September Self Bow BOM
Simson from Bavaria, Germany does not need an introduction among his Primitive Archer community family. He has multiple BOM wins and this is his second time to win both theSelf and the Backed BOM contest. His bows are revolutionary as he pushes the limits with each new bow. This month’s BOM wins are a testaments to Simson abilities as a bowyer. This bow has an interesting characteristic of hollowed out valleys. It does not seem possible that a piece of wood pushed to these limits would be capable of such performance, but that’s where Simson’s master skills shine.
http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,48632.0.html Do you guys know about to dye with ammonia? In Germany you can buy 'Räuchereiche', translated word by word it means: smoked oak. It has nothing to do with real smoke, but is a chemical reaction of ammonia with the tan acids in the wood. The more acid in the wood, the better reaction. I wondered to use it in bowery. In the last month I did a lot of experiments with different woods. For example fresh osage can be aged over night so that it looks like 10 years old. Every woods behaves a bit different, but I had great results with elm, ash, dogwood (gets a very nice warm grey). I noticed three important things. First this dye is not on the wood, it is in the wood at least 3-4 mm. Second the color is stable, the acid gets the color by a chemical reaction. Third the structure of he wood changes, it gets a super smooth surface and the elasticity increases. I will do more tests from time to time. Is anybody here with experience in that item? Let me show you here an example of a 'smoked' ash bow.
The bow is a HLD with a deep valley, it is 63“ long. All added parts, overlay, wedge inlay, arrow pass is buffalo horn. The tips are mildly flipped. Drawweight is 72#/28
Primitive Archer Community members had a lot to say about this revolutionary bow. Here is just a small sampling:
Very cool bow again Simon. I actually did know about aging wood with ammonia. I know someone who was at one time a reputable stave dealer that was asked to leave an event because of doing that. Your bows are really amazing to me in every way. JonW
That is a thing of beauty! sieddy
Simson, that's insane! It's so graceful! I want to see it shoot so bad! Wow, thanks for sharing. PrimitiveTim
Man that's one slick lookin bow Simon. I love that pic of the whole belly. Great look with the dye job. IdahoMatt
That's an amazing bow! Every time I log in I look to see if you've posted any new ones. I'm in awe of your craftsmanship. Beautiful! wazabodark
