Recent Posts

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Around the Campfire / Re: Any gear heads in here?
« Last post by Pappy on Today at 06:45:40 pm »
None really now but couldn't write on this page all the cars I have had, started working on cars at about 12 with my dad and wound up a 50 + years as a mechanic in 2017, old cars are what I was brought up on, early 80's and back into the early mid 50's of course they weren't that old when I was learning to work on them. :) Love the 440, very simple engine and a power house. My dad worked for a Chrysler dealer ship in the late 40's and 50's , so he was a Chrysler man, I had a 70 Challenger 440 and a 69 Swinger 340 and my brother had a 68 Road runner 383 ,but mainly I went with the Chevy had a 50 Chevy/2 55's 3 57's post and hard top a 64 SS and several more in the later 60's and 70's, models, man wished I had them back today. Good luck with you adventure, pictures would be nice.  :)
 Pappy
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Bows / Re: Hold my hand when I sinew my first bow
« Last post by jameswoodmot on Today at 05:55:48 pm »
Ok I’ve just shredded a couple more tendons which has given me 12 ish more grams. I don’t want to use any more as that’s half of my sinew and I have the other half of this stave still.

I’m going to leave the strands as they are, honestly I’m bored of messing with them now. It’s just taken a fraction of the time to do those two extra tendons and now I know how it’s works when I do the next ones I’ll be able to shred them finer in less time. Will be interesting to see the difference between fine and less fine sinew. If this one’s a real munter I’ll cover it with a snake skin or something.

I made a right balls up of weighing out the strands and I’ve lost all faith in my kitchen scales so I’m going to get and get my micro scales from the workshop and also a halogen heater. I think I should have warmed the back more when I put the first layers of size down as I think I could have soaked in more.

Thanks for your help Superdav, a video would be awesome if your hands aren’t too sticky!
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Flintknapping / Re: A little fun with mushrooms
« Last post by White Falcon on Today at 05:39:31 pm »
Very nice work.
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Bows / Re: Overbuilt?
« Last post by superdav95 on Today at 04:57:53 pm »
There is almost no such thing as overbuilt. To qualify for that, the bow will firstly take absolutely no set, it will shoot slower than it should, and likely have some hand shock.

Almost all bows are underbuilt. I made a program to tell you how much to build your bow based on density and draw weight. As soon as I am able it will be attached to this site as a feature.

That is a beautiful bow too, your craftsmanship is superb. Did it take any set?

Well said.  +1.  Looks very well built. 
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Bows / Re: Hold my hand when I sinew my first bow
« Last post by superdav95 on Today at 04:49:56 pm »
Those strands will work but the finer you can get the strands to in dry form it will save loads of works and make combing them later when wet.  The ends tend to be clumpy and can hang up your comb even when wet.  The finer you get the sinew the better imo.  It will give cleaner more uniform layer too.   What ends up happening often is crossed fibers in the under layers of your bundles the create voids when it drys.  The key is to get it combed well which means combing through the hard clumpy bits at the ends.  In dry form I use my fingernail to scrape some of the end bit as good as I can prior to washing.  Your grooving looks fine and does not need to be perfect and straight even.  So long as it’s cleaned and free of any scrapings debris in the grooves to create possible air voids.   Size coat till the surface is saturated with glue.  Heat slightly to open the pours a little will help.  Not too much so as to have oils raise to
The surface like in the case with oily woods like Osage.  1.6 ounces is on the lighter side but could still work fine if you place it on critical spots.  I would lay around 50-60 grams so closer to 2 ounces.   I know it’s a short bow and if only looking for a little increase in weight or more for protection for a longer draw perhaps you’ll be fine.  I certainly would feel like any more than 60 grams would be needed.  The more smaller bundles could be more work for sure and may not be necessary.  You would smooth out with you fingers or the back of your comb anyway to make smooth.  Make your life little easier. It will still work.   Just stagger the bundles and blend them together as you lay them.  If it seems lumpy still wet your hands and flatten it down more as needed.  You will hear little air pops as you do this.  There is benefits to laying you first strip down the middle of each limb as you add to the sides to blend.  You will get a feel for it.  Just have a tub of water for your hands near by when laying.   I’m actually doing a little Osage 48” recurve right now!   I’ll see if I can take some video to post later. 
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Primitive Skills / Re: Atlatl help
« Last post by bjrogg on Today at 04:15:34 pm »
It’s made from red osier. The handle is deer antler and the forked points make a dart rest. The hook that makes contact with dart is deer antler attached with sinew. It has to be just the right shape to hold the dart long enough, yet cleanly release it at proper spot in cast. I had to play with that a little

Bjrogg
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Bows / Re: Hold my hand when I sinew my first bow
« Last post by jameswoodmot on Today at 04:10:31 pm »
The first couple of coats of size is going on.

Got it braced today and the back scored with hacksaw blade. Had a bit of an issue with it getting fluffy as I wasn’t diligent enough keeping the lines straight but I got it cleaned up. Degreased with isopropyl alcohol.
It looks like it’s getting pretty well soaked in already.

I’m sorting my bundles for sinewing tomorrow.

I’ve got about 1.6 oz. I was counting strands to groups of 6 which quickly became obvious it wasn’t enough so I doubled it to 12 and for the one limb Ive got over 50 bundles. Does this seem reasonable, should be the bundles be bigger or smallr? I imagine smaller bundles will give a better backing at the expense of more time?
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Bows / Re: Overbuilt?
« Last post by sleek on Today at 04:09:15 pm »
There is almost no such thing as overbuilt. To qualify for that, the bow will firstly take absolutely no set, it will shoot slower than it should, and likely have some hand shock.

Almost all bows are underbuilt. I made a program to tell you how much to build your bow based on density and draw weight. As soon as I am able it will be attached to this site as a feature.

That is a beautiful bow too, your craftsmanship is superb. Did it take any set?
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Primitive Skills / Re: Atlatl help
« Last post by bjrogg on Today at 04:04:09 pm »
Ozy. I’m not an expert Atlatl maker by any stretch.

I have made three. They all cast a dart well, but this one fit me best. I seem to remember seeing the Atlatl itself should be about an arms length long.

This one is my arm length from shoulder to wrist.

The dart itself is about 3 1/2 times the length of Atlatl.

Bjrogg
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Bows / Re: Overbuilt?
« Last post by Robert Pougnier on Today at 03:56:23 pm »
That's a really beautiful bow. I've never built a paddle bow or a bow that long but it does not look overbuilt to me. That looks like a serious shooter.
It's pretty cool to see the paddle bow built on something this long in any case.
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