Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: half eye on June 18, 2010, 11:10:25 am
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So I got this wild idea while seeing Mrs.Murphy one day so thought I'd give it a try. Thought I'd take a 2" mollegabet and scallop the working limbs , and then flute the levers and grip.
When I went to the wood shed I found this old piece of white oaj that had been badly abused in it's drying stages. Got enough of the bad stuff out by sanding it down to "real thin". I thought the grain was exceptional so went ahead with the bow, knowing it wouldn't be real strong. So here it is....59" ntn, 35# @ 28"....40# @ 30". The bow has been smoked, but not yet greased. I'm still debating on a grip wrap. I think the grain is too nice to burn the wood, so may use it for bunnies or just to look at till a kid comes along needing a bow.
Do ya'll think I went to far? It takes a demented mind to come up with stuff ;D any comments welcome,
Rich
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another shot of the belly side to show the grain on it, and a close up of the grip area
rich
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Horry crap...that is amazing.
I can't believe how some seafood makes a bow from normal to a work of art.
Beautiful bow Half Eye
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Ain't rules fun to break. I'm going up to my studio right now and dig out a couple of pieces of quartersawn white oak. Great master work Half Eye.
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Those fillets or flutes must be murder on the string though!
I really like that bow! VERY interesting artistic touches Halfeye! Well Done...
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hey rich that is the cats pajama's! for a finish have you thought of useing vinegroon? it is a old old finish. basicly you take white vinegar and put small bit s of iron( i use steel wool) till it will not disolve anymore iron. then you just get a cup full put some bakeing powder in it to neutralize it. and wipe it on the bow.
the reason i ask is because it instantly turns oak a deep deep black. kinda looks like bog oak. it also works on any veg tanned leather. it is something about the ferrite and acetate that interacts with the tannin in oak and veg tanned leather.
just wondered if ya ever heard of it.
God Bless
Kenneth
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hey Ken,
Not the vinegar solution but used kerosene, with iron and chewing tobaco....used on the flinter's I used to make....and ya it really brings out the wood grain. I'll experiment on some wood with that concoction......thanks.
Rich
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That bow is STUNNING. I absolutely LOVE it. Great work.
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Really cool looking bow Rich.
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Hey man I love your stuff and admire your skill, but it is maybe just verging on the Kitsch ;D
It's a tricky point, I don't like the concept of a 'display bow' to me it should be a working bow first and formost, but conversely I'm sure people have always decorated their stuff and there is a fine tradition of highly decorated weapons, arms and armour.
I s'pose for me the question is how does it affect the performance?
Beautuful work as always
Del
P.S. Nah, just had another look, it's just funky.... (you've just confused me now...I'll have to walk round and round for a bit, then have a nap ::) )
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[size=10Wow! :) ;) :D ;D :o 8) ::) :-* O:)
Møllegabet meets Ottawa!!!!!!!!!
Now we know what happened to those Vikings who were supposed to have gone all the way to Minnesota (The Kensington Stone) -- The ended up marrying Ottawa women and settling near Rich's home town!!!!
That is certainly the most character-full bow I've ever seen on PA. The heck with those twisty snake bows or the ones with funny knotsand kinks. That's a masterpiece, Rich. You da Michaelangelo of bowyers!!
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Good craftmanship, but the title said it all for me. A bit to much.
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Very cool! and what a craftmanship!!
You didn't go to far, you can go further the sky is the limit!
Skip the wrapping, that would be going to far..
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That is the coolest thing I've ever seen. I don't know what else to say. :'( ;D :o
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great looking bow rich , must have taken ages to do all those flutings and the scalloping too.word of warning if you try that stain idea with the vinegar and steel wool I tried it ,its been in my garage for a while in a glass bottle waiiting to dissolve till the other day when BOOM!! the lot exploded ,not sure why was a hot day though....
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Thanks fellas for the contructive comments.
Mox, thanks for the warning....I'm ugly enough without some exploding stain all over ;D
Rich
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Nice job on pushing the limits!
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[size=10Wow! :) ;) :D ;D :o 8) ::) :-* O:)
Møllegabet meets Ottawa!!!!!!!!!
Now we know what happened to those Vikings who were supposed to have gone all the way to Minnesota (The Kensington Stone) -- The ended up marrying Ottawa women and settling near Rich's home town!!!!
That is certainly the most character-full bow I've ever seen on PA. The heck with those twisty snake bows or the ones with funny knotsand kinks. That's a masterpiece, Rich. You da Michaelangelo of bowyers!!
KenH you've said it all.
Half eye, you need to start your own school of artistic bowyering.
you never quit amazing me.I woner what is next?!?
Ron
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You ought to name it something more personal as its your own design. Who knows, one day bow makers might call this the half eye rich design.
I love it.
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Gotta love that quarter sawn wood! Looks super.
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yeah use a plastic bottle rich. lol i to found that out the hard way. as the metal is eaten it creates ferric accetate and that makes a gas. use a plastic jug( such as the one store brand white vinegar come in)I will stain some white oak tomorrow with the stuff and let ya see the color and see if you even wanna fool with it. on a side note freeze your vinegar and then pour off what is not froze. keep doing that and you will have a strong accetate soulution that will burn ya if touched. lol ask me how i know
God Bless
Kenneth
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beautiful bow Rich, I like the scallops and fluting on the grip, but think I might have stopped the fluting a little farther down on the levers. great fiddle back grain. Inspiering bow,some lucky kid will put it to good use, Bub
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Thanks again fellas for the encouragement, and the tips on the stain. Guess I'll have to break down and get a good piece of wood and see if the design will stand-up to hunting weight?
The bow allready found a good home, a young lady archer belonging to one of our PA fellows.
Rich
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Pretty amazing, Rich! Too far? I think not.
Frode
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Interesting work half eye!
Can you elaborate on the stain/dye you make? I'm just finishing up a southern mt flint rifle and am always looking for more about stains.
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looks likes a cross from a mollegabet and a chippewa very cool.
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timo,
Most all of my flinters were either the ketucky style or the eastern mountain rifle types. Most of the stocks were high grade curley maple so I started by using an anoline dye that was used by Holland&Holland (gave their trademark dk red color) but bumped into an old rifle maker down south who showed me how to make small diameter ramrods and do it in a hurry too! Well this man showed me his "stain".....a quart jar about full of kerosene, a handfull of nails (or ya can take a file to the nails and add the shavins, then a couple of plugs of Red-Man......let 'er set. The cool thing about it is the color slowly darkens with age because the chemicals keep on oxidizing.....if ya ever seen a real old rifle, the stocks look damned near black and I believe the early gunsmiths used these "oxide" stains also. Anyway that's about all I know about it.....used it and works pretty good.....especially on curley maple.
Rich
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halfeye, that is a great looking bow. Thanks for that very interesting tip on the stain. Jawge
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rich i think you exceded the conversation we had about that one , it truly is a work of art !! now lets see some carved rope levers on the next one ,or i'll send you another book to keep you busy. it nice to have someone raising the standards and testing the limits !!
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sweet jesus Ken, please no more books.....i'll do ropes ,promise.
rich
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lol, ifn i dont do em first , i just got a bunch of wood today, watch out here they come
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A fantastic and absolutely cool looking bow - and NO, your are not going too far - I am curious about the next one :D
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Absolutely astonishing!
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That bow......is beautiful!
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Rich, thanks for the recipe. I'll get some to working and give it a try on some test pieces. I am trying to build this rifle period correct and was wondering about how to stain it.
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If you google "homemade wood stains" you can find a lot of useful formulas such as these:
Concentrated tea (10 bags of black tea per quart) steeped an hour and the bags squeezed, works for all woods.
One fluffed out steel wool pad in 2 cups vinegar and sit overnight. For tannin bearing woods like oak
Soap-less (read the bottle) Ammonia straight from the bottle brushed onto Oak.
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Wow ! Thats a prime example of natural beauty brought out by a skilled artisan , nothing hiding the natural beauty of the wood and a great way to show technique.
Too far? Tough call , if its functional and capable of taking game no, if an example of skill set definitely not.
Jeff
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That bow, and the craftsmanship in it,are incredible. God bless
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I'm late to he party but let me add my WOW to the list...
Amazing work Rich. You are taking these bows in new and interesting directions that is for sure.
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Me too, but absolutely agree with the others.
WOW :o :o :o
Half eye U are the man!
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Rich that is an amazing bow. It scares me a little as far as thinking of pulling it back all day long but I just can't stop looking at it. Thanks for sharing. Dean
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Rich great work my friend, love that grain! Holey cow! I'll call u soon. TTYL
Russ