Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: bootboy on February 12, 2008, 09:46:11 am
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Hi all.
My latest commision is from a good friend of mine. he wants a bow as tall as he is, and of high poundage. Somewhere about the 80lbs range.
normaly I would just go and try to build it. However this is a remarkable situation my friend is 7 feet tall, and have a draw of 3 feet.
I have a stave of birch, and a stave of walnut(all sapwood). I was planning to make it into a viking longbow for him, and give this the square profile That I have been working on.
I just wanted to run my situation passed all you lovely proffesions and bow geniuses.
~thanks!
Bootboy
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Ok, first thing would be to go to the salvage yard and get some decent leaf springs..... maybe not.
I am afraid I can't offer advise but would like to formally request a build along for this one. Should prove interesting and educational.
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is it black walnut or walnut. from my experience idstay away from the birch for sure. i think youd be better off with a piece of hickory, maple or ash. like skeater said id love to see ya do a build along for this monster. id have to use my feet to draw 36" ;D
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I bet Vine Maple would be an excellent choice.
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As has been stated in TTB, any wood can be made into a good bow. If you use formulas developed by Tim Baker - you will not have a problem making an 80lb bow with a 36" draw.
If it were me, I would make two bows (birch and walnut) for your friend...and let him choose the best one. You can always cut down the one he doesn't choose...and re-tiller the bow for someone smaller (like the rest of humanity).
;D
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Make it 86" long, and it should be able to handle that draw and that weight. Leave it as a normal D bow- 1 1 3/4" wide for the middle 43", tapering to 1/2" nocks. I don't know just how thick it would be, but I assume something like 1 1/4" thick at the handle and 1/2" thick at the tips. Maybe thicker though. I don't know which would be better, but any good hardwood should work as long as you tiller it slowly, and don't abuse the wood. I would brace it at about 7", but I think that's as far as you could go with birch. Black walnut should be able to stand more stress, but a 7" should alwso yield a faster bow.
And once you give him the bow, tell him Robin Hood was looking for him ;D
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My calculations show that with a six to eight inch handle section you should be in the nieghborhood of 78-82 inches. No need to go all the way up to 86 if you do not have to
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My calculations show that with a six to eight inch handle section you should be in the nieghborhood of 78-82 inches. No need to go all the way up to 86 if you do not have to
Whoops- I was talking about long, semi- Hill bows :-X
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is it black walnut or walnut. from my experience idstay away from the birch for sure. i think youd be better off with a piece of hickory, maple or ash. like skeater said id love to see ya do a build along for this monster. id have to use my feet to draw 36" ;D
I once saw on the tube an african shoot a giant bow with his feet at elephants. I have always wanted one.
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whoah great responses!
You guys want a build a long from me???
You got it, stay tuned for photos!
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I have made several 7' bows for tall folks over the years..One is made of birch, and it's plenty fast still considering its 16 years old and been abused like a rented mule :o :D.
At these lengths the lighter woods can handle a bit more load, ..Easy to tiller too..
Rich
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STAY TUNED FOR THE 7 FOOT BIRCH LONG BOW BUIIIILD ALONG!!!!
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I regular shoot a 79" Bow,it's great!
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I'd make an 80" hickory backed osage ELB.
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Wow...you gonna use a winch to exercise the limbs during tillering?....Brian
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I just finished 2 bows for a guy both drawing 32" and about 80#. One is a 69" hickory flatbow and the other is a 72" semi elb ( stiff narrowed handle yew). 80" long should be enough for a 36" draw. getting arrows spined right will be a bigger challenge than the bow. Steve
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Ok, that is quite long draw but I have done before and very long length is not really necessary as already stated. With good tiller, a 72" bow could pull it off but thats with wood like yew, osage and bamboo/ipe, but, we are working with walnut and birch here so 80" is a good length. I wouldn't go more than 1 1/2" wide as it really isn't necessary and would create much paradox I believe for such a large stiff arrow. Of course his hands might be larger and so the wider grip might not matter much and may even be comfortable but for arrow matching sake, leave it at 1 1/2". I would also leave it quite thick at first because these woods are not very stiff and so will need more wood to make the weight. A good starting point would be 1 1/4" thick in the handle area and tapering to maybe 1/2" at tips, which later can me thinned down to 3/8". Also, keep the width at 1 1/2" until around mid-limb and then taper to 1/2". I think the ideal tiller would be full compass like warbow as this makes whole bow work and will make it less prone to breakage. Heat treating the belly also seems like a good idea if you can. Anyways, good luck mate and have fun! :)
-Alex
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This is one of the reasons I don't believe in building bows by demensions. Building by mass you can pick any draw weight, draw length and bow length and have a good idea how to build it. I would build the bow you are describing for 84", 36" draw @ 80# between 32 oz and 36 oz, depending on the tiller used. Steve
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You could go to a narrow handle flatbow design and increase the limb width to 2in. It will likely have less string follow that way with birch. Just make some arrows out of 3/4 in dowels for sasquach there:-) j/k.