hickory/stone

[RidgeRunner]

Good looking bow Jamie.

You sure make all of us steel tool users look bad.  And all you need to do it is a pile of rocks.
Are you going to put any type of finish or sealer on the bow??

If you had to start a (stone age bow) with a standing tree what size tree would you use?  Small I would think...
Would you start on the bow while the wood was still green?  It seems that would be the thing to do...

Thanks
David

[jamie]

Dave i use fat to seal the bows. Ive used wax that came from a tree we cut down that had a honey nest in it. the stings were worth the taste of the honey. lol. the biggest tree i ever dropped with rocks was about 4 inches. dropping isn't the problem though splitting is especially some of the grainy woods like elm and hhb.when working with stone it definitely helps to floor tiller it while it is still green. depending on the weather you can take your time but i usually try to rough it out that day. a friend of mine who has been wanting to build one with stones came over yesterday to get some advice. he was really amazed at how effective the stones really are. he went and built a bunch of axes and adzes which will help but i told him they were completely unnecessary. try it . if you have any questions just ask. peace

[jamie]

dane ill let ya know when i stick one and we'll eat when its still steamin. peace

[Hillbilly]

Jamie, that's just plain awesome. Good job on the bow, as well as using some abo ingenuity in letting nature do the hard part for you. (When life gives you hickory splits, make bows  ) I've got to do me a stoned bow, helped a friend make one a while back and it turned out well, but a bit on the light side for hunting big critters. We chopped down the tree with a handaxe, split it with a rhyolite spall and an antler tine as wedges and had it shooting in two days of working on it here and there. We even had Pat choppin' on it awhile with a stone adz. I learned a lot that will serve me well when I make my own. I've got a nice straight winged elm sapling that I've been eyeing for awhile..........

[jamie]

steve looking forward to seeing that one. i did one in elm i screwed up. was tough splittin . if the tree is small enough i wont even split it just chop off what i dont want. there is definetly something about working with stone that i find pleasing. its a soul thing. peace

[RidgeRunner]

Jamie:

Could you post a few photos of your basic stone tool kit with a few pointers on how to use them??

I have some (Rock Hard) chert at home.  Don't know the exact type.  But it should be plenty tough for this kind of work.

Thanks
David

[Pat B]

I started a hatchet bow not long ago but ended up using stone tools and found they worked better at scraping and it was definately easier to abrade aroung knots to reduce the thickness than trying to cut or hack with the hatchet(hawk). It came out way light with a nice hinge in one limb but was pleased with my progress anyway.
  After I cut, split and reduced the stave I tied it down to a form to induce backset and placed it in direct sunlight to dry. After 3 days it was already dry(at least the surface and just below) and too hard to work easily with stone.  I think, from my little experiment, you want most of your reduction done while it is green. After it is dry, it is way more difficult to controll the tools on the hard, dry wood. This was a 4" hickory sapling. I will make more!!!     Pat

[hammertime]

I am with the others nice tiller cool bow.Good luck with your hunting that season will be here before you know it.Jeffrey KolsteHammertime

[Justin Snyder]

That is pretty darn cool Jamie.  Good to see a real primitive bow, and this one from a downfall besides. Justin

[AndrewS]

Jamie that's a real cool primitive weapon!

[jamie]

hey guys sorry i havent replied my computer has been screwed up all week. . ridge ill post a seperate topic later on tools and use. pat ive found whenever i do a project whether tanning or woodworking or whatever that primitive tools realy seem to work as good or better. they seem to be made for each other. peace

[George Tsoukalas]

Jamie, awesome bow. Jawge

[duffontap]

Jamie,

I read the Bowyer's Bibles and you made your bow too narrow.      He, he.  You sure shut those 'Hickory follows the string' people up.  Cool bow. 

            J. D.

[Badger]

Jamie per your question about the mass. looking at the tiller on that bow it is bends through the handle with the outer limbs a little on the stiffer side. You selected a good width for your handle and center of bow area. Because of the stiffer outer limbs I would have fed in a higher number for draw length, this is all explained in the chapter. You came in at 15 oz and the target mass would have been around 12 oz. I can't see how you tapered the belly on your outer limbs but I suspect you tapered them in thickness rather than width, Rounding the belly on the last 1/2 of the limb and side tapering would have likely brought you right into mass. If the outer limbs are bending less than the inner limb but not as thick you have extra mass out there, if they are the same thickness they would idieally bend the same as the inner. I like to think of the thickness as telling us how far the wood can bend and the width controlling how far it will bend under strain. When thinner area of the limbs are bending less than thicker areas we have a little misplaced mass on the bow. Still a good job. Steve

[Stickhead]

That bow's cool as heck.  I love your style, Jamie.  So simple a caveman could do it.

Tom