plains style horse bow making?

[Jarod187]

Hey I have recently started making bows. i have a little experience in reflexing bows but i really wanna try to make a plains style or horse bow. I watched some videos on Ed Scott and he made a really nice looking horse bow. He said he uses reflex/reflexed limbs to make the 5 curve look. he also uses thin stiff tips. I would really like to make a bow like this but i just need some advice on how to reflex reflex the limbs and also how to make the stiff tips right. Thanks

[M-P]

Jarod,   As I understand it the plains indian bows had a gull-wing profile when strung.   I suppose you could call that a 3 curve.  I've never seen referrence to an original bow that had recurved tips, or to stiff tips.   So I guess what I'm quibbling with is your terminology.  The bow you picture is still sweet, no matter what you want to call it.
First....The reflex in the handle can be obtained by using a reflexed stave, by bending with heat or by starting with billets and simply gluing the reflex in.   The deflexed portion of the limbs can be heat bent,  or if you are making a sinew backed bow you can just leave the limbs straight and the gull wing shape will develop as you string the bow.
Adding recurves would normally be done with heat  Stiff tips are just a matter of leaving the tips thick enough to not bend.  None of these procedures are difficult, but they do take some planning.  A little practice doesn't hurt either.    Ron

[randman]

Jarod, headin down the road to bow addiction I see!      That Ed Scott bow is a beauty. That looks like one of his signature bows which is probably short enough to be called a horse bow but IMHO i wouldn't describe it as a pure plains style bow. I would describe it (if I had to put a tag on it) as a hybrid influenced by the native bows but having also traits of a mollegabet bow with half of the limb being bendy and the other half being a stiff lever. The native influence can be seen on his bows (when they are unstrung) with the 5 curve gull-wing shape (most original plains style bows I have seen are 3 curve but I have seen some 5 curve). The pic I have attached resembles the plains style 3 curve bows because when this bow is strung it would have the 3 curve gull-wing shape.
This bow in my neighborhood (Pacific NW) is called a plateau style (from the Columbia plateau). All the tribes in this area used similar bows (as well as other designs - I have seen some 5 curve plateau tribe bows in pics) and apparently they were influenced heavily by other horse culture tribes from the great plains areas hence the similar look. None of the native style 5 curve bows I have seen have the very distinct half bendy and half stiff knife-blade lever design like some of Ed Scott's bows. Ed's a master at it and his bows are awesome looking.
And I'm not an expert just makin lots of observations on bows since I am hopelessly addicted myself! 

[medicinewheel]

...
I would describe it (if I had to put a tag on it) as a hybrid influenced by the native bows but having also traits of a mollegabet bow with half of the limb being bendy and the other half being a stiff lever.
...

Dito.

[Lee Slikkers]

Jarod, headin down the road to bow addiction I see!      That Ed Scott bow is a beauty.

Ed's a master at it and his bows are awesome looking.

And I'm not an expert just makin lots of observations on bows since I am hopelessly addicted myself! 

I agree 100% Randman, there is something about this style of bow that really trips my trigger. 

Jarod, thanks for posting up Ed's work, I looked over his site again (found it last year myself) and noticed he offers a one-on-one bow building class, has anyone taken a class from him?  Just curious about what type of bow construction he offers...whether its is strictly the osage w/ sinew or if he goes into the subject of horn bows if desired.

Regardless, wonderful subject and thanks for bringing it up.