2016 Primitive Archer Bow Trade Sign up and Information

[Otter]

Yeah David I hate to here this... Send some pictures and let's us all see what you have going on... And if your needing a good stave I'm sure we can all help you out ... Me and Turtle have something to give you if someone closer to you can't help you out. Chin up bud.

[David Ewing]

It starts mid-limb, and runs 6-7" down one side of the limb.

[turtle]

If it was mine I would fill the crack with super glue and clamp it closed. Then make sure to round your edges,back and belly good before bending. If it makes out to full draw (which I think theres a good chance of) put a permanent wrap over that area. You can also wrap the area with strong cord while on the tree and remove it when you have to remove wood from that area and then rewrap before bending again. And yes I HAVE done this on a bow with a very similer crack. Other peoples opinions may vary.

[ajooter]

hmmm....that top picture is the belly correct?  The grain orientation looks a little questionalbe.  It looks like that crack ran across the grain rather then with it.  I would flood it with super glue and wrap it up tight...i like to use bicycle innertube.  Then just continue working the stave.

It appears you may have strayed away from the grain a little bit in examining the top pic.  The left side of the limb shows the growth ring feathered out to tightly to the edge...that should be more centered.

[TimothyR]

David. I have this black locust stave still. Or could probably give you an Osage I just can't get it shipped right now. If you want to cover shipping I'll give it to you or you could come down my way and pick it up. I'm only about a hour south of you.

[turtle]

hmmm....that top picture is the belly correct?  The grain orientation looks a little questionalbe.  It looks like that crack ran across the grain rather then with it.  I would flood it with super glue and wrap it up tight...i like to use bicycle innertube.  Then just continue working the stave.

It appears you may have strayed away from the grain a little bit in examining the top pic.  The left side of the limb shows the growth ring feathered out to tightly to the edge...that should be more centered.

Hmm...... guess I never thought of using innertube for temporary wrap....I'll have to remember that.

[David Ewing]

Turtle, what would you use as a permanent rap?
Ajooter, yes, the top pic is the belly.

[David Ewing]

Funny thing is, I found this crack by accident. The tool grabbed and dug out a big chunk. I had to thin it out right there, and I saw the darn thing right as I was almost done.

[Dakota Kid]

I threw my bow on the scale today to check the draw weight before I inked the specs on it and it came in underweight by a significant amount compared to earlier measurements.    I don't really see how it could have lost that much draw weight unless humidity is a factor(it stays above 80% all summer here). My scale may be to blame too, as it's an old spring scale that's seen better days. I'm gonna crank out another bow just to be safe. I still have a couple nice staves laying around and working under the gun is my specialty. Worst case I can send one I've been working on that I had planned on keeping. That one's just about finished and hasn't given me as much misery as that rock elm has. It's a yew heartwood flat bow with 4 layers of sinew. It's drawing about 60# @ 26". I can tweak it a little to hit my guys specs I'm sure.

Once I make a final decision as to which path I'm going to take I'll get some more eye candy posted for you guys to check out. Stay tuned...

On a lighter note, if the rock elm is in fact drawing as light as the scale says I have a niece who's been asking for a bow from her uncle Mike. So at least it will get a good home.

[turtle]

Sinew, silk thread, strong upholstery thread. Coat wrap with super glue.

[David Ewing]

Went back out again to fill the crack. I didn't realize how much I thinned it down trying to get rid out the tearout.
Is that going to hurt anything? It was a smooth taper. Not anymore.

Seems like everytime I get one to where I think it's doing good, something like this happens. Too thin, cracked, too thin on a crack, etc, etc.

[turtle]

Thats probably not going to work. Could probably salvage a light weight bow out of it.

[ty_in_ND]

Some more update pics:

After the glue set on the handle, I used this farrier's rasp to get the shape roughed out. 



Man... this rasp... how did I live without it!  The wife was kind enough to let us stop at a certain traditional archery shop in Rochester as we were traveling between her relatives in NE Iowa and my brother in St. Paul.  I wanted to get more, but I restrained myself to picking up this rasp.  I won't name the shop since they're not a sponsor, but if you Google search it, you'll find it.  If any of you live in NE Iowa, SW Wisconsin, or SE Minnesota (or if you're heading to the Twin Cities and have time to spare, Rochester is an hour to the south), you should check them out!  They have all sorts of neat trad gear.

Anyways, I then got to taking the squeezed out epoxy and blue tape off of the bamboo.  Just as a heads up, the tape does not easily lift off the thicker sections of epoxy.  I used a Dremel with a small sanding drum to get the epoxy paper thin, then it peels off with the tape, leaving the bamboo intact.  You probably could use a file to do it by hand (especially if you're concerned with hitting the bamboo with the chuck section of the Dremel), but the Dremel made it pretty quick and easy.



Here's where she stands now:



I'm going to thin the profile ever so slightly (it's plenty stiff where it is now at 1.5" out of the fades) to the 1 3/8 range, then add the tip overlays, then I suppose start tillering her.

[stuckinthemud]

Evening all,
got a long string on the holly D-bow; it fights and twists like crazy when I try to draw it so I am giving it multiple dry heat treatments to take out the twist in the limbs and get the string alignment sorted, hopefully that will civilize the draw .  The bow is at target weight at 1" draw so the bow is about 40# over-weight! Apart from go slow, any advice on reducing that much weight? 

 

[ajooter]

Ty...thats lookin sweet.  I love my ferriers rasp...but for flattening a limb my shinto is quite nice.

Mud...not sure on hollys properties....id say just keeping thinning it down on the belly side.  If i remember right you didnt have a ton of width to work with.

David....im sure somebody can get you a stave.  All mine are pretty green otherwise i would help u out.