Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: FilipT on October 12, 2016, 11:37:41 am
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This is my latest bow. It was made from hazel sapling with a little curvature when looking from front. That didn't make problems as string goes directly through center when strung.
I hold this bow to be very special to me. It is my fifth bow, but first I made that was exactly as I wanted it to be. While I was tillering it, I used mass calculator. It weighed finished at 638 grams. That is what mass calculator calculated for bow 65# at 28".
When I put scale on the pulley, it said 63# at 28". So here is the question I asked myself. Is the bow actually 65# but cheap chinese scale measured it slightly incorrect, or is my bow overbuilt for 2#.
Doesn't matter really, regard this bow as having 60# as it will lose couple of pounds during usage. Bow was stained with Sadolin Palisander stain. Coated with pork fat and beeswax later.
No handle wrap, although I am thinking about some arrow pass protection, as arrows had rubbed some color off when they passed.
DIMENSIONS:
Ntn length: 66"
Handle length: 8"
Tips: 0,5" x 0,5"
Width at fades: slightly over 2"
(https://s21.postimg.org/vzlyz67uv/IMG_20161012_153902.jpg)
Upper limb, showing curvature to the side
(https://s21.postimg.org/tpxuoeyx3/IMG_20161012_154108.jpg)
Lower limb
(https://s21.postimg.org/boepqm4w7/IMG_20161012_154117.jpg)
Handle pictures
(https://s21.postimg.org/77mcrxqo7/IMG_20161012_153910.jpg)
(https://s21.postimg.org/yysvmahc7/IMG_20161012_154001.jpg)
(https://s21.postimg.org/j1u3pkoxz/IMG_20161012_154008.jpg)
Braced profile
(https://s21.postimg.org/5id9jvayv/IMG_20161012_153952.jpg)
Belly side
(https://s21.postimg.org/4et57wqbr/IMG_20161012_153926.jpg)
Full draw. Tiller is not perfect, but not bad either
(https://s21.postimg.org/3x2l5sq4n/IMG_20161012_WA0000.jpg)
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Very nice; love the colour
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Good job!
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Beautiful job, the color and finish are very nice
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Nice clean lines. Well done!
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Beautiful love the finish & profile !
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Beautiful finish, nice rich color!
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Awesome handle fades. would say nice tiller. top limb looks a little different? slight whip-endedness, seems like it'd be fast. but i haven't even made a bow yet so cmiiw.. really cool finish. thanks for sharing.
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Very nice job! Cheers- Brendan
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well done, dose it shoot as good as it looks?
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Nicely done my friend!
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I shot the bow today and I am very pleased with its speed. However, I had to quit after dozens of arrows, it is impossible to shoot without finger tab. This 60+# resistance on my fingers made me really uncomfortable.
I can't wait till guys deliver me new string and tab.
Also, I have a question. What could I put on the handle to protect stain from rubbing off? My arrows with plastic vanes (don't comment!) made slight scratches. You can notice it on the photos 5 and 6.
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i don't know if polyurethane/spar urethane or clear shellac would hold up. maybe you could put a "strike plate" out of antler or something in there..
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Bone, antler, shell, and horn are all decent materials for an arrow pass or strike plate. You could even just glue a piece of leather on the handle, but it might wear through in a few years.
Nice bow. I really like my hazel bow too, one of my favorite woods so far.
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Beautiful finish
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I have pieces of leather, doesn't matter to me if it would wear over the age. I'll try that solution. Are you thinking about small piece, maybe 1" x 0,5", just glued on that place?
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Forgot to mention, I planned to heat treat the bow, but could not get access to the heat gun, so I proceeded without it. Bow shows 2" of set when unstrung, probably that would be less if it was heat treated.
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I like it, it's got clean, utilitarian lines - a property intrinsic to objects best described as elegant. No nonsense, it's got one purpose and that's too launch arrows and as it's a bow we're talking about one should say; it's beautiful.
I'll be honest and say that that Sadolin coat looks a bit artificial (may very well look totally different in RL than on pictures) due to its colour, but man, I like that shiny (but not too shiny) look you achieved.
Does it feel greasy due to pork fat?
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Actually its not so shiny in real life, this look in pictures was achieved by having sun directly behind my back. Bow is not greasy and can't be, because you use fire to make wood soak all that fat, also you don't put too much on it.
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I didn't want to open new thread just for this thing so here it is in this existing thread.
I abandoned my character hazel longbow project. It was supposed to be 80# at 32". It had severe kink in the upper limb and that made it impossible to tiller.
Two things happened. Because of the deflexed kink, upper limb touched 8" line (my bracing line) on my tiller almost immediately, while lower limb that had 2" of reflex couldn't get near bracing height after lot of scraping and rasping.
That resulted in loss of mass and obvious lightness on the tiller. It wasn't possible to make bow at 80#.
But here is the thing. I picked hazel sapling pictured yesterday. I think that is the upper part of sapling I used for the failed bow described above! I had to pick it up because of very interesting shape.
Shape you are looking at will be back of the bow. When looking from sides, its almost straight, so that means there shouldn't be major surprises on the tiller.
What I am asking is this. You can see red line. That is supposed position of the string and you see that if you put center in the curvature, string will not pass through it.
So I thought about should I leave it like that and use position on the curvature marked with blue arrow as some sort of arrow pass?
Will the bow twist in hand when I hold it?
Could I rotate the bow and the side you are seeing to be actual side of the bow, so the bow would have deflexed handle area?
Btw, forgot to mention. This would be 70" ntn 80 - 90# longbow. Would 32" draw length work on bow this long?
P.S. Red arrow is upper limb.
(https://s14.postimg.org/v6h1dmsmp/IMG_20161012_172736.jpg)
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I think it will twist if you leave it like this. Perhaps just bend the center so that you get the alignment right. Should be really easy to get it done.
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It is still wet, I will shape bow today and leave it clamped on the aluminum bar to dry. I'll try to "force" it more straight by clamps. Then after its dry I'll steam it, maybe it will not need much of a correction then.
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I think 32" draw, heavy weight at that length with a big kink in the middle is asking too much of Hazel.
Del
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So 28" is max I should go, what about 30"?
Btw, Del, my flatbow on previous page has profile according to dimensions of your wonky hazel. If you remember, I asked you before that I like that shape and you wrote dimensions. But I left it thicker then yours.
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Here is bow roughed out. Just done the profile taper, not thickness taper.
(https://s22.postimg.org/ak91xgp8x/IMG_20161013_155250.jpg)
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Done the thickness taper, clamped the bow to one end and center, other end was impossible to clamp. I used cord to make it come closer to the supposed line from tip to center.
When I steam it, should I steam all three areas of the bow, center and tips? I think steaming center would be not enough.
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So 28" is max I should go, what about 30"?
Btw, Del, my flatbow on previous page has profile according to dimensions of your wonky hazel. If you remember, I asked you before that I like that shape and you wrote dimensions. But I left it thicker then yours.
I dunno, just my gut feel...
Watch out for set and quit when it starts to take some... Badgers no set method...?
Del
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Beautiful job on that first bow....love the color...I would describe it as a perfectly tillered textbook example of a Wampanoag Sudbury bow.
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Great job man. 60# is a good weight for a Hazel bow of 66" si hats off to you. It looks nice too! :)
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Very interesting, I just googled that Wampanoag Sudbury bow and it really seems like it has tiller like I did. Slightly whip tillered, although I did that for a specific reason.
One of the limbs, the upper one, had hinge near the tip and I could remove only area from fade till hinge. From hinge to tip was couple of inches so I left that stiffer.
I had to make same thing on bottom limb so it bends symmetrical.
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Btw, what is general rule for length of the bow and poundage? What is the maximum weight for minimum draw length of these flatbows? I noticed same comment on paleo planet forum where I also posted.