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Author Topic: Molly or pyramid?  (Read 2961 times)

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Offline Squirrelslayer

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Molly or pyramid?
« on: March 08, 2013, 10:38:30 am »
well anyone who has seen my other thread http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,38331.0.html will know what im talking about here. i was thinking about this yesterday while removing the bark, heres what i was thinking. "what design of bow do i go for with this bow, mollgabet or pyramid or maybe someone on PA knows a better design that would suit a maple stave." ok thats not exacly my train of thought but its what im mainly thinking about. so do i go for mollgabet or pyramid? or is there a better design? i know it is hard to see without looking at the grain, so i will put some pictures up later. the grain is very straight and there are only 2-3 small knots per limb. i know it's very early to be thinking about this now but it gives me something to think about when making shavings. i would appreciate any input on this. thanks in advance. SS
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Offline Will H

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Re: Molly or pyramid?
« Reply #1 on: March 08, 2013, 10:42:11 am »
I'd say pyramid since you haven't built many bows. Great design and there simpler to tiller ;) good luck on this one and watch out for those doors ;)
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Offline Sidewinder

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Re: Molly or pyramid?
« Reply #2 on: March 08, 2013, 10:43:37 am »
Pyramid all the way. Its the easiest to tiller and layout on a straight stave or board. I did many pyramids early on and they helped learn to make wood bend evenly.  Danny
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Offline Weylin

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Re: Molly or pyramid?
« Reply #3 on: March 08, 2013, 11:43:58 am »
For the love of bowyering, don't make a molly for your first bow!
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Offline Squirrelslayer

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Re: Molly or pyramid?
« Reply #4 on: March 08, 2013, 11:56:13 am »
looks like im going for a pyramid design. SS
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Offline PatM

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Re: Molly or pyramid?
« Reply #5 on: March 08, 2013, 12:00:29 pm »
I'm not sure how many guys actually looked at your stave. It's not really ideal for a pyramid because of the knots. Make a basic flatbow in the modified Meare Heath/true holmegaard profile.
 That's your best bet for an average stave.
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Offline Christian Soldier

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Re: Molly or pyramid?
« Reply #6 on: March 08, 2013, 03:32:05 pm »
What Pat said.

You can make a slightly more pyramidal 'meare heath' but keep the limbs wide at least of the length of the limbs would be prudent.  :)
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Offline CaptainBeaky

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Re: Molly or pyramid?
« Reply #7 on: March 08, 2013, 04:30:43 pm »
Are mollys that hard to tiller? I have an ash stave lurking in the shed and a little voice in my head saying "Holmegaard"...  ::)
This will only be the third one I have done - should I hold off and do another flattish bow?
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Offline bow101

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Re: Molly or pyramid?
« Reply #8 on: March 08, 2013, 05:00:04 pm »
Quote from: Weylin on March 08, 2013, 11:43:58 am
For the love of bowyering, don't make a molly for your first bow!


Lol.............dats to fuuunnnyyyyyyy...... but I hear ya to, I would of never attempted a Molly, besides for some reason I don't like Mollys.. ???       
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Offline Weylin

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Re: Molly or pyramid?
« Reply #9 on: March 08, 2013, 09:00:03 pm »
Quote from: CaptainBeaky on March 08, 2013, 04:30:43 pm
Are mollys that hard to tiller? I have an ash stave lurking in the shed and a little voice in my head saying "Holmegaard"...  ::)
This will only be the third one I have done - should I hold off and do another flattish bow?

I don't know... one of the only bows that I've broken was a rawhide backed osage molly. I'm not saying that they are the hardest bow in the world to make but I do see a lot of them breaking and I see a lot of new guys inexplicably attracted to them lately. They are under considerably more stress than a flat bow of equal length and I don't see the reason to go pushing the limits like that on your first bow. Your first bow is for learning solid tillering and hopefully being able to shoot an arrow, it's not for pushing the ragged edge of what a piece of wood can handle. Plus it can be discouraging for someone's first bow to fail, why not make a solid, dependable flatbow that will likely shoot just as well. Molly's dont have a complicated bending profile but for some reason I see so many of them (mine included) bending too much out of the fades and not enough through the rest of the working portion. I don't know what causes so many people to do that but it seems like a trend.
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Offline randman

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Re: Molly or pyramid?
« Reply #10 on: March 08, 2013, 11:43:57 pm »
Quote
Are mollys that hard to tiller? I have an ash stave lurking in the shed and a little voice in my head saying "Holmegaard"...
It has to be said (this discussion has gone round before) A Holmegaard and a Mollegebet (Molly) are 2 different bow types. A true Holmegaard is similar to a modified pyramid with stiff tips and would be simpler to make than a molly which is a "lever" type bow and more difficult to tiller.
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Offline CaptainBeaky

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Re: Molly or pyramid?
« Reply #11 on: March 09, 2013, 04:29:22 am »
I see I have a bit more reading to do - I was under the impression that Holmegaards and mollegabets were slightly different points along the same spectrum, wither the Molly having slightly longer levers and slightly shorter working limbs.

Back to the book...
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Offline Cardboard_Duck

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Re: Molly or pyramid?
« Reply #12 on: March 09, 2013, 08:59:27 am »
I am a newbie, the first molly I made was out of hickory and it turned out pretty good (it was my third bow out of a stave). The second molly I built was for this years trade bow, a hickory backed ERC, which turned out pretty good. In my opinion they are not really that hard to tiller, just more picky about how they bend. You have to get every inch from handle fade to lever fade bending perfectly and evenly or Pearl Drums will yell at you :) :)
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Offline randman

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Re: Molly or pyramid?
« Reply #13 on: March 09, 2013, 04:55:33 pm »
I agree Captain, the distinctions between the two types have been blurred by the way people (even the Bowyers Bible) have used the same description for both of them. If you do a Google image search for Holmegaard Bow, the very first image is the Holmegaard artifact. After that image, 90% of the images are Mollys or some blend of the 2 so I thinks that's where the confusion comes from
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Offline randman

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Re: Molly or pyramid?
« Reply #14 on: March 09, 2013, 05:19:08 pm »
Here's a discussion that explains some of the differences:
http://paleoplanet69529.yuku.com/topic/27645#.UTugYVfHCoY
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