Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Weylin on May 05, 2013, 10:56:12 pm
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The Montessori school where I teach and where my son goes is having a silent auction of handmade crafts as a fundraiser. I decided to make a bow to donate with a couple arrows and a few hours of my time at the range to give some lessons.
The bow is vine maple. It is 46" nock to nock and it pulls 20# at 20". It is stained with leather dye and finished with tru-oil buffed to a satin finish. The handle wrap is leather with leather lace and the string is fastflight. It shoots hard and fast for it's size. (I'm a little scared to hand it to some kid I don't know, it really sends an arrow!) It was fun to make and I always have a little too much fun shooting in kid's bows. I had it all stained and finished and I went to string it up and the tiller was wayy off. the bottom limb was doing way too much work. It had looked fine on the tree before I finished it. I was pretty bummed out. I scraped through my finish and evened out the limbs and got the tiller looking much better but it really goes to show how sensitive these little bows are, I feel like you can sneeze and change the tiller on these buggers.
Any advice that people have about giving kid's bows to strangers would be helpful. I want it to make some kid happy not have someone get shot or have the bow break on them. I plan on giving the parents explicit written warnings and instructions as well as the one on one lesson (which is really more for the parent than the kid). Anyway, here's the bow, I hope you like it. My son, Ronan is my enthusiastic model. (He's a little over-bowed. He's not even 4 yet and I made this bow to be for 5-10 year olds.)
(http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e113/olivewn/DSCN6301_zps7d6cf14d.jpg) (http://s38.photobucket.com/user/olivewn/media/DSCN6301_zps7d6cf14d.jpg.html)
(http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e113/olivewn/DSCN6298_zps6eb27175.jpg) (http://s38.photobucket.com/user/olivewn/media/DSCN6298_zps6eb27175.jpg.html)
(http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e113/olivewn/DSCN6303_zps5c06f084.jpg) (http://s38.photobucket.com/user/olivewn/media/DSCN6303_zps5c06f084.jpg.html)
(http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e113/olivewn/DSCN6302_zpsec29aea8.jpg) (http://s38.photobucket.com/user/olivewn/media/DSCN6302_zpsec29aea8.jpg.html)
(http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e113/olivewn/DSCN6304_zps3f70533d.jpg) (http://s38.photobucket.com/user/olivewn/media/DSCN6304_zps3f70533d.jpg.html)
(http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e113/olivewn/DSCN6305_zps26ffaff5.jpg) (http://s38.photobucket.com/user/olivewn/media/DSCN6305_zps26ffaff5.jpg.html)
(http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e113/olivewn/DSCN6307_zps4b2ebe88.jpg) (http://s38.photobucket.com/user/olivewn/media/DSCN6307_zps4b2ebe88.jpg.html)
(http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e113/olivewn/DSCN6310_zpsa1ef384a.jpg) (http://s38.photobucket.com/user/olivewn/media/DSCN6310_zpsa1ef384a.jpg.html)
(http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e113/olivewn/DSCN6311_zpsd3cb200c.jpg) (http://s38.photobucket.com/user/olivewn/media/DSCN6311_zpsd3cb200c.jpg.html)
(http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e113/olivewn/DSCN6312_zps2d0e49f6.jpg) (http://s38.photobucket.com/user/olivewn/media/DSCN6312_zps2d0e49f6.jpg.html)
(http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e113/olivewn/DSCN6317_zps06ddbe0d.jpg) (http://s38.photobucket.com/user/olivewn/media/DSCN6317_zps06ddbe0d.jpg.html)
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I really like the finish on this bow. I really enjoy making kid bows, I have so many great memories learning how to shoot with my dad. Must be why I have made more kids bows than anything else.
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wow...that is a beaUTIFUL FINISH on that lil bow. leather dye? feathering from black to brown?
I sure hope the lucky parents realize what a nice bow that is and make sure its cared for.
grandsons are here visiting and one has been zinging short arrows with a little plain jane hackberry i made for him
so yeah its great (but scary!) kids and their bows ..somehow most of us survived childhood though.
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VERY! Well done sir! Excellent blending on the dye! Lovely in all aspects.
I think we need to get you more Vinemaple.
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Really nice! The finish on that is the best! I know I would bid on it.
Dave
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Weylin you make it look so easy! now i HAVE to get me some VM! That bow is truly a wonderful work of art, you obviously put a lot of time and effort into making a beautiful bow for the fundraiser!
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Nicely done sir nicely done! I love that finish
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I love that bow! I gotta make a kids bow (on purpose) someday. Good luck on the funds.
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That really is eye catching.....lovely job. Hope it does good for the school auction.
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Very cool gesture man. That finish is awesome.
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Sweet dye job n finish work :)
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Wow that is a super bow, the finish is superb.
Grady
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Great job! That bow looks terrific. :)
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Nice bow & the finish looks good.
Rob
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Thanks for all the really kind words! :D
I put way more work into the stain and the finish than I would on a normal kids bow. I know my son was jealous when he saw it; his bow is nowhere near that cool looking.
We'll see how the auction goes. If it looks like it's going to sell for a low bid, I'll buy the damn thing! >:D
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man that thing is straight up cool 8) I wouldn't mind having one like that!!!!!
good on you for donating not only the gear but the education ;)
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Weylin you made one of the finest kid bows I have ever seen. I would definitely go over stringing the bow properly with the parents and kids. I have seen too many dads think they have to prove they know how to string or unstring a bow in front of their wife and kids when the really don't. That can pull a kids a bow way out of tiller real fast. Nice choice on the VM. that is my favorite wood for the kids bows.
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Gorgeous bow, I hope whoever wins it takes good care and treasures it for years to come.
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Wow, thanks Carson! I'll definitely go over the details of stringing. I agree that and overdrawing by some overzealous adult are the biggest risks.
Thanks rps3, I hope so too.
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We had the auction tonight. There was some hot bidding action going on. it started at $50 but it sold for around $150. It was fun to see so many parents excited about getting their kids into archery. I think I'm going to have a bunch of families wanting me to make bows for them too.
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hey bud thats awesome!
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That is a real work of art. Kids bows ain't easy.
Just hope whoever gets it knows what they've got.
So many people over here don't know what they are lookin' at half the time.
Del
(Other half the time, they ain't even lookin' :-\ )
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Always impressed with your end results Weylin. If I'd known about the auction I would of bid to buy for sure. Love fund raisers for kids and bows! Really though, beautiful bow!
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Wow! That's without a doubt, the nicest kids bow I've ever seen! Them little boogers are tough to tiller, but you nailed it! Nice work and good of ya to do it! Josh
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very cool,beautiful bow
chuck
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Fantastic! Someone got his kids a beauty. You can help me with my grandkids bows at Sisters ;). Looking forward to seeing you there! Congratulations.
Dave
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Very nice bow- someone got a real bargain! Light bows are a challenge but you did very well on it.
You asked for advice to help prevent kids bows from breaking. Make the arrows for 'em the same as the max draw length you've taken the bow to and tell the owner and parents no one should draw it without one of those arrows nocked. Emphasis that the bow could be damaged or even explode otherwise. The nocked arrow also reduces the chances of dry firing. The downside is finding a short arrow with a low enough spline...
c.d.