Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Okla-archer on February 27, 2012, 08:27:47 pm
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This is my first traditional longbow. It was made from a nice piece of Osage that has a decent amount of character to it. I do have some concerns that I was gonnna see if you guys could help me out with. I would appreciate any advice I can get.
The bow starts to stack right around 24" and my draw is 28'. I'm not exactly sure how to correct this (where to remove wood).
I also violated a right about 6inches from one of the tips. I plan on backing this bow with snake skin so i'm not sure if that will be sufficient. if not should i work it to around the handle area or take it all down to one ring. (the bow is ~45lbs right now)
there are a few hairline cracks that came with the drying process and are in precarious places that make me worried (last picture). they don't seem to open up when I draw it. I've added some CA glue to it. is that good enough?
(http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m637/Joel_Jamison/IMAG0159.jpg) Does my tiller look okay?
(http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m637/Joel_Jamison/IMAG0160.jpg) sorry for not having a clean background. this also about the distance where it starts to stack.
(http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m637/Joel_Jamison/IMAG0162.jpg)
(http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m637/Joel_Jamison/IMAG0165.jpg) ring violation
(http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m637/Joel_Jamison/IMAG0169.jpg) small crack near the handle
Thanks for looking and any advice or criticism is welcomed,
Okla-archer
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Lower you brace height to 5 3/4" from the back of the grip to the string. Your bottom limb needs to bend more from the fade to mid limb. Yoru top limb looks nice. That ring violation wont hurt a thing. Fill that crack with thin super glue until it wont take anymore. Dont brace otr draw that bow anymore until you get a few tune ups done to it. You will only hinder future longevity and performance. Not a bad bow for numeral uno.
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Congratulations on you bow! Pretty challenging stave. Do lower the brace height as PD recommended. That lower limb looks to be hinged just past midlimb but I cant tell for sure because the bow might have a crook in that area.
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Thanks guys, I wasn't sure on the string length so that's what the guy gave me. the brace height seemed to be a bit long to me too. hopefully he'll let me trade it out for a bit longer string or I can maybe do some trading for a Flemish twist from someone on the site.
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What length is your bow? Nock to Nock?
PM me your address and I will twist a string up tonight an mail it out tomorrow. Do the glue deal and it should be dry by the time you get your string.
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Nice first! Feels good dont it! Look forward to seeing more from ya. There is a formula for strings I believe for a finished string you measure knock to knock and subtract 2 inches. Bevan will get you set up and then you can adjust your brace height by twisting your string to make it shorter or longer. Nice offer Bevan :)
Josh
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That is extremely nice of him!
thanks for the complements. I guess it was worth cutting down that tree in my neighborhood park when I was 15. The traditional bowyer's bible was a good resource.
joel
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Great job on your first bow! Do the corrections that were suggested and that should be a dandy! Josh
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Nice looking bow, and quite a challenge for a first timer, but you've done really well with it.
If you've read the Bowyer's Bible you might remember the part about stacking being the result of the string angle getting larger and therefore giving you less leverage to pull the tips, which makes the draw weight feel much heavier than the true weight. By decreasing your brace height you will decrease the string angle throughout your entire draw and it won't stack so much. That should make it much smoother to draw, your measured draw weight will go down but a lot of that will be the stacked weight and not the true weight so you won't lose much arrow speed.
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Changing the brace height will not effect the string angle. The only way to address that is to flip the tips a bit and that will lessen the string angle at full draw. That bow looks a little short for 28" draw.
Nice first bow Okla.
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Cool, feels great watchin that first arrow fly!!!
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you made your first bow not to many people can say they did that , you do realize there will be more right :D
good have another okie on here what part of oklahoma?
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I think Pat is right (suprise suprise ;D). 58" NTN is really pushing it for that drawlength with a stiff handle. You might get 25 or 26.
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that was a nice offer Bevan.good on you brother,Steve
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I had to make a few sacrifices on the length. my dad thought it looked like good firewood at one point so it got a bit shorter than I wanted. If i use a heat gun can I reflex the limbs a bit? is this going to affect my tiller? or should I just deal with it and correct for these errors on my next bow ;) ?
to sa, I go to OSU right now so i live in Stillwater but i'm about to move back to OKC looking for a geology job.
I plan on making many more bows.
I'm familiar with laminated bows. I've made a few take-down recurves out of cocobolo and some zebra wood. I started with compound and working my way backwards.. I like the challange
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I would say, glue the crack, put a longer string on it. Keep it as your first. Learn from it. Hide the saw from your dad. >:D
Start on your next 2 or 20.
How long is that string on there now. I want to measure it against the one I just did. I want to make sure I am a solution, not making it worse.
Bevan
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Okla, yes, a heat gun will work to flip the tips. Osage becomes very plastic(pliable) when heated. You may have to adjust tiller after you flip the tips. You will also be adding more stress to the limbs because the limbs will be bending more.
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Hey man, that osage looks better than my first osage. I like it. I am in tulsa by the way, if you are in the area we could meet up and do some shooting :)
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I am far from an expert so i ask the pros ...what if he took some depth from the handle so it takes some bend will it help at this point?that would be with flipping the tips e er so slightly. Might help get to 28"and relive some stack or no??? I would love to find out :D
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Great job for a first bow and gratz for doing it with a stave! I'll mostly defer to the more experienced advice already given on here. There appears to possibly be a hinge in the lower limb. If so, you may want to remove some wood from elswhere to lessen that. Unless you have lots of snake skin you may want to throw some linen and tight bond III on there instead and save the snake for your next one, which will likely be quite impressive. Congratz on completing your first, the hard part is done! ;D
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Congrats on your first,nothing quite like the first. :) :)
Pappy
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Changing the brace height will not effect the string angle. The only way to address that is to flip the tips a bit and that will lessen the string angle at full draw. That bow looks a little short for 28" draw.
Nice first bow Okla.
How is it that the brace height does not affect the angle of the string? Maybe I am confused about what exactly the string angle is. To my understanding it is the angle between the tip of the bow and the string. It starts small at brace height, and gets larger as you draw causing a loss of leverage and stacking. Is that right?
Based on that I can't see how its possible for brace height and string angle to be unrelated. If you lower the brace height, you would be bending the limbs less at brace which should cause a lower string angle than a higher brace due to the difference in limb bend. If you still only draw to 28", the angle should be smaller than a higher braced bow @ 28" due to the smaller brace string angle. Granted, brace height wouldn't have the dramatic affect on string angle that flipping the tips does, but it should still be a factor (that is if I am correct in what I think string angle is).
Could you explain?
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Slackbunny..I think what Pat B is talking about is that string angle is the angle at the point where the arrow is nocked at the string at full draw.Super first bow Okla-archer.One to remember.Now you will see how your bow making will change.Be forwarned it's very addictive with the next bow always going to be better....LOL.Flipping tips and getting it to work more into the handle will solve your stacking issue.You might have to lighten up your tips then to reduce your handshock the way I see it.Old hedge can handle some scary narrow tips fron what I've seen and done.
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Okla-archer,from looking at your crack there again,looks like to me that's a laminar crack where your growth ring is collapsing some.I've had that too on a bow.About an inch and a half long and did get it stopped with super glue.
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Bevan said he was gonna send me a longer string so Im waiting to put that on. Ive scraped a bit from my lower limb near the handle. I believe that hinge is being cause by a knot that is right below that bend. Ive put thin CA in the crack and ill see how it holds up. I shot two arrows from it the first time I strung it and it surprised me how fast it was. I'm itching to shoot it again....
And yea I've already starting thinking about the next one :) Ill post my idea up in the next day or two.
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I will mail your sting out at lunch today. ;)
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Nice first! Keep them coming!
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Congrats, tough stave for a first, well done.
Del
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I started with compound and working my way backwards.. I like the challange
FYI, thems fight'n words round here ;) We consider it a move FORWARDS, and them wheels on the compounds we call training wheels >:D
Just ribn ya! good job on your first, nothing like letting the first arrow fly from your first handmade bow!
As per the string angle, your question can be answered by a couple of pics. One at 28" with high brace, one at 28" with low brace, and you'll see the string angle will be pretty much identical (yes, between string and limb). You can kind of think of a high brace as the bow being "predrawn" for some of the draw length. The only change in string angle is as measured at brace.
I agree with the others: flip those tips! It'll help with stacking and look even sweeter!
Good luck and welcome!
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by moving backwards of course Im refering to more difficult or backwards in time :) compounds bows are cheating. My goal would be to do everything by hand with all natural materials and kill something with a stone-tiped arrow. 8)
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Sweet! Congrats!!! 8)
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As per the string angle, your question can be answered by a couple of pics. One at 28" with high brace, one at 28" with low brace, and you'll see the string angle will be pretty much identical (yes, between string and limb). You can kind of think of a high brace as the bow being "predrawn" for some of the draw length. The only change in string angle is as measured at brace.
I'm gonna have to test this out. I'm sure you guys have the right of it, but its just not making practical sense in my mind, and it won't until I actually see it for myself.
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More Pics after I got the new string from Bevan! Ive adjusted the tiller and added a little spike from the tip of a springbok horn for an arrow rest. I still plan on adding a beaver tail wrap for a handle and I would like to put some snake skins on for backing (I just think they look cool). What do you think?
(http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m637/Joel_Jamison/IMAG0172.jpg)
(http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m637/Joel_Jamison/IMAG0173.jpg)
(http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m637/Joel_Jamison/IMAG0174.jpg)
(http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m637/Joel_Jamison/IMAG0175.jpg)
(http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m637/Joel_Jamison/IMAG0177.jpg)
String from Bevan!
(http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m637/Joel_Jamison/IMAG0176.jpg)
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Nice looking first shooter. congrats!!
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Great job! When I first saw the end view photo I almost felt sick for you. It looked to me like you were holding a broken limb tip! LOL
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You got the fever now!!! You've done very well, I broke the first 3 bows I tried to make!
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Inner 1/3 of bottom limb looks a little stiff to me. But great work, especially for your first bow.
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Steve, I would be sick too. Im glad its not broken.