northwest coast style paddle bow-yew

[sadiejane]

morning folks-been searching high and low n every bow forum i can think of
and youtube, and have yet to find a step by step build along on this style bow.
surely there is one/are some?
if anyone has ideas of where else to look, or a link,  please advise.
have a nice little shortish stave of yew that im just sure a paddle bow or similar lives in.
but darned if i have a clue where to start.
could take pix if that would help.
have had this hunk o wood for more than a year and still have yet to do anything but stare at it.
its well seasoned and ready to go
and man o man i love the looks of those paddle bows

[Bevan R.]

I think Pat is doing his Winter Proj 2 on one of these. Last I saw, the sinew was drying/ageing.

[Hrothgar]

There  is some info from an earlier post a couple years back, try typing in:  Modoc sinew backed juniper;
Also, I ran across a build-along on another site somewhere using juniper and sinew for a "paddlebow" but can't find it now.
Have you tried searching under Yurok or Modoc bows, you might find something that way.
Eric

[sadiejane]

I think Pat is doing his Winter Proj 2 on one of these. Last I saw, the sinew was drying/ageing.

thanks bevan. this is a great build along that pat did.
but he received the stave in a roughed out bow shape. i think i could handle it from the point on where he starts.
i am more trying to figure out how to get it to that stage and best use the wood at hand.
something more like gordon is doing right now.
from stave on. step by step

eric-i think i saw the same bow you are talking about.
and yeah, i have searched pa, pp youtube and others using all the terms/words i can think of.
still not quite finding what im looking for.
but thanks!

[mikekeswick]

The best bet is to simply make a thickish board to start with. Forget about violating rings on the back the sinew will take care of that.
Once you have the 'board' then mark and reduce to width. Generally these bows are widest at mid-limb.
Then reduce the thickness until it's bending some and try to get the tiller good and even, because these bows are so wide and thin it is difficult to get a good tiller without hinges - go slow. Hold the bow in a vice and bend the limbs by hand for the 'floor tiller'.
Then heat treat it into lots of reflex - at least 4 inches.
Apply sinew and induce more reflex once the glue has gelled.
Tiller
The reflex is a must because they are so thin and wide. Remeber a wood shaving can curl up a full 360 degs when thin - it's the same principle here.
Good luck

[barefootbowhunter]

just for thought many bows from the northwest coast at least from northern oregon to southrn bc were not sinew backed because its a rainforest out here, and is seems to me that paddle bows call for bustin through rings for a flat back, which means sinew must be used, soooo what im gettin at is i dont think this region used this design unless they were in a small rain shadow with less feet of rain a year, which there arent a whole lot of

[Bryce]

just for thought many bows from the northwest coast at least from northern oregon to southrn bc were not sinew backed because its a rainforest out here, and is seems to me that paddle bows call for bustin through rings for a flat back, which means sinew must be used, soooo what im gettin at is i dont think this region used this design unless they were in a small rain shadow with less feet of rain a year, which there arent a whole lot of

The natives here NW Oregon used both sinew back and self bows. Here on the lower Columbia river area the chinook had sinew backed yew bows along with self bows made of white oak and vine maple. Self bow having sevrely reflexed tips.A siltez man I know makes a pretty snappy paddle from white oak. He makes a sinew backed yew bows as well that is similar to the hupa style. Widest at mid limb.

[bubby]

Sadie, here's one i got in the work's, an Ishi replica with dimension's taken from one of his bows, 3/4" at the tip's, 1 7/8" at mid limb, 1 1/2" at grip, 5/8" thick at handle, 9/16" at mid limb and5/16" at the nock, recuvedslightly, dont know if that is what ya want to build or not, hope it help's ya, Bub

[sadiejane]

thanks for the pix bubby-i may very well go with something more like yours.
like the profile

[bubby]

sadie i still have to sinew it and induce some reflex, from what i've read he only put one or two courses of sinew on most bows, Bub

[Silent Bear]

hey sadie if you have any questions I would be glad to help