Author Topic: Start to Finish  (Read 8764 times)

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Offline Drewster

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Re: Start to Finish
« Reply #15 on: March 17, 2015, 11:54:00 pm »
About 30 hours per bow for me too.....especially if you have to remove the bark and sapwood.  You will gain a little speed and confidence after ten bows or so, but it's still a time consuming process if the bow is well crafted.
Drew - Boone, NC

Offline PAHunter

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Re: Start to Finish
« Reply #16 on: March 18, 2015, 12:45:54 am »
People ask this all the time but I never really time myself.  If I break it down I suppose about 30 or so without sinew.  But it  can vary a lot.  The tools you use, or don't use, play a big role.
Thanks,
Rob - Wexford, PA

"Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe". - Abe Lincoln

Online Pappy

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Re: Start to Finish
« Reply #17 on: March 18, 2015, 05:24:41 am »
I with Jawges /Greg 30/35 hours for me most of the time. :)
   Pappy
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Offline Dances with squirrels

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Re: Start to Finish
« Reply #18 on: March 18, 2015, 06:36:46 am »
Until I witness it with my own eyes, I'm flat-out calling BULL  on the 5 hour sinewed osage recurve bows!   :o
« Last Edit: March 18, 2015, 10:18:36 am by Pappy »
Straight wood may make a better bow, but crooked wood makes a better bowyer

Offline PEARL DRUMS

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Re: Start to Finish
« Reply #19 on: March 18, 2015, 07:16:26 am »
who said that?
Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught will we realize we cannot eat money.

Offline missilemaster

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Re: Start to Finish
« Reply #20 on: March 18, 2015, 07:37:38 am »
Until I witness it with my own eyes, I'm flat-out calling BULL  on the 5 hour sinewed osage recurve bows!   :o

  I highly doubt Chris is talking about a sinew backed recurve when he throws out 5 hours.  I think everyone is giving times for the bows they build, not neccesarily the example in the original post.
« Last Edit: March 18, 2015, 10:19:05 am by Pappy »
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Offline Badger

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Re: Start to Finish
« Reply #21 on: March 18, 2015, 07:43:30 am »
  I wasn't thinking sinew when I said 4 sessions 4 hours each for a student builder. Sinew can be time consuming.

blackhawk

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Re: Start to Finish
« Reply #22 on: March 18, 2015, 08:09:32 am »
Until I witness it with my own eyes, I'm flat-out calling BULL  on the 5 hour sinewed osage recurve bows!   :o

Not counting cure time and actually working on it time I bet there's a few folks around i know that might be able to pull that off if given a perfect osage stave. 5-10 mins to run a ring...10 mins to have a bending blank off the saw...10 mins to clean up and have it floor tillered ready for recurving and sinewing...30 mins per tip to bend and shred ur sinew while that's happening If ya wanna get technical and add the waiting time of watching ur wood get steamed...2 hours to sinew... And that still gives ya and hour and a half left to finish tiller n shoot it in which is plenty of time. Not that I'd wanna build a bow this way,but just playing devils advocate and think it could be done by the right person.
« Last Edit: March 18, 2015, 10:19:35 am by Pappy »

Offline PatM

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Re: Start to Finish
« Reply #23 on: March 18, 2015, 09:10:50 am »
It could definitely be done in 5 hours if it's just straightforward work and you have the right tools.
 But that's turning things into a pie eating contest.

Offline PEARL DRUMS

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Re: Start to Finish
« Reply #24 on: March 18, 2015, 09:13:42 am »
I like pie.
Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught will we realize we cannot eat money.

Offline Dances with squirrels

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Re: Start to Finish
« Reply #25 on: March 18, 2015, 09:55:06 am »
Well perhaps we need to further qualify things then. When I speak of how long it would take me to make such a bow, I'm counting everything involved at my regular pace, enjoying myself while making the best I'm capable of... not how fast I could possibly crank out something 'serviceable'... like it was a race and my life depended on the time... instead of the bow :^)

Heck, I'll bet it takes me 2-3 hours just to final sand and apply the finish. At least aother hour for the string, rest, grip, etc.

The last sinew and fish backed osage recurve I made fought me most of the way and I bet I had 50 hours or more of actual working time in it.
Straight wood may make a better bow, but crooked wood makes a better bowyer

Offline PEARL DRUMS

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Re: Start to Finish
« Reply #26 on: March 18, 2015, 09:57:55 am »
Time doesn't make a great bow, bowyers do.
Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught will we realize we cannot eat money.

Offline SLIMBOB

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Re: Start to Finish
« Reply #27 on: March 18, 2015, 10:33:18 am »
Taking a different tack on this question. No idea how long it takes me as I have never timed it or even thought it was necessary to do so. I love making bows. I can get lost in what I am working on and finish one rather quickly. Other times I can work on one all day and make very little progress, usually because I am talking with the guys and just enjoying the day. It's my leisure time. My guy time. My alone time.  I will get one to a certain point and set my mind on getting it finished. I'm ready to shoot it. Ready to post it on PA, or maybe just ready to start another one, but it is rarely a timed event for me.
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blackhawk

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Re: Start to Finish
« Reply #28 on: March 18, 2015, 11:01:06 am »
Jeff. Just cus you cant doesn't mean nobody can.  :P  :-*  All the times for each step I posted are proven times by more than one person. And they had a smile on there face enjoying it the whole time. A very experienced person knows exactly how to take off wood in a jiffy even at a normal pace. On a normal day and in my normal time I can have a bark on osage stave at a decent floor tillered stage in an hour easy without breaking a sweat.  And the outcome can still be a kick @$$ bow,and more than just a "serviceable" bow like ya say. To each there own...just don't say it can't be done cus you can't and wouldnt like too.

Offline Badger

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Re: Start to Finish
« Reply #29 on: March 18, 2015, 12:17:02 pm »
        I wouldn't recomend a newbe to rush but just from personnal experience I will very often finish an osage stave to bow in 1 session with plenty of computer breaks inbetween. No power tools, I would guess about 4 hours actual work. The sanding and finish if I decide to do so would likely take a couple more hours but I seldom get around to it. Not rushing just working at a level Ilike to work at. Several years ago I turned out about 2 dozen board bows in a weekend for a reincatment group, no sanding or finishes. That was all power tools.