Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Sepecat on July 07, 2019, 12:04:57 pm
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Evening all. Long time reader but first time poster and I must say I've found a huge amount of very good information here so thank you all.
I'm not much of an archer myself although I have wanted to build a bow since I was a kid.
This bow is made from whatever I could get my hands on so it's a spliced piece of white oak (the splice could be tighter so I dowelled it for additional strength) with a riser made from some walnut which I also used to make the tip overlays.
It's 68" overall, 66" NTN. I haven't had a chance to check the draw weight yet but it's reasonably lightweight I think.
I've managed to get it to my full draw of 29" although there's a fair amount of string follow.
I've got a bit more shaping to do on the handle, shelf and arrow pass to make the whole thing a bit smoother
No idea if it's a shooter yet as I need to borrow some arrows. My brother-in-law is a keen archer but shoots left handed which is why I made the double shelf, I'm looking forward to getting his opinion.
It's not meant to be anything serious so I'm not expecting much in the way of performance. It was more to test my skills and get some practice in before maybe trying something else in the future with better materials. I may toast the belly just because I can and it might halt any more string follow/set.
Anyway, I think it turned out OK. I will hopefully be able to report back some more specifics in the next week-or-so.
Would welcome any comments or suggestions on improving it. I hope the photos magically appear at the link below.
https://www.flickr.com/gp/182511120@N02/0wpMJ5
Thanks for looking.
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For your 1st bow that is one really nice even bend you have...Congrats and welcome to PA
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Overall it looks great, but it looks like the fades are doing all the work, the outer limbs appear stiff.
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Congrats on your first! If you follow the path I did, you will be scrathin' that itch for years, decades to come.
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Nice first but you do have a hingy spot out from your fades on the right limb that shows in the braced picture. That said, it is ten times better than my first bow that was so poorly tillered that it blew after about 30 shots even though it was sinew backed.
Look up a tillering gizmo, it will prevent hingy spots. There is a how to make and use one in the How To and Build Along section of this site.
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Very Nice first bow. Looks like you've been doing your homework.
Welcome to PA
Bjrogg
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Nice first but you do have a hingy spot out from your fades on the right limb that shows in the braced picture. That said, it is ten times better than my first bow that was so poorly tillered that it blew after about 30 shots even though it was sinew backed.
Look up a tillering gizmo, it will prevent hingy spots. There is a how to make and use one in the How To and Build Along section of this site.
I noticed that but I seemed to be losing too much draw weight trying to get the outer limb bending more so decided to quit while I was ahead ;D
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Welcome! Much nicer than my first bow!
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Congrats on your first shooter, much better than my first several bows. ;) Welcome to the addiction, hope to see more of your work as time goes on. :)
Pappy
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Welcome to PA. Agree, that is a nice bow, especially for your first. You did an excellent job on your nock overlays also. Keep building.
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Nice bend for your first bow. The outer limbs should bend a little more but you can do that on your next one.
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You are doing great with that ,when finishing your grip area round off your arrow shelfs so as not to be so flat .
you should continue to build cause you show tallent .
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Selecta,
Very nice! I like the overlays, and handle! The more experienced guys will be able to give better advise on tiller and such! Welcome aboard! Keep up the good work!
Hawkdancer
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Many thanks for all your kind comments and advice, much appreciated. :)
I'll hopefully post some more photos when I've finished all the shaping and finishing.
I'll try and put a scale on it at some point to get a rough draw weight and report back once I put some arrows through it. :o
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Nice. Keep up the good work.