Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Gordon on April 28, 2012, 03:09:39 pm
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Here is the finished product from my “Winter Project” build-a-long:
]http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,30667.0.html] (http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,30667.0.html)
It took longer to build this bow than usual because I didn’t have much experience with sinew backing and documenting each step was rather time consuming. That said, I’m satisfied with how both the bow and the build-a-long turned out.
This design was inspired from a bow that was made by Steve Alley. That bow is shorter and wider and has a painted back, but is otherwise similar. Unfortunately the owner drew the bow well beyond its limit and broke it. His misfortune, however, was my good fortune as I was able to deconstruct the bow to examine in detail how it was constructed. I must say that in spite of being broken, the bow was masterfully crafted.
This is a sinew backed yew recurve. Nock to nock length is 57”and draw weight is presently 58# @ 27”. The draw weight increased 3 pounds from when I tillered the bow to completion. I expect the bow will gain a few more pounds yet before the sinew completely stabilizes given the high humidity during construction. The limbs are 1 5/8” wide at the fades tapering evenly to ¾” at the tips. The bow holds 3” of reflex at rest. Total mass is 20.5 ounces.
The wood is high-elevation yew harvested from the North Oregon Cascades. The bow is backed with 2 ½ courses of sinew and covered with diamond back rattle snake skins. The skins were purchased through Pine Hollow Longbows. The tips are wrapped with sinew and painted black. The handle is tanned deer hide stained with mahogany leather dye and finished with a John Strunk style lace pattern and leather varnish. The limbs are finished with nine coats of Tru-Oil.
Here are some pictures. You can click on a picture to get a larger view. I hope you enjoy them.
(http://i793.photobucket.com/albums/yy217/gferlitsch/Sinew%20Backed%20Recurve/SinewBackedYew_08.jpg)
(http://i793.photobucket.com/albums/yy217/gferlitsch/Sinew%20Backed%20Recurve/SinewBackedYew_06.jpg)
(http://i793.photobucket.com/albums/yy217/gferlitsch/Sinew%20Backed%20Recurve/SinewBackedYew_05.jpg)
(http://i793.photobucket.com/albums/yy217/gferlitsch/Sinew%20Backed%20Recurve/SinewBackedYew_02.jpg)
(http://i793.photobucket.com/albums/yy217/gferlitsch/Sinew%20Backed%20Recurve/SinewBackedYew_04.jpg)
(http://i793.photobucket.com/albums/yy217/gferlitsch/Sinew%20Backed%20Recurve/SinewBackedYew_03.jpg)
(http://i793.photobucket.com/albums/yy217/gferlitsch/Sinew%20Backed%20Recurve/SinewBackedYew_07.jpg)
And here is a picture of the 5 x 6 bull that I took with this bow in the NE mountains of Oregon.
(http://i793.photobucket.com/albums/yy217/gferlitsch/P1010065.jpg)
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Excellent in every detail Gordon. Well done my friend, Can't wait to see her in person, and slightly intimidated for our fun shoot off. That looks like it should be a great shooter.
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that is a great looking bow, and might i ad looks masterfully crafted too.
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Wow!!! :o Gordon, that is beautiful. I can't wait to see it in person. You, sir, are an artist.
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Another stunning work of art.. absolutely incredible..
Jon
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That turned out excellent Gordon! Very nice build allong and as always tiller and detail work look great!
Josh
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Thats a bow you will never want to let go of, beautiful job in every detail. Steve
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i wouldnt expect anything less than perfect from you gordon,and this ones no exception....they dont get any better than that :) thats drop dead gorgeous
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Very pretty! Well done, Gordon.
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Chapeu!
A beautifull bow and a very usefull buid along, Gordon.
David
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Another incredable bow Gordon. That is what I'm wanting to build soon.
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Top of the line in every way.
Lane
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AMAZING. Just AMAZING.
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BOM Sir, another wonderful bow Gordon!!!
Thank you for sharing your build with us...
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i am so glad that is come out so well for you...that is a bow that has alot of class...and of course your tiller,finish work is all ways great...nice job..john
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Incredible bow Gordon, stunning in every detail.
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Excellent craftsmanship all round. Your photos are always top notch as well. Do you have any plans on doing an in depth tutorial on building a strunk style handle wrap? I tried my hand at it, but I'm just not sure where the lacing should start and end. You have 'em down to an art! Again, museum quality work!
God bless, Cody
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wow that turned out very nice Gordon! :) Kinda embarrassed to post mine now. :'( -josh
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Turned out very nice Gordon! :)
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Inspirational and beautiful.
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Simply a work of art!
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thats an absolute beauty well done. :)
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excellent job Gordon. really beautiful work of art, as are your other bows. congrats an another fine one
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Once again, Mr. Gordon....top notch! Even your photo presentation is artistic! I really loved the build a long. For those viewers who don't, or haven't taken and posted many photos and added commentary, it is a very time consuming process. We sure hope you and the others, here at PA, that take that extra time, know how much we all appreciate it.
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Beautiful! Outstanding work. Jawge
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Wow, so many really nice comments here. Thank you all so much!
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Gordon, another work of art. Your tiller is always perfection - I just stare at the full draw picture.
Sorry to hear it was broken by the new owner. My experience is that osage will take a set if overdrawn, but yew will break. What part gave way when it broke? I save broken bows for learning what the potential weak areas, flaws or design can teach me.
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Thank you Shaun.
To be clear, the bow that I built is not broken. In fact I was shooting it this morning and am quite pleased with its performance. It was the bow that inspired my bow that was broken. That bow appeared to have fractured at the belly.
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gordon-that bow leaves me speechless
thank you ever so much for a truly outstanding work of art and a great tutorial!
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So glad this is not the broken bow! Again, a wonderful bow and thanks so much for the real time build along and great photos.
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thats a very nice bow...bet you're happy with this one..
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Dang Sir!!!
This Bow is just STUNNING!
Thank You again for the Build Along!
-gus
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Thank you all again for all the really nice comments.
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Gordon that is absolutely beautiful! You did a fantastic job!
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Great work on your bow. I love to see your projects. It inspires us all. You can see the love you have for it in your work. ;)
Big A
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Well, now I can start my day. Here I am at work, feeling overwhelmed, and this just soothes my eyes.
Gabe
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:)
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Gordon..prettiest yew bow I have seen..flawless...wished it was mine....gut 8)
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A work of art Gordon...as always!
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Beautiful indeed! :o I think even I would cry if that one had broken. :o :'( Definitely glad it didn't! Beautiful arrow also! 8) You are quite the artist! ;) It is indeed amazing how similar your bow and Mullets Southern Yew bow, are. Again beautiful job all around on that one! 8) 8)
Wayne
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Thanks for posting the final pictures of this bow. I enjoyed watching your build along of it. Wonderful looking bow.
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Thank you all again for the great comments.
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I got to shoot it today. It shoots as sweet as it looks!
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As good as it gets I would say: always a pleasure to see your bows Gordon!
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Thank you Welyin. It was a pleasure visiting with you yesterday and seeing the beautiful bows that you are turning out.
Thank you Frank. It is good to hear from you again.
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Gordon- thank you for taking all that time to post this. I've been happily watching the progress and have a couple belated questions if you don't mind.
When you bent the hot boiled recurve tips in the form - how did you set up and handle the temporary rawhide backing which you used to prevent splinters - given that the bend has to be done efficiently and quickly - just pinch it under the bow tip against the form and stretch it tight by hand as you bent the heated bow tip to shape?
And- who makes those black form fitting hunting shoes/mocassins you were wearing in some of the pictures? They look really great- if i can judge from the picture anyway. I generally wear bare feet when hunting because nothing else is as quiet - but where I live (northwest coast of Canada - I can see the southern tip of Alaska across the water right now) this is generally a cold, wet and painful experience. I've been dreaming of some footwear like that for years but didn't know it was invented already...
Tyson
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Now that's a beauty,very nice work. :)
Pappy
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Juskatla,
just pinch it under the bow tip against the form and stretch it tight by hand as you bent the heated bow tip to shape?
That is exactly how I did it.
For the footwear, do an Internet search on Vibram FiveFingers. I do use these for hunting as they are very quiet and let me feel the terrian beneath my feet while I am stalking game.
Hey thank you Pappy!
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this is a beautiful bow and deff the nicest handle very good work
cwbuchanan
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Wow! That turned out very nice Gordon. I really like that one. Great work. God bless
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I took this bow hunting with me into the mountains of NE Oregon to hunt for elk. I am pleased to report that she made meat. I harvested a beautiful 6 x 5 elk. That's my hunting buddy Chuck in the background whose help was instrumental in killing and recovering this fine animal. More pictures and stories to come.
(http://i793.photobucket.com/albums/yy217/gferlitsch/P1010065.jpg)
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Wow! way to go, Gordon! I can't wait to hear the whole story. I'm going to have to live vicariously through you this year.
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kudos Gordo!
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I am looking forward to this story. Congratulations Gordon!
Gabe
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well,a GREAT bowyer deserves a GREAT bull...and that bow is so fine it should make meat...what a BLESSING...congrats to both of you guys on good team work...it was dave last year and you this year..cant wait to see what keenan has to say...john
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Way to go, Gordon. With all the time and sweat that went into that bow, you deserve taking that fine animal. Congrats!! :)
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Oh my! what a beautiful bow! You always turn out really nice stuff there Gordon!
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Well done Gordon, well done!!!!!
From start to finish excellent!!!!
Beautiful Bow and beautiful BULL!!!!!!!!
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that is awsome gordon nothing better than a plan coming together like that, you desrved it bud nice bull I am very invious of both bull and bow.
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Gordon, so glad to see you connected with a real nice one! After I saw how well you shoot that bow, I knew it would just be a matter of one of those bulls making a mistake and coming within range of that bow!
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Wow, looking forward to reading that story!
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There's a lot of really nice bows on this forum, but few that I look at and it makes me go into a rage of jealousy because I want it so bad. This is one of them. Very beautiful bow, love the riser wrap. Nice bull too. I had been wondering if a 48 lb bow that I made would take a whitetail, seeing that brute downed by a 58 lb bow alleviates my concern. :)
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Congrats on taking that fine bull with that great bow Gordon, both are outstanding accomplishments!
Greg
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Thats really great Gordon! an awesome compliment for a fine bow :D
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Yes Sir!!!
I'd say you bloodied up that Fine Bow in Fine Fashion!
Looking forward to more pic's and the story to go with it!
Well Done Sir!
-gus
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Beeeutiful animal !!!I can't wait to hear the tales from the hunt ;)
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Thanks guys. I'll get a better story and more pictures up as soon as I catch up. It's amazing (or depressing) how things pile up after 16 days in the wilderness!
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You did awesome Gordon!. Well done my friend! Have you got Chuck hooked on Primitive yet?
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Hey Keenan thank you!
I don't think Chuck is ready to make the leap all the way to primitive yet. He is getting tired of lugging that heavy cable gun all over the mountains but he needs confidence in his killing ability so I suggested he transition to a modern recurve as a first step in his devolution.
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Talk about the ultimate traditional archery experience; to create such a beautiful, perfect bow and to hunt that grand beast with it in a beautiful day in some of the most beautiful country in the world.
Your life is complete :)
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Hunter, the country is beautiful indeed. Here is a picture of the basin from which this bull was taken. A more beautiful place I cannot imagine.
(http://i793.photobucket.com/albums/yy217/gferlitsch/Eagle%20Cap/P1010013_zps25a3be41.jpg)
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Beautiful Gordon but sometimes words don't get it done :)
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Boy o boy i to ould just picture setting up in front of one of those pines, someone cow calling in the distance ...a bull on the way,hands starting to shake...and than the knees,closer he approaches,the sent of elk fills the air.......than i wake up ::) o to live the dream :)
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Awesome prize Gordon, lots of good table fare right there.
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I believe I saw this bow when it was originally posted but have to say once again, well done. The Elk and the basin photos are just awesome as well. Danny