couple months in some.

Bows / First go with Ipe and Bamboo - ELB

« Last post by jameswoodmot on Today at 05:34:23 pm »

So finally got round to it! For some reason, despite the fact I think I hate them, I keep coming back to English long bows. I guess because they’re a challenge that I can’t seem to get past.

I have a hard time believing Ipe is a natural material, it feels more like working Tufnell than wood!
Bamboo is lovely, behaves itself very well.

Wasn’t sure on dimensions but read around the place it doesn’t take a lot of wood. 74” long, 1 1/8” at the widest point and 7/8 thick. 3/4 x3/4” at mid limb, 3/8 x3/8” at the tips.

I went for a straight taper in width before glue up it ended up a bit narrow mid limb. I could have left it a good bit wider at the tips and narrowed them later on.i would have liked the limbs to be a bit wider than they are thick.

70lb at 29”

I can’t believe how small this bow is, just dinky. It started with about 1” of reflex and has a tiny bit of string follow after shooting. Wider, thinner limbs next time!

It still needs shooting in, a proper string and oiling yet.

As always, thank you all for the wisdom and help shared here, both now and in the past!

Bows / Hickory Processing ??s

« Last post by ssrhythm on Today at 03:49:58 pm »

I finally got out and cut a hickory with my buddy in SC to take back to WY. I’d planned on stripping bark immediately, but we bit off more than we anticipated and the 78” log was a giant that took four of us to load into my truck bed…we were just happy to get it in there and I would have had to strip the bark in the bed…and there is a tanneau cover on there…so its in there bark on until I can remove it; I can’t/won’t take it out until I’m back in Wyoming, because I don’t have the manpower with me to remove it and/or get it back in there.

So, I sealed the ends with shellack immediately.

1. Am I screwed as far as the bark coming off fairly easily? I won’t be back home and able to get the log out for another 5 days.

2. What is the best way to split this into staves to get the most out of this behemoth? I think I remember seeing a section in one of the TBB about using a circular saw to pre-cut stave widths, but this is my first time working with Hickory, so I was skimming when I saw with I think I saw if I actually saw that…so, any advice is much appreciated.

I pulled a Clark Griswald with this tree selection.

Bows / Re: Yew-Yew-Hickory 63#-28"

« Last post by JW_Halverson on Today at 01:02:04 pm »

Quote from: willie on June 29, 2025, 06:44:19 pm

Quote from: simk on June 29, 2025, 05:27:09 pm

I normally dont like a hickory backing for a 40# bow....it clearly makes the slower bow than boo. But it does stress the belly less. Its the give and take gamble 😁

presuming both boo and hickory have the same effect although in differing amounts....
it would seem with any backing that has a different stiffness than the belly, that "how much" is just as important as "what"

This right here is the line that is drawn between the boys and the men! Anyone can make a bow. Some of them will figure out how to consistently make bows that don't break. A rarer bunch will figure out how to make bows that shoot well, and can consistently turn out a quality product.

And it comes down to learning the trade-offs. Give up a little here, get a little there. Learning that give-and-take isn't an easy process because you have to make plenty of mistakes along the way. Those that come in with the mindset believing there is a "best" are badly handicapped. They cannot let go of this desire for "best" and it's false promise of the "one true way". Baby, this bow making is a dance!

Simk, I love your posts and the bows. You have an eye for graceful lines and, unsurprisingly, graceful lines are what work best with bending wood. Cheers, brother!

Bows / Re: Its too dang hot

« Last post by JW_Halverson on Today at 12:47:27 pm »

How long had those staves been cut, Kevin?

I don't know about others, but when the heat comes on I am done with making bows. My patience runs short, and my temper runs long when it gets hot. I've learned to set aside the tools and do other things in the summer.

Bows / Re: Guava

« Last post by JW_Halverson on Today at 12:43:25 pm »

Quote from: willie on June 17, 2025, 01:59:49 am

http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,3209.msg45291.html#msg45291

if you look at mannys/nomadic pirate's profile page you can see all his posts

Manny was THE man for crazy guava bows (and surfing). Then he danced off to Italy for family stuff and gave up bowmaking. Later he and I reconnected when he went back to Hawai'i and he became THE man for high caliber air rifles and taking wild hogs at ridiculously close ranges (think in terms of distances in feet that you can count on just your hands). Haven't heard from him in ages now, wonder what he's up to? Whatever it is, it will be interesting and he will be an expert in it.

Bows / Re: Hunting the Osage Bow

« Last post by JW_Halverson on Today at 12:30:18 pm »

Quote from: Selfbowman on July 01, 2025, 10:54:06 am

Seems like the old grouchier ones make the best bows.🤠🤠🤠🤠

I do not!

Around the Campfire / Re: What Did You Do Today?

« Last post by JW_Halverson on Today at 12:16:02 pm »

Nice looking pile of beans, Eric! Your growing season starts long before mine. My beans are only knee high and haven't set a blossom yet. I pulled out all the radishes I started. Plenty of tops and not a thing going on underground. Some years I do good on radishes, but most are a bust like this.