2016 Primitive Archer Bow Trade Sign up and Information

[TimothyR]

I'm pretty much ready to ship all I need to do is put a few more coats of true oil on and wrap the handle. I am going to put a new rest on but that will take only a few minutes.

[---GUTSHOT--->]

Man you guys are all finishing up at the same time. That's awesome!

[mwosborn]

Bows are looking good guys.

I m still shooting my trade bow.  Tweaking it to get it to shoot the best I can.  About ready to call it a bow and finish it up.  I am struggling on how to finish it.  I have finished a couple of hacks with some light stain and then streaks of black leather dye to add some camouflage.  But some of the painted ones I have seen here have got me thinking about some painting?

 Will try and post a pic or two.

Mitch

[Mo_coon-catcher]

I got a bit more done last night. I got both of the bows pulled back to 18" and at the rate they build weight, they are both at about 60# at my goal of 27". So if u just keep easing them back and touching up the tiller they will be right about where I want them at about 45-50 lbs. Though the cedar bow the levers are still bending a bit. So I'm going to add a layer of cherry on the under side. And probably leave it a bit on the wider side since there is a little side flex on one of the levers. I might max it out at 40-45 lbs to play on the safe side with the levers. First I've gotta finish getting over the bug I've got. About half draw is about all my muscles wanted to take.

Kyle

[Sidmand]

still tillering Plan A, want to get it out to about 20 inches or so then flip the tips.  Tillering another as well in case the first one decides to go south on me, but she is hanging in there so far.  I will post some more pics later this week.

[jandersson]

Ajooter: I saw that great build along by Gordon. I have not tried bench vice tillering, why do you like it?

Got mine steamed the other day and got the string alignment back into the game so know I'm giving the bow a rest for a few days. Ordered some goat hide to use for backing yesterday. Slowly but steady........

[Loope]

I am out of town this week, but my status is:
Plan B tillered and shooting at the Classic. Decided to flip the tips a little (did this already) and heat treat (not done yet)
Plan C tillered and heat treated. Shoots nice, need to shoot a little more and ready to finish. It made right at low side of my target weight range.
Plan D tillered and heat treated. Need to check tiller after the heat treat.

I won't get to work more till next week, but am getting close.  I am excited about getting closer to finishing these up and picking one.

[ajooter]

Janderson...its just a different way to watch the limb bend.  I think its easier to see flaws.  I can use a tillering gizmo too.

[ajooter]

Id like to see some of these bows loope!  I only made one bow for the trade.  Well i started one and ended up finishing another.  I will try and finish that first one eventually....i got somebody in mind for it.

[DuBois]

Man, I been absent. Well I'm back and ready to get on with it.

[DuBois]

I'm waiting on some skins for the sinewed osage, although I have not been doing anything on it. Too much family drama and stuff but I think it is past mostly.

[DuBois]

Hey folks,
Just wondering if you could choose, would you go for a snakeskin over sinew or something less common like tree bark covering sinew?

Sometimes I lean one way, then the other...



Ranasp, I tend to just hatchet around that handle stuff and hit it a little from upper and then from lower limbs. then rasp it when closer to finish size. Can easily go too far though and tear out too much.

Ty, I really like that profile.

Loope, Very nice plan C

David, sure glad you're in the trade and your bow is coming along nicely.

Fred, I like both of those possibilities.

[Dakota Kid]

I'm always gonna pick snake skin if it's an option. It may be that it's not easy to find large snakes in my area. If I head south a few hours there's decent timbers and copperheads, but I've never gone after them. You're only allowed one of each species per year. With the timbers, you're expected to catch it live and put it in a clear plastic tube so it can be accurately measured. If it's under 48" it must be released. Call me crazy but, I don't feel comfortable with that. If I ever get one, my measuring technique would be more like measure the limp dead body and add 3" for the now missing head and hope it is at least 48".

Some of the fish skin backing I've seen are pretty slick looking also. I'm not a huge fan of bark backings, but have seen some that looked nice. Often times my first thought is, "hey you forgot to debark your stave."

[mwosborn]

I have seen some nice looking snake skinned bows so don't take me wrong...I just don't really like killing them for my bows.  I would like to see the bark.

[mwosborn]

I posted a couple of days ago that I was to the finishing stage on my trade bow.  Have it sanded with 80 grit so I need to make some decisions on finishing.  I am going to post a few pics of bows I have done with various finish - give me you opinions and help me decide on my trade bow.


Here is the first - black leather dye to stain the grain on the belly and then a wine colored stain.  Topped off with tru-oil.