Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: FVR on December 27, 2009, 01:22:41 am
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My first bow was a 60" hickory board bow that I still take out and shoot every once in awhile. That was back in 95 that I made it. Since then I've made many and a good variety of designs. For the last many, many years I've gotten comfy building 45' to 60" flatbows, recurves, and pony bows. These are the bows that I can make very well, it's second nature and although time consuming, pretty easy for me.
Few weeks back I noticed a blank on one of these boards. Bamboo backed lemonwood with purpleheart lam. in. I do not usually make these kinds of bows, first I really don't have the tools like a bandsaw, tablesaw, sander etc., maybe that is why I have limited myself to the prim. style bows. Well, I saw this blank and had to have it, so I traded for it.
When I rec'd it, I was beside myself. I felt and still feel like I'm cheating as it was a glued up blank. But I'm going to make a bow out of it.
Decided on a design that I've never made, an ELB. Kept it at 72 1/2", WOW....................big diff. tillering a 72" than a 45". You actually have to hang it on the wall and step back. It took a little more work than I thought but I finished tillering it and I did ref. the bowyer bibles (all 4). Figure the weight is about 70lbs at 27".
Took it out to the 3D, shot 4 times from a range of 10yds to 25. All 4 shots were in the kill of the deer. Hmmmmmmm.................I'm hooked......Time to expand my bow building to new designs. ELB, there will be more.
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For me it is the R/D design. I have a hard time seeing good tiller with these bows. I prefer a simple straight limbed bow(60" to 70") or a short(60"MOL) recurve.
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awwwww variety is the spice of life bro. :) i've been building glass bows for 3 years now, and even played with some carbon fiber lay ups last winter... now i'm patiently scraping rings off my first osage stave a bit at a time....i find it facinating to get into something way overyour head, and try and work and study your way out of it sucessfully. its called adventure in my book. :) Great stuff.... Do you have photos of this tri lam?
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I am with PatB here...I play hell trying to visualize perfect tiller on a R/D Bow...I guess thats why I like D and California Paddle Bows so much!!
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Your forst ELB...
Being from England, my situation is the other war around, I started off making longbows (ELB) , so there are all the lovely pyraminds and flat and static/ctive recurves for me to play with. It's a tough job, but I'm worling my way through 'em ;D
Oddly I think an ELB is more forgiving to tiller as you have more thickness to play with.
There is something empowering about walking through the English countryside with an ELB and a full quiver.
Del
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I'm finding that the stiff handled bow that I am currently working on is making me uncomfortable. I started making stiff handled bows, then my last few bows were made bendy handled. Now going back to a stiff handle is fooling my eyes when on the tiller tree. I find it much easier for me to look at the entire bow arc, rather then the individual limbs.
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Anything over 100# draw weight
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The re/de's take a lot more time and the first string is a bear! The tiller on a re/de is a lot tougher for me also and then there's all the prep, glue up and hot box. I'm learning the re/de because I feel I need to have that knowledge under my belt. I been looking at my hickory staves and my clear oak boards and I want to get back th them. For me the re/de's are like furniture building with a lot of jointery and the self and board bows are like sculpture.
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nothing empowering in the uk about walking around with a bow del our nanny state has taken our right to hunt and do anything else that might be remotely fun to do even on our own land.ireland is the same the usa has got it right the people there have back bone and shout out against the vegetarian bunny huggers.
rant over ...........
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Mox....you made Me Think about the Situation over there.... I am glad that there are Antis even there in England that Agree with the way We (Americans) stand up for Ourselves when it comes to petty things like....Hunting and Our Rights to Keep and Bear Arms...of any type...and to want to have the right to Hunt and Fish...without being limited to what We can use to do so...most other Countries criticize Our means...I think it Sad the way Europe as a whole has done away with Archey as a Hunting Sport...You can Own and Build a Bows...but can not use them for anything but shooting Targets...this should wake all others up on this ...the Gun may not be the only Weapon that Our Government is willing to Take from Us....and as for P.E.T.A....I too think Animals are Tasty........ ;D
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I wasn't comfortable with R/D. Thanks to tillering some stiff tip bows, they don't seem so bad now (and I'm doing them as selfbows). I'm still not comfortable with board bows over 55# though. I've had bad experiences with selfbows breaking and my glue joints failing :-X!
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R/D tiller has been a bit of a nemesis for me as well.
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Bows for someone else. I don't mind breaking bows and often push the envelope too far when building one for myself. It is when I am building one for someone else and know they are anxiously waiting that makes me nervous that I might get in too big of a hurry and break it.
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well i am with most so far,r/d bows are a bugger for me to tiller
other than that i would say f/g bows too ;D,especially since i never tried and never will
i am also not real comfortable making any type of bow when i have a deadline.when i do agree to make one for someone that request it
i tell them "it will be done when its finished and i promise no later than that".if they dont like mytime table i tell them ot go to the store and buy one
because they are finished when you want it "now".the last 2 i made for a dude took me 3.5 months and they were just boards bows
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Mox....you made Me Think about the Situation over there.... I am glad that there are Antis even there in England that Agree with the way We (Americans) stand up for Ourselves when it comes to petty things like....Hunting and Our Rights to Keep and Bear Arms...of any type...and to want to have the right to Hunt and Fish...without being limited to what We can use to do so...most other Countries criticize Our means...I think it Sad the way Europe as a whole has done away with Archey as a Hunting Sport...You can Own and Build a Bows...but can not use them for anything but shooting Targets...this should wake all others up on this ...the Gun may not be the only Weapon that Our Government is willing to Take from Us....and as for P.E.T.A....I too think Animals are Tasty........ ;D
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I think the reason for the difference is that in Europe the wild animals are now so few that hunting would pretty much mean extinction, which hundreds of species are on the verge of anyway. Of course there are people everywhere that want to do as they please without restraint. Here in Canada it was prohibited to shoot grizzlies. One local hero resented being told what not to do and shot and killed a harmless female grizzly with two cubs just to show how he felt. I guess arms of any type should include nuclear to take to a town hall meeting ?
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bow-toxo
sounds like Europe needs to learn a thing or two about game management
and that dude in Canada should be shot,just for shooting a sow that he knew had cubs
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bow-toxo
sounds like Europe needs to learn a thing or two about game management
and that dude in Canada should be shot,just for shooting a sow that he knew had cubs
I think Europe , like the rest of the world, needs to learn a thing or two about population management. Wild animals don't thrive on concrete developments that are replacing habitat. World wide habitat loss is making it impossible for wild animals to survive.
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Just a thought, I love to hunt, not for horns though as I have never tasted them.I just like to walk in the woods and watch mother nature do her thing. I love Autumn and the color of the leaves and the frost dew as it settles upon the earth as I sit in my tree stand watching for the deer to enter the fields, That I hunt. I also like to sneak up on the animals not to kill, but to see how close I can get. I like to spent time in the woods with GOD and my kids. I don't feel GOD when I hug a tree, But all I have to do is be quiet a while and look around and know, some power greater than me made all this and this is truly a privilege, not because of some law , but because I was able to choose to take my bow and enter the woods to hunt for fair game.Unfortunate has become other countries, I am sorry to say, And from time to time we need to speak up to protect this privilege here in our own country. Denny
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bow-toxo
sounds like Europe needs to learn a thing or two about game management
and that dude in Canada should be shot,just for shooting a sow that he knew had cubs
I think Europe , like the rest of the world, needs to learn a thing or two about population management. Wild animals don't thrive on concrete developments that are replacing habitat. World wide habitat loss is making it impossible for wild animals to survive.
i agree yet disagree
i live in an area that is growing very fast.
we have more deer and turkey now than we did 30yrs ago thanks to good animal mgmt.
heck we even have mountain lions walking around a few towns in our state.one gets filmed on a regular basis too.
they havent harmed anyone or their pets as of yet so the DNR lets them be and just tells everyone to watch their pets and kids closely.
so i really dont see urban areas causing a decline in animl populations.they adapt beter than most folks give them credit for.
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Bows for someone else. I don't mind breaking bows and often push the envelope too far when building one for myself. It is when I am building one for someone else and know they are anxiously waiting that makes me nervous that I might get in too big of a hurry and break it.
t
I agree. I've made and sold many bows, and I don't like deadlines either. I must say, I'm enjoying less and less making bows for others, especially paying customers. Takes the fun out of it, and it feels more like a job. I can finish a kid's bow in no time, just to enjoy the look on their face, but it seems to take forever to finish a custom order. :P
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thats me i like to give them to people who will n-joy it. if you sell one it seems like you cant make them 100% happy. and people dont know what it takes to make a all hand made bow with no power tools.
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recently a good friend gave me a matched pair of buffalo horn strips, I was super excited, until i realized i've got a whole lot of work ahead of me. they sit in my room and I stare at them often. I'm in that nervously anxious phase.
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I am not much of a bowyer, I have a hard time with any wood I try to make into a bow.. usually ends up being an atlatl or matched set of primitive digging sticks.. :o ;)
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i never make the same bow twice, whether it be selfbow, wood lam or glass bow. gotta mix it up. it makes it more challenging and interesting. i like to experiment and see what will happen if i shorten here, lengthen here, more recurve, longer riser, different woods, different limb shapes. it's all just fun for me.
heavy selfbows do worry me a bit
but what scares me and i haven't attempted yet is a glass bow with working recurves... soon...
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I make selfbows or bows backed with rawhide, silk or burlap. Backed with anything only if I have to. I rarely set out trying to make a certain design. Whatever the wood wants the wood gets. Jawge