Hi, everyone.
I am not finished with this bow, but figured I would share this project anyway. One lesson is that you can make a quick bow and have a lot of fun, and learn a lot from mistakes and less than perfect craftsmanship. Also, making means getting better, and the world will not end if you don't live up to your potential. Also, not being afraid to ruin a hard won or purchased stave is a nice mental place to be.
Another lesson to the new guys on this board is to not hesitate to post your work, even if you feel it is not worthy of the amazing work of this community. This bow certainly isn't! This is simply the friendliest group, and the help you get is priceless. No questions are dumb, and so please post away.
Basically, I needed a bow really quickly for an event (Farm Day, posted some shots earlier). I had a nice surgar maple stave (with a few issues) that was i.e. less than perfect. The bow design I feel in love with, a Mesolithic Danish design from an underwater site called Tybrind Vig. It dates to the Ertebolle period.
The bow design came from a book called The Bow Builder's Book (Schiffer Books), and is my current favorite archery book. Lots of Stone Age bows, a nice Viking design, and nice data on knapping and a chapter on Neolithic arrow making by Jurgen Junkmanns.
The original bow was crafted from elm, and is 167 cm long (65.7" long). Finally, instead of stuggling with converting metric to inches, I used a metric ruler on this project. Way easier when dealing with lots of bow data not in inches.
So, I started hacking this out with a hatchet and adz, and worked quickly, not usually recommended, then moved to draw knife and spoke shave, then rasps and scrapers. I spend a total of about 6 hours over 2 days getting this at least in shootable form, and you can see from the full draw shot that the tiller is LESS than perfect. Shot two shows the bow on the tiller stick (the first after inital tiller, the second after second tillering), so you can see even more how unperfect the tiller is
The next few hours of the young bow's life was spend in hellish conditions, ie tons of kids yanked her back, held for long time or only made it half way back, dropped it, mistreated her, and had a great time doing so. If nothing else, I know it is kid proof.
After the event, I finished tillering it, and also heat treated it a bit. The last shot shows the bow on the tiller stick. Yes, not perfect, but still a very sweet shooting, servicable bow. Stacking is not noticable, and there is no jarring thump when you release the arrow.
I will finish sanding it later, seal and finish it, and know it gave me some experience for a much more carefully made replica of the same bow. That one (two) I am making from elm, the proper wood for this replica. Bonus: sticking to the Mesolithic period means you don't have to have the no-yew blues.
I used my hand-forged froe, and if you have ever hated splitting elm, I
highly recommend that tool. I split a 4" or so tree with scarcely any sweat or cursing in just a few minutes. The tree was cut down last year, and so it still just a bit green, so two new Tybrind Vig bows are reduced down to close to bow dimensions and drying right now in my workshop.
And with that, here is the photographic evidence. Eventually, I will post photos of the bow, but it will be bit before I can get back to sanding and finishing it. In the mean time, barring wet weather, it will be a fun bow. It pulls about 45 lbs at 27". BTW, the original has asymetical knocks and some other design features I will address properly in the next couple.
Dane
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