Primitive Archer

Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: fishfinder401 on November 14, 2011, 01:02:45 am

Title: is it worth it
Post by: fishfinder401 on November 14, 2011, 01:02:45 am
well, i think i am finally gong to have to bite the bullet and get a different setup for holding wood while i am working on it so i don't literally pull my work bench apart, i was looking on 3rivers and found this
http://www.3riversarchery.com/Bow+Building+Tools++The+Horse+Bowbuilding+Vise_c49_s217_p0_i6300_product.html
it looks goo, but is it really worth it?
thanks
noel
Title: Re: is it worth it
Post by: Pat B on November 14, 2011, 01:13:08 am
I have a bowyers bench I made that is similar to that one. I love it for tillering. Not so good for rough work like getting the bark and sapwood off. I have a big vise on my work bench for that. Keenan makes a great bow building bench. Contact him for info. He brought some to the Tenn Classic last year and I used one some. It really holds the wood well, is very durable(welded steel) and can be adjusted simply for any situation you can think of...and it is comfortable to sit at and work from.
Title: Re: is it worth it
Post by: criveraville on November 14, 2011, 01:15:09 am
I don't know, but that aparatus looks sweet.. I bet you could find LANs online similar to that and make one for about 1/3 the cost..

Cipriano
Title: Re: is it worth it
Post by: fishfinder401 on November 14, 2011, 01:39:47 am
pat, why does it not work well for rough work?, i mean i do most of the really heavy rough work with one of my small hatchet, and hopefully once i get better at blacksmithing, i will make a hatchet specifically for that, but would i work for chasing rings?
thanks
noel
Title: Re: is it worth it
Post by: Pat B on November 14, 2011, 02:24:37 am
You can do any bow reduction work with a bench like that but is moves a lot with rougher work and doesn't hold the wood firmly enough for me. I use mine all the time for tillering. I like it better than my vise for that.
Title: Re: is it worth it
Post by: mikekeswick on November 14, 2011, 05:22:51 am
Those things are ok....but thats as far as I would go ...ok. I've made a few but would never use one unless I had to! My last one is at the local field archery club and so far 1 person has made a bow on it.
For that money you could easily make a really solid table/bench and buy a quality vice.
I personally would make the frame from box section steel with any joints held together by hefty bolts and nylock nuts. Then just use thick plywood for the top. Cheap , simple, unbreakable and you can easily take it apart if you ever move house.
Title: Re: is it worth it
Post by: dwardo on November 17, 2011, 07:00:16 am
I recently started using two vices on the same bench. Was more a nice coincidence as my grandfather left me his tools (God amongst men and we miss him) i was then out at a  local antique shop and found exactly the same vice completely unused so i chucked it on the other end of the bench and it doesnt alf hold well now. I think making the bench secure is also a must, i used about 11 expanding bolts to the wall aswell as no nails glue. I also secured the bench to the floor in the same mannor - it aint going no where.
Title: Re: is it worth it
Post by: JW_Halverson on November 18, 2011, 09:29:00 pm
I built a bowyer's bench/bodger/shaving horse like that years ago as an experiment.  I meant to make improvements on it and upgrade after using it a while, but it's 7 years old now and all I have done is widen the seat area and add a little cushion. 

I do everything from hogging off bark and sapwood on osage to finish scraping on it and am very satisfied. 
Title: Re: is it worth it
Post by: Dazv on November 19, 2011, 02:25:06 pm
you could make one for so much cheaper you will be able to find plans for a "shaving horse" on the net.
Title: Re: is it worth it
Post by: HickoryBill on November 19, 2011, 02:47:03 pm
I use my porch railing, ratchet clamp, and my abs of steel..... ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: is it worth it
Post by: Rick Wallace on November 19, 2011, 03:10:46 pm
I use my porch railing, ratchet clamp, and my abs of steel..... ;D ;D ;D
These days I only have 1  ab,, And its liquid steel !  ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: is it worth it
Post by: gstoneberg on November 19, 2011, 03:17:05 pm
I may have an ab, but it's buried these days and hasn't been seen in decades. :-[

I use a workbench with a big old vice on it.  There's a smaller vice at the other end for bending wood.  I've tried a bow horse.  Didn't like it as much as the vice.  I did have to reinforce the free standing bench quite a bit before it worked well.

George
Title: Re: is it worth it
Post by: JW_Halverson on November 19, 2011, 04:12:32 pm
Just remember when you really get ready to hog off a huge chunk of sapwood on a stave to bear down on the kick pedal FIRST or else you will gut punch yourself with that stave so hard you won't even remember what it's like to be able to breathe. 

Don't ask me how I know this.
Title: Re: is it worth it
Post by: fishfinder401 on November 19, 2011, 04:18:12 pm
how do you know this ;D
Title: Re: is it worth it
Post by: JW_Halverson on November 19, 2011, 04:18:46 pm
 >:(

Who keeps letting these durn impertinent kids in here anyway?!?!
Title: Re: is it worth it
Post by: fishfinder401 on November 19, 2011, 04:34:14 pm
we let our self's in >:D
Title: Re: is it worth it
Post by: JW_Halverson on November 19, 2011, 04:38:24 pm
Dang kids, you go to the trouble of buying them books and they just eat the covers.
Title: Re: is it worth it
Post by: fishfinder401 on November 19, 2011, 04:43:51 pm
 ???
Title: Re: is it worth it
Post by: Cameroo on November 19, 2011, 05:37:21 pm
Check out the sweet setup this guy uses to make snowshoe frames.  Looks like he's done it once or twice before!

if i was to use something other than a vice, it would be this.  Doesn't look like it would be that hard to make

http://www.youtube.com/user/RossFarmMuseum#p/a/7B811B492978AE5F/2/Rj9RwEh31YM (http://www.youtube.com/user/RossFarmMuseum#p/a/7B811B492978AE5F/2/Rj9RwEh31YM)
Title: Re: is it worth it
Post by: fishfinder401 on November 19, 2011, 05:52:46 pm
wow, that is simple, and it looks like it work great
thanks
noel