Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Squirrelslayer on February 07, 2013, 04:57:36 pm
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ok i just have a few questions about a bow im making. ok to start i have roughed out the bow into a bow like shape but the limbs are about 1 1/8" thick so how thick should they be when starting to tiller?
can anyone give a brief or lengthy discription on tillering using a tillering stick, not the pully methord. all i know is you need to excersise the limbs about 30-50 times and take wood away where there are stiff spots.
that leads me onto my next question, what is the best way to remove wood? rasp/ cabinate scraper/ sandpaper?
thats all for now but im sure ill have some more questions further into the build this is really only my third bow build and the other one i had help from someone. thanks in advance. SS
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How long,how wide @ the fades,dbow or flat,stiff,bendy,wood species,target weight,draw lenth ect...?
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I make mine 1/2 inch at the fades tapering to 3/8 at the tip just to get started. i use a draw knife to take most of the meat off then go to rasp and then scraper and then sand paper. I use a shinto rasp after the draw knife to get it floor tillered
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well at the fades it's about 1 1/2 - 2", it dosent taper but about 6" from the end fades into some static tips. i want it to have a flat belly not a D-shape. it will be a stiff handle if all goes to plan. the bow is 63" long but has a 5" handle. im not sure what wood species? some kind of pine. (i know pine is a bad wood but i want to give it a chance) target weight is low at arround 30# @28" thats what im shooting for and hope it goes to plan
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Thats your Christmas tree. You really need to find another piece of something to work on. You cant build a bow from a Christmas tree covered in hundreds of limbs and knots, not even 30 @ 28. There must be wheel borrow handles? Pitch fork handles? Rake handles? Saplings of any kind? Any of these would be head and shoulders above your Chistmas tree.
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Hmm... I'm gonna let somebody else get into this with you but my advise is where a helmet and some safety glasses.
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im not sure what wood species? some kind of pine.
Nine out of ten failures with beginners making their first bows, are because of either inproper grain selection or poor choice of wood species. Why not increase your chance of success tenfold by getting a proven bowwood, rather then risking chances?
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im not sure what wood species? some kind of pine.
Nine out of ten failures with beginners making their first bows, are because of either inproper grain selection or poor choice of wood species. Why not increase your chance of success tenfold by getting a proven bowwood, rather then risking chances?
im just testing whats possible and if it makes a bow then great! if not then oh well go to a propper wood
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I find it a bit frustrating when people ask for advice, then discount all the advice that's given and say "I'm just experimenting." Because of the wood you've selected the only reasonable advice any of us can give you is to find a different piece of wood. There are no dimensions that we can give you or tools that you can use to turn that piece of wood into a safe and functional bow. There are people who have done some legitimate and valuable experimenting in bowmaking and have produced results that surprised many people and changed how bows were made. But those people weren't making their first bow and they were building off of a wealth of knowledge as their foundation and they were making clear decisions about which variables they were playing with. I don't mean to be insulting to you but I feel like the way you're approaching this is ultimately a bit insulting to all of us who you are soliciting for advice and then ignoring. There are decades of combined experience here telling you that what you are doing isn't remotely safe or reasonable. My advice is that you listen to them.
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Lol! What Weylin said! Seriously though, about the only experience your going to get from that Christmas tree is how to blow up a piece of wood. You will get plenty of experience with that using good wood. I still blow em up pretty regularly. Give yourself the best chance you can and start with as good of materials as you possibly can. You will still have plenty enough challenge learning the basics well enough to make a bow from the good stuff. Your current approach is alot like trying to make ice cream from horse manure. Actually, its worse than that, because without the basics, you're trying to make the horse Apple ice cream without ice! After you get a good working knowledge and some good bows made, then is the time to experiment with sub par woods if you so desire. That experimentation now is only holding you back from making your first successful bow. Think about it. Josh
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When you had help with one of the other bows you built, did you listen and learn?
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Ok,starting dimentions should be 3-1/2 @ fades and 7 feet long!
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Squirrelslayer, the guys who have already posted on this thread are some of the most knowledgeable wood bow builders around - they aren't gonna steer you wrong.
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Nice thing about getting into a sport that's been around for more than a thousand years is there isn't much experimenting left to do
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When you had help with one of the other bows you built, did you listen and learn?
yes i did listen and learn someone from my archery club came down and helped me out with the bow but he no longer goes to my club. SS
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Lol! What Weylin said! Seriously though, about the only experience your going to get from that Christmas tree is how to blow up a piece of wood. You will get plenty of experience with that using good wood. I still blow em up pretty regularly. Give yourself the best chance you can and start with as good of materials as you possibly can. You will still have plenty enough challenge learning the basics well enough to make a bow from the good stuff. Your current approach is alot like trying to make ice cream from horse manure. Actually, its worse than that, because without the basics, you're trying to make the horse Apple ice cream without ice! After you get a good working knowledge and some good bows made, then is the time to experiment with sub par woods if you so desire. That experimentation now is only holding you back from making your first successful bow. Think about it. Josh
Darn doc you r maken me hungry for a road apple blizzard ;D
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Ss please do not try to prove anybody wrong here... I try to make bows are some pretty questionable stuff myself but man you're just not going to get it done with the Christmas tree... unless of course the Christmas tree was made of yew... just some friendly advice before people get riled up ;)
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ok i know everyone is saying to use a good bit of wood and i am doing one on the side now made from two spliced together broom handles but i will still contiue with this one aswell. i know it seems that im not listening but i really wan't to see what happens even if it does mean this bow blows. SS
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can anyone give me some advice on using a tillering stick not pully methord. something along the lines of how to excersice the limbs ect. thanks. SS
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I don't quite understand this way of thinking. ??? :-\ ::) :o But O well it's your time,wast it if you like. :) this is why I usually don't post on your threads,you ask for advice but aren't going to take it so why bother. :) You may figure that out someday. :-\ Good luck and please wear eye protection and a helmet. ;D
Pappy
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i know this may be a waste of my time :P but i am working on a bow made from proper bow wood which is what you are all saying so i am taking your advice now, i will probably stick with it for now just to pactice roughing out or something like that but i am working on an acctual bow now. ;D
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Just cut around the knots and limbs and you should be okay. Ive made three bows from past Christmas trees and they all shoot great still. This years tree is now a 64" ntn 53# @ 27" hunting bow. I love how that light pine wood reacts to my hand tools. I think ours was a fir of sorts this season. Good luck on your build! Hope it turns out as good as mine did!
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I think you are not getting responses on the tillering tree question because most think it won't make it that far. The first step is to floor tiller it. ie get it bending by pushing on the handle with the tip on the floor. Once you get a good arch going on both limbs that is when you would actually try putting a string on it. My guess is that it probably won't last to get it floor tillered properly. Maybe we should start bidding on the odds of you getting it braced? :D The safest way is to use a long string so you aren't trying to brace the bow yet with a short string. Then pull the long string down into a nock on your tillering stick.
Try the broom handle and get a bow first and then come back to it if you must.
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Soy- I do believe that you have came up with a blizzard that not even I would try! Hey Pearly-maybe next year we oughtta have a Christmas tree bow build-off. Lol! When I was a kid, our Christmas trees were erc. I might try that for a Christmas tree bow if I was really hard up for entertainment. Josh
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First off take the time to build a tillering tree with a weight scale and yard stick.
I only use a rasp take it down to floor tiller. Then on to the last couple inchs of draw lenth.
Pick a draw weight that you want the bow to be. Each time you tiller the bow and put it on the trillering tree. Never go past your intented draw weight no matter the draw lenth. This stops you from putting exture stress on your limbs. Helps in the amount of set abd string follow you'll get.
Plus this will help insure the lenth of your bows life.
I know you said you only have a tllering stick but take the time to build a tree. It will help on this bow and fulture bows.
I only use a rasp untill the last couple inchs then I'll use a scraper and sand paper to get rid of tool makes and get readly for staining.
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First off take the time to build a tillering tree with a weight scale and yard stick.
I only use a rasp take it down to floor tiller. Then on to the last couple inchs of draw lenth.
Pick a draw weight that you want the bow to be. Each time you tiller the bow and put it on the trillering tree. Never go past your intented draw weight no matter the draw lenth. This stops you from putting exture stress on your limbs. Helps in the amount of set abd string follow you'll get.
Plus this will help insure the lenth of your bows life.
I know you said you only have a tllering stick but take the time to build a tree. It will help on this bow and fulture bows.
I only use a rasp untill the last couple inchs then I'll use a scraper and sand paper to get rid of tool makes and get readly for staining.
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Crooketarrow gave you good advice. The only thing I would add to that is when you start exercising the limbs and starting to bend them, keep an eye out for hinges or weak spots. When you see a hinge area, don't pull it any further until you get it corrected by getting the rest of limb bending and doing its share of the work. I apologize for some of my smart @$$ remarks and I hope you don't take offense at them. You have to understand, about every six months or so, some young fella such as yourself gets on here asks for advice on how to make a pine bow or some other folly and then ignores all advice offered when it isn't what he wants to hear. We are always eager to help if we can. If you work with the folks trying to help you, it will go much easier. If you bull up, you will probably find yourself stumbling through on your own. Josh
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thank for all the advice guys! PD could you get some pictures up of your christmastree bow. also im not sure i was that clear on my tillereing trree i made a video of it and i put it on bathroom scales to tell me the weight. heres the link to the video and thanks for all the good advice.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wv1SQRVFiPw
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If you want to use tillering sticks, I believe Rich "Half Eye" uses them. I read that he uses progressively longer sticks and tillers them on the stick. I could be wrong in what I am telling you about his method so I would suggest you research his posts to find it for your self. He makes some of the most beautiful Native American reproductions on this site and you would see some great bows in your research.
Grady
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thanks ill check it out ;D