Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: bjrogg on March 10, 2023, 01:25:21 pm
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I had a stave 61” long. Lots of twists and crocks. Thin rings nothing special about this one.
I roughed it out and put it on my caul and gave it a lot of heat correction and a heat treatment while I was at it.
Bjrogg
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Then I got it bending pretty decent in my vice.
Bjrogg
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Then I finished tillering using only my finger calipers.
They have a attachment that fits on my rasp
And they also separate from the rasp to quickly give me information about the thickness of my limbs.
Bjrogg
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Then I shaped the tips and made a string
Bjrogg
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Here’s first brace profile.
I don’t want to bend it anymore than brace right now. It really needs to reacclimatize a bit. I’m sure it is very dry yet.
Will see what it looks like at full draw in a couple days
Bjrogg
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looks great,,,congrats,,
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New bibs???? Fancy pants BJ.
Looks good for a finger guess :) How much weight you think you have?
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I wish I had finger calipers... maybe my bows would bend as nice as yours do. It will be nice to see it once you have coached it to full draw. :BB
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Thanks Brad. I think I could have gotten it a little closer but the one limb has a slightly narrow spot.
Yes sir brand spanking new drummer boy. First time they got any Osage dust on them.
I think getting the bend close might be predictable and repeatable. I think the draw weight is going to vary depending on the wood.
This wasn’t a very fancy piece and part of the reason I wanted to try this.
I’m going to guess about 36@ 26” if it doesn’t break first. Lol
Bjrogg
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Bob we all have em. We just need to trust them.
Bjrogg
PS I’ve seen a couple really nice tillered bows you’ve done
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I really am curious what the full draw will look like and how many lbs it will be.
So far I have only bent it a little in the vice. Then finger tillered to finish. Then bent it enough to string it.
To be continued
Bjrogg
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Looks pretty darn good for finger calipers. Kind of the way I do it, but my calipers aren’t nearly as accurate as yours.
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Bentstick this isn’t really how I normally tiller my bows. I do use my fingers constantly but I have never tillered one without confirming it on the tree along the way.
This wasn’t a primo stave and I just wanted to experiment
So far it looks pretty good.
Will be interesting to see how the full draw turns out
Arvin’s build by the numbers got me thinking
Bjrogg
PS I know my fingers know what a finished bow feels like
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If that is you just winging it then your fingers have a lot of experience behind them. Looks darn good to me having just used finger calipers! Nicely done sir. I’m not quite there yet. Sometimes I get lucky and mail it but not very often. Hoping with more time on the fingers I’ll get there. ;)
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Bjrogg, once I get it to low brace, I go to the tree and start using Eric’s gizmo when I can. Many of my staves have had enough character that my eyes and fingers are the best options.
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That's looking great for starting as a crooked stick BJ. My brain can't read my fingers that well. Looking forward to the end result.
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BJ your the king of finger calipers! I’m loving the test. Tuned in.🤠
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This had me smiling as soon as I read the title. The update posts were just as great. Can't wait to see the finished bow!
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Thanks everyone.
I’m hoping that this will encourage people to trust their fingers more.
Try it out. Spend some time with your favorite bow. Run your fingers up and down its limbs. Calibrate them.
As I run my fingers from fades to tips I should feel the limbs loosening in my fingers in a even rate as the thickness decreases towards the tip.
Then run them from tip to fade. Feel the even increase in tightness as the thickness of the limb gradually increases.
I can easily feel very small differences in thickness. Humps, bumps and valleys.
The good lord gave us some amazing bodies.
Blind people can read with their fingers.
Give them a try. Listen to them and learn to trust them.
I don’t suggest tillering a bow like this. I do encourage people to use the tools we have been given though.
Bjrogg
PS this experiment isn’t over yet. I still need to see that full draw and hopefully shoot a couple thousand arrows
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BJ I built my first 50 or so bows by touch and looking at the bows brace. Then I had a drill bit that I pulled bow down from the top of my bow shop door watching it bend and making corrections. About the years later I built a tillering tree. Yes it’s been fun.
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My uncle, a wood worker by hobby, always ask me about using the sensitivity of fingers. I have been getting away from constant measurements, at least to a degree. Using my fingers, eyeballing with some older bows as templates, that kind of thing. Slows my process down, and I find the build more enjoyable.
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Neat! How do you calibrate finger calipers! (lol). Nice bow!
Hawkdancer
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Neat! How do you calibrate finger calipers! (lol). Nice bow!
Hawkdancer
You take your favorite selfbow and slide your finger calipers carefully from fade to tip allowing them to feel the limb slightly loosening in the fingers.
Then from tip to fade feeling the slight increase in tension between the finger calipers as the limbs thickness increases ever so slightly as it moves towards the fades.
It might take a little time. But I always enjoy calibrating them this way anyhow.
Bjrogg
PS one other tip. I don’t squeeze my fingers together tightly and “measure” the changes they open and close. I lightly squeeze them and hold them at the same angle. Then the pads of my fingers detect the changes in thickness
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The precision of finger calipers is astonishing every time again :) ...and so is eye measure. In every build there's a time when you can put aside measuring instruments and rely on your fingers and eyes.... sometimes I don't really trust them and remeasure but then eye and fingers always seem to be right.
Nice bow by the way!
cheers
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I let my “bow” sit for a few days. This morning I put it on the tree for the first time.
I slowly exercised her out to about 24.5” and looks like about 32 lbs.
It might not be perfect. But I have to admit I am surprised how good it looks.
Bjrogg
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Here’s the unbraced profile immediately after the tree
Bjrogg
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A fine looking bow Brian
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Thanks Marc
I guess the next step is to shape a handle and let a couple arrows rip
Bjrogg
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Second thought guess it’s just plain let an arrow rip.
First shot. Feels good but will feel better with the handle shaped
Bjrogg
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Yes sir! Looks great! Well done! Jawge
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Brian, fingers is all I've ever used for measuring thickness differences. I never learned to use calipers and wouldn't if I knew how. I want to make my "primitive" bows as simply as possibly yet still be effective. It is amazing how sensitive out touch is. A friend of mine that grew up in Cali had a physics teacher that did an experiment with the students to measure that sensitivity and found out that we can feel a 10,000th difference with our fingers.
Nice bow, BTW.
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Thanks Pat
In many ways they are superior to calipers. At least the ones I use
Had my brother take a full draw picture
Bjrogg
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Looks great BJ.
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Nice looking bend indeed. Well done sir. Now for your next trick… make one blindfolded. ;).
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Turned out really nice BJ. I don't think my fingers are that well tuned...yet!
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8) :BB
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Finished out great. Great looking bow.