Author Topic: Show Me your First Bow ! Good ,Bad & Ugly ?  (Read 9275 times)

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Offline Pat B

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Re: Show Me your First Bow ! Good ,Bad & Ugly ?
« Reply #15 on: March 13, 2018, 05:51:59 pm »
I built bows for probably 10 years before I had one blow. Most were badly bent but no breaks.
Make the most of all that comes and the least of all that goes!    Pat Brennan  Brevard, NC

Offline Springbuck

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Re: Show Me your First Bow ! Good ,Bad & Ugly ?
« Reply #16 on: March 13, 2018, 06:08:32 pm »
 "It was an osage board and broke right where it should have."

Pat, where exactly does one OBTAIN a bow-quality osage board?  That sounds like a finding a unicorn to me.....

Offline osage outlaw

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Re: Show Me your First Bow ! Good ,Bad & Ugly ?
« Reply #17 on: March 13, 2018, 07:36:26 pm »
Check out this beauty.  She's got it all; frets, giant antler arrow shelf, 3/4" wide tips, under weight, set, and a horrible tiller.  I did a good job chasing a ring and the finish looks decent.  I think it was spray poly.  I only shot a handful of arrows out of this bow the day that I finished it.  I knew it had problems and I started a new one the next morning. 









I started out with nothin' and I still got most of it left

Offline Julian

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Re: Show Me your First Bow ! Good ,Bad & Ugly ?
« Reply #18 on: March 13, 2018, 09:14:53 pm »
Ok guys this is embarrassing but lets have a look at my first effort!

In my defense, I was I think 15 or 16 when I made this monstrosity. I had a heat gun and I was determined to use it.







This bow is actually made from bamboo flooring boards. I got a box of them for free from a local store. Doesn't work at all for a board bow, but I've heard reasonable things about them as middle laminations. the board took all the torture I had to throw at it. zero tillering and it came out about #15 at that thickness and width hahaha.

just look at that draw on the admittedly pretty good effort at a tillering tree by me..

Offline Pat B

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Re: Show Me your First Bow ! Good ,Bad & Ugly ?
« Reply #19 on: March 13, 2018, 10:17:37 pm »
Springbuck, I got that board from a guy named Dan Tice (maybe from OK.)back in 1986 or 87. I think he was Jay Massey's cousin.
Make the most of all that comes and the least of all that goes!    Pat Brennan  Brevard, NC

Offline Msturm

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Re: Show Me your First Bow ! Good ,Bad & Ugly ?
« Reply #20 on: March 13, 2018, 10:29:24 pm »
My first was finished on Jan 6, 2011. I was so proud of my 68 inch red oak, pyramid, board bow with a purple heart and curly koa handle. It was backed with an old pair of Dickies brown work pants.  It took some set during tillering and came in about 15 lbs underweight.  I did kill some good sized catfish with it and I had it until last year. 








The bow is over my back. Those giant yarn silencers didn't really work.


Msturm

Offline Ippus

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Re: Show Me your First Bow ! Good ,Bad & Ugly ?
« Reply #21 on: March 14, 2018, 12:20:13 am »
Simple red oak board bow, long, nice wide pyramid design, October 2016.

« Last Edit: March 14, 2018, 12:24:20 am by Ippus »
"There is nothing quite so gentle, deep, and irrational as our running — and nothing quite so savage and so wild.” Bernd Heinrich

Offline Badger

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Re: Show Me your First Bow ! Good ,Bad & Ugly ?
« Reply #22 on: March 14, 2018, 12:39:27 am »
My first was finished on Jan 6, 2011. I was so proud of my 68 inch red oak, pyramid, board bow with a purple heart and curly koa handle. It was backed with an old pair of Dickies brown work pants.  It took some set during tillering and came in about 15 lbs underweight.  I did kill some good sized catfish with it and I had it until last year. 








The bow is over my back. Those giant yarn silencers didn't really work.


Msturm

 Beautiful tiller on that bow!

Offline Marc St Louis

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Re: Show Me your First Bow ! Good ,Bad & Ugly ?
« Reply #23 on: March 14, 2018, 06:30:47 am »
No pics but my first was a simple flatbow made in the early 70's.  Probably pulled about 90# and it would shoot about the same distance as my younger brothers 55# glass recurve.  One of the limbs broke after awhile
Home of heat-treating, Corbeil, On.  Canada

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Offline DC

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Re: Show Me your First Bow ! Good ,Bad & Ugly ?
« Reply #24 on: March 14, 2018, 11:23:44 am »
I didn't think I had pictures but I actually found my first post. http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,41218.0.html

Ocean Spray somewhere around 50"NTN, I didn't have a scale then but it was pretty light. I eventually broke it trying to get it a little heavier.

Offline Louie

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Re: Show Me your First Bow ! Good ,Bad & Ugly ?
« Reply #25 on: March 16, 2018, 03:31:22 am »
Simple pine bow, stained with coffee (didn't have any wood stain). Was a training bow to familiarize myself with the tools and the craft of bowmaking before attempting my first real bow (hickory backed ipe). Bow has had about 100 arrows through it and still in one piece. They said it couldn't be done with pine. Its a wall hanger now, I have since made 2 hickory backed ipe bows and they shoot really nice.
One of the greatest paradoxes of your physical senses, is that your eyes actually show you what you believe, not what you see.

Offline S.C. hunter

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Re: Show Me your First Bow ! Good ,Bad & Ugly ?
« Reply #26 on: March 17, 2018, 12:40:27 pm »
Hi Guys,
My first bow, a Red Oak board from Lowe's. It's backed with fiberglass drywall tape, covered in camo fabric.   It's about 44 lbs at 27 inches.

Offline S.C. hunter

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Re: Show Me your First Bow ! Good ,Bad & Ugly ?
« Reply #27 on: March 17, 2018, 12:52:55 pm »
More

Offline S.C. hunter

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Re: Show Me your First Bow ! Good ,Bad & Ugly ?
« Reply #28 on: March 17, 2018, 01:11:49 pm »
sorry about the pics, having problems getting them to send, will try again later.

Offline Eric Krewson

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Re: Show Me your First Bow ! Good ,Bad & Ugly ?
« Reply #29 on: March 17, 2018, 04:53:53 pm »
You did an exceptional job on tillering your first bow, I am glad mine blew up so I don't have to show it.