Primitive Archer

Hey Bob.  Ya these boys are still alive and well.  Both shoot super nice.  The one pictured with the weird Massey finish was the one I had intended to bring to the flat to test out. It had very impressive speeds.  The other one also shot equally well but was slightly heavier if I recall was around 55lbs.  I recall it was in the low to mid 190’s fps with same 500grain arrow.  Just a touch faster as expected.  I did a video on these somewhere too I’ll have to dig it up if I can find it.  It may have been on a different phone maybe.  I also did a stain job experiment on the second one that was a camo pattern but was not happy with it and was kinda embarrassing actually.  I may have sand it off and do something else.  I’ll post a pic or two and I’m sure you’ll see what I mean. 

Dave, what's the story on these two bows today?  You are an inspiration to many a young man.  Thank you! 

Dave we have to weigh the bow at desired draw weight and length. So you can guess the intended draw weight and use a shorter or longer arrow or retiller there which is a pain. I usually get them to full draw and not shoot them till I get there. Everyone does it differently.

Quote from: superdav95 on January 30, 2026, 08:29:09 pm

Ive got some reduction to do which isnt all bad i guess.  Ill keep yall posted.

How are you reducing this? I assume you will need to take some thickness off to drop that much weight. How do you do that with the bamboo limbs, as in what tool(s) are you using?


Mark

I’m just using rasps and sandpaper and block.  I firstly reduced width about an 1/8th” on each side of limb approximately midway up the limb then tapered slightly to the tips.  I also reduced thickness a little at a time and reassessed the effect at brace.  I pull a tiny bit to work in the changes and continue.  That’s it till I get close to 55lbs.  I’m getting closer now.  It better than the alternative I guess.  Not having the reserve draw weight to play with.   We shall see how it goes. It will be a crap shoot to some degree as I don’t want to full draw this bow yet till I get to the flats.  But I should have a good indication on draw curve when I get closer to target draw.  I’ll pull it to around 25-26” and then predict from there based on how my draw curve looks to forecast my 28” draw as close to 50lbs. 

I really like every aspect of this bow. I’d love to try apple some day. Very beautiful color and I bet it’s a nice shooting bow with that tiller. Thanks for sharing your work.