Hibernating

[stuckinthemud]

So, is everyone else hibernating - I know I am - this board has been asleep a looong time! 

[Ruddy Darter]

I hope to start on something in the next couple of weeks. Just the same, Happy New Year to all. (my main focus is to lose some weight from festive indulgences,  Christmas pudding with brandy butter and cream... It's just toooo good.  )

 R.D.

[WillS]

I've just been ploughing through customer orders.  I was lucky enough to be featured on one of Matt Easton's YouTube videos, and as a result it's all got a bit crazy.  Having a baby around the same time hasn't helped haha!

Nothing particularly interesting to post here, but I am working on some heavy holly bows, and got a few orders for hazel bows that might be worth sharing eventually as the staves are interesting.

[stuckinthemud]

Pudding brandy butter and cream, mmmmmmm.  Holly and hazel are the two woods I can easily get hold of, will definitely be looking out for those posts.

[Del the cat]

Mrs Cat has got me decorating the kitchen...
Del (exits stage left muttering Yes Dear )

[FilipT]

November to March is hibernating time for me not only for bows, but to all things I can make outside. With november it comes ridiculously cold and it lasts through march. Actually its even colder in my "workplace" than the outside. I cannot wait until late February / March to start making swords and bows.

[Lucasade]

My wife runs a chocolate shop so November to Christmas is nuts for us, added to five year old son, I'm self employed and an on call firefighter. Not enough hours in the day! I did make a string a week or so ago though and I'm figuring out how to get my hazel warbow attached to the horn Del sent me so I can finish tillering it.

PS Congratulations on the baby Will!

[WillS]

Drill a hole in it

You can do the whole thing with a good sharp knife if you don't have specific drill bits, from boring the centre out to shaping and polishing.  I was visited by a friend from Finland last year who's a magician when it comes to all things primitive, and he got a beautiful medieval sidenock done using just an old fairly dull knife in crazy quick time. 

Interestingly, if you use a knife to bore out the hole you end with a spot on shape match to the MR bow tips

Failing that, scrap the horn entirely.  Unless it's over about 130lb hazel doesn't need horn (especially not to finish tillering) - just a nice small sidenock cut into the wood.  Make sure you thicken up the string loops and you'll be good to go. 

[Lucasade]

It's for temporary sidenocks while tillering - I was using self nocks but the string split one and I don't want to take any more chances.

That's a good tip for using a knife to shape the final nocks though - I don't have a grinder to start remaking flat bits!

[WillS]

Self nocks tend to split when the string is too thin.  Remember we're sort of emulating medieval stuff here, so when they use self nocks they're pairing them with slightly thicker linen or hemp strings.  A FF string made to suit the same poundage will be thinner and more aggressive on the wood, so it needs to be served or thickened somehow.

Or you cut 'em wrong and it's all your fault

For the drill bit issue - before I got a grinder I used a cheap engineers file to shape mine.  You can pick them up for a couple of quid (you've probably already got one!) and with some elbow grease and patience they do a fine job.

[mikekeswick]

A good bet for files is to go to a stihl chainsaw stockist. They will have files for sharpening the chains. Superb quality for not much money.

[Lucasade]

The string was (still is in fact) 12 strand linen. It's quite possible I cut them wrong - you said at the time they looked a bit shallow.

Mike -  having been usi my grandfather's rat tail file for ages which was rather blunt I worked out about a month ago that one of my chainsaw sharpening files would be ideal! I like Stihl...

[WillS]

Is it single ply linen, or 2/3 ply?  I've been fiddling about with linen strings on heavy bows recently as I've never been comfortable with them.  I use 20 strands of 3 ply linen for 110lb bows, and that (when glued with hide glue) is about 2.5mm thick.  If you're using normal (let's call them "modern") loops (made like FF strings with the loops laid in) just hanging out of the sidenock you will almost always have issues.  With horn you're likely to get away with it, but not with self nocks.  You really want self-tightening loops on sidenocks, so pass the bowstring back through a much smaller laid in loop and you're good to go.  They fit snug into the sidenock, zero diagonal across the bow.

Don't ask me about unbracing them on really heavy bows, I still haven't quite figured that out yet...!

[Lucasade]

It's 18/5 Barbour linen, so 5-ply. 12 strands gives 60 plys total so same as what you're using.