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Author Topic: Yew, Sinew and Salmon Skin  (Read 8963 times)

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Offline Dauntless

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Yew, Sinew and Salmon Skin
« on: May 25, 2012, 11:01:22 am »
This bow is spliced from some thin scraps of yew I had left from a board. To get enough thickness I had to splice the thinner ends and add on a fairly long riser. I'm really horrible with hand cut splices and the whole handle is just encased in sinew then covered in leather. The yew is quarter sawn and backed with two thin layers of moose sinew then with salmon skin.

The bow is 52" nock to nock and an inch wide. The stiffened handle is 8" long, the flipped tips are 5" and the overall reflex after unstringing is 2". She draws 30 lbs at 24".
It could be considered a kids bow, I don't draw it more than 25" which makes for some "creative" shooting form.

I'm really happy how the Salmon skin turned out. One large filet from the grocery store was enough to cover the bow once cut in 4 strips. The handle is wrapped with birch bark and leather from a scrap couch. The string is sinew.








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Offline Parnell

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Re: Yew, Sinew and Salmon Skin
« Reply #1 on: May 25, 2012, 12:34:18 pm »
Two thumbs up, Dauntless.  Well executed and salmon skin?  My hats off to you for being creative and resourceful.
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Offline Keenan

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Re: Yew, Sinew and Salmon Skin
« Reply #2 on: May 25, 2012, 12:43:31 pm »
Congratulations, That came out great, Love the skins!
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Offline Pappy

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Re: Yew, Sinew and Salmon Skin
« Reply #3 on: May 25, 2012, 12:52:52 pm »
Very nice, tiller looks good and love the skins. :) :)
   Pappy
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Offline toomanyknots

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Re: Yew, Sinew and Salmon Skin
« Reply #4 on: May 25, 2012, 01:14:20 pm »
"One large filet from the grocery store was enough to cover the bow once cut in 4 strips."


!!! I never knew you could do that with salmon from the grocery store!!! It turned out very nice! How exactly did you process the salmon skin? Did you dry it out? How did you apply it? MAN I have to try this...

EDIT: The bow is very sharp, but that arrow is also very nicely crafted.
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"The way of heaven is like the bending of a bow-
 the upper part is pressed down,
 the lower part is raised up,
 the part that has too much is reduced,
 the part that has too little is increased."

- Tao Te Ching, 77, A new translation by Victor H. Mair

Offline Dauntless

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Re: Yew, Sinew and Salmon Skin
« Reply #5 on: May 25, 2012, 01:39:43 pm »
I processed the skin according to Timo's tuturial : http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php?topic=12105.0 I just didn't remove the scales with a knife since it was also removing the pattern. They came off when scrubbing with soap though.

The filet I used was pretty massive too, a good 12" long by 6"  It's a good excuse to eat fish.
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Offline rps3

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Re: Yew, Sinew and Salmon Skin
« Reply #6 on: May 25, 2012, 02:57:26 pm »
Very cool all around, thanks for sharing.
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Offline Peacebow_Coos

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Re: Yew, Sinew and Salmon Skin
« Reply #7 on: May 25, 2012, 05:01:02 pm »
That's awesome Dauntless, my tribe used salmon skin as backing on sinewed yew bows, and I love the tiller!  :)  Gonna have to copy that one!
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Offline Dauntless

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Re: Yew, Sinew and Salmon Skin
« Reply #8 on: May 25, 2012, 05:05:11 pm »
Really? What tribe?  I'd love to see pictures of such bows, google images didn't come up with much.
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Offline arklowrebel

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Re: Yew, Sinew and Salmon Skin
« Reply #9 on: May 25, 2012, 07:58:46 pm »
Fantastic work!  I love the salmon skin.  Very well done. :)
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Offline Prarie Bowyer

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Re: Yew, Sinew and Salmon Skin
« Reply #10 on: May 25, 2012, 08:18:53 pm »
cool!

Where did you get a Yew board?
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Offline Dauntless

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Re: Yew, Sinew and Salmon Skin
« Reply #11 on: May 25, 2012, 09:19:27 pm »
At a specialty lumber store in Winnipeg, specifically a Windsor plywood.  Something like an 8 foot board 6-8" wide with two live edges 3/4" thick for 25$. I bought the board a couple years back although I still see them regularly in that store.
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Offline lesken2011

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Re: Yew, Sinew and Salmon Skin
« Reply #12 on: May 25, 2012, 09:30:15 pm »
Way to think outside the box! I guess I'm headed to the fish store... ;D
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Kenny from Mississippi, USA

Offline Adam

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Re: Yew, Sinew and Salmon Skin
« Reply #13 on: May 25, 2012, 10:26:43 pm »
Nice bow!  I love that skin.  I never thought of using that before.  Great idea!
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Offline Shaun

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Re: Yew, Sinew and Salmon Skin
« Reply #14 on: May 26, 2012, 02:35:49 am »
Pure artwork! Very well done and looks deadly serious in that last full draw pic - NOT a kids' bow.
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