2016 Primitive Archer Bow Trade Sign up and Information

[stuckinthemud]

Stuckinthemud that wooden mallet thing in your pic is to cool what is it used for and what's the story behind it. I like old stuff like that.

The handle belonged to a lignum vitae carvers mallet I bought when I started carving 30 years ago but the head is a replacement I turned from oak a few years back when I wore out the lv head. Carvers mallets can't miss the chisel handle as the round surface will always catch the chisel so you can focus on the cutting edge in a way you just can't with a joiners mallet. Most carvers turn a variety of sizes and weights to suit the energy needed; fine delicate work needs a smaller mallet than roughing out some big lump of oak. Too light is no good for anything as you need to have enough oomph to move the chisel.

[burchett.donald]

 Guy's this trade is OFF THE CHAIN ! I have never seen so much dust, shavings, steaming/heating, bending and most of all DETERMINATION...Keep the pictures and pages coming guy's.

                  Fred, you and Rich are doing a fantastic job and are to be commended...This is the kind of trade I like to see, one that promotes, motivates and supports the new guys...This is real PA spirit

                                                                                                             Thanks guys, Don

[Mo_coon-catcher]

I got a heavy layer of sinew on, more like 3 layers applied at the same go. and the first cloth wrapped heating. It pulled quite a bit of glue out. I'm going to let it set up then pull the cloth and see how it looks. I'll probably hit it one more time using long rubber bands to get a good compression. Then go from there. It was bending good and even strung up the correct direction, but doesn't seem as even when strung backward.

Kyle

[Loope]

I have worked the back on the red bud down to a single ring.  Here are some pictures of the pin knots I found while getting it to a ring, and some tear outs left over from an overly aggressive sapwood removal last year.  I might miss these when I layout the bow, but if not, should I go down one more ring to get under these tear outs?  Do you see any issues with the pin knots?  I was thinking to leave it a little wider around them.

[Loope]

Here are the tear outs...

[turtle]

Otter, never have used dry heat so I sure cant give advice on that "wrap around" scorch mark, but dont really see tham lateral checks as a problem. Hell man, you in the shop with that Turtle guy, I heard from a concordia spy that Turtle makes screamin fast bows

Turtle, dont want to say the obvious but ya do know that Otter's eat Turtles.....right? He gets to lookin hungry keep an eye out
rich

LOL....I made sure to feed him well the last couple days. Be carefull around that concordia spy. He's a shifty looking character.   

[half eye]

"shifty fella" now thats funny right there
rich

[turtle]

Turtle - looks like that splice fit like a glove.  Nicely done!  Have not used that epoxy before - is it a type you have used before and do get it locally?  The osage stave looks nice to - too bad for the tear out.  You guys are rockin.

Mitch

As PatM said its made by system 3 and ican get it at Woodcrafters for a little under 20 bucks. I used iton the last bow i spliced and it worked well.

[Fred Arnold]

Loope, how wide is that stave?

[ajooter]

I like the look of that red bud stave loope!  I don't think those tear outs look too substantial.  You can always back it with rawhide if you want a little insurance.  Im ordering a whole goat raw skin today to cut some rawhide strips.  I would happy to pass them along to anybody who needs them.

This is the second stave I have been working on.  I continued thinning the limbs down and I think I got far enough thru that last knot that was giving me problems so that it is now fully contained in the limb.  I went with a Z shaped handle of sorts utilizing some of the natural features of the stave.  I have to clean up the front profile of the bottom limb a little further but then I should be ready to start getting the limbs to come around in my bench vise.  I find that I usually continue to refine the front profile at least 2-3 times as I reduce the belly to get closer to floor tiller.  I keep tracing a light centerline down the middle of the limb and measure out from each side in this case to 3/4" to get a limb width of 1.5".  This also help me follow the grain and keep everything centered within the limb.  Once I get the limbs bending evenly im going to do a light heat treatment and induce a little reflex into the stave.  I also wanted to try and flip the tips.

Hey rich....how much of recurve have you out into limbs with your steaming method?  I was thinking about trying a static curve.  Both limbs have been scraped down to one ring at the tips and id like to try it.  Do you steam a little longer for a more aggressive bend?

[turtle]

Loope.       Those small tear outs are cosmetic only. Wont hurt it a bit, I usually just smooth them out some with sand paper and then ignore them. Try to keep the knots away from extreme edge if you can and they should be fine also.

[Fred Arnold]

Loope, reason I asked the width was because of the knot and tear out next to the penny. If it's wide enough I would eliminate that knot in the layout.

[half eye]

AJ....that baby is lookin sweet right there....using the natural stave like you did in the grip is outstanding sir

My advice on the statics is to steam about 5 min and start your bend.....only bend untill you feel resistance, and stop.....put it back in for 5 and continue for round 2......you may need 3 go's but it should bend real well. Since you wont being letting the stick cool between bend attempts dont be surprised if some comes out inbetween the go's.....no worry.... look at it like "training" the wood to go that far...and  once you get it.... hold it for at least 3 minuets (thats a long time when your holding it) then let loose of it and you should be good to go on the other end.

How thich are your limbs for the first 6"?
rich

[half eye]

forgot to say about the static steam thing....when you bend on each "go" stop when the resisitance build but do hold for about a minuet to give the fibers a chance to "stretch some and the inside curve to compress some.......sorry, just realized I lost that bit in the shuffle
rich

[half eye]

Mr Burchett,
       I didn't even see your post first off.....these guys are animals bud. Everybody is doing great work and a hell of a lot of it too. This old man cant hardly keep up
      You are sure right about the trade, Fred had a vision and damned if he aint pullin it off. I'm real proud to be with this group.....except maybe Otter.....he's lookin at Turtle real funny like
rich