Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Eric Krewson on July 09, 2019, 04:20:46 pm
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I had to drop poundage because of a shoulder injury, I had a bow I made several years ago that was just right, the problem was I didn't shoot it well and I couldn't figure out why. It is a slender osage bow and I made a proportional small handle to match the bow. I came to the conclusion long ago that handle shape and the way it fit your hand was a huge determining factor in how well a bow shot.
This bow didn't fit my hand and was easy to torque on release. With the state championship coming up soon I decided to frankenstein the grip and see it I could make the bow shoot better.
I glued a lot of extra wood on the sides and back of the handle and shaped it to be rock solid in my hand. I tested my frankenhandle today, the bow was so easy to shoot and put arrows on target, what a change!
It looked like my brace height went up a little when I strung the bow with the old string that was already adjusted for brace height before the rework. I suspect the slim handle was flexing a little and this one definitely doesn't.
Here are some pictures;
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very nice Eric... it would be hard to put leather over that just because of the cool factor... :OK
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Neat! I will probably have to make a similar handle to fit the Osage I'm trying to work up for Jacie.
All in a day's Jerry rigging! Paduak and Walnut might look good!
Hawkdancer
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Nice, comfort in the hand is often neglected and I suspect some people confuse an uncomfortable grip with handshock especially with bows that have very flat backs.
Del
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Even though I flattened the sides of the handle with a file I couldn't get a good fit with my added pieces. If I can see light when I hold a joint up to a light I won't glue until I get a better fit. In this case I heated both the side pieces and clamped them tightly to the handle. When they cooled off I had a perfect fit that is evident in the glue lines.
I am going to leave the leather off for now, the handle fits me perfectly as it is and leather will make it much bigger in the hand. When the osage turns the glue lines will be mostly invisible because I used the darker hardener on the Unibond.
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Another save Eric,i agree with grip fit.doesnt matter who made the bow if it doesnt sit well in the hand it probably isnt going to shoot well for you.
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Now you can go do some damage.
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Nice work Eric, that grip looks great!
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Nice fix,..congrats )P(