Author Topic: "Plan E", bow from January  (Read 1801 times)

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Offline ajbruggink

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  • Aaron Bruggink, Oostburg, WI, USA
"Plan E", bow from January
« on: April 06, 2016, 06:26:25 pm »
Heh guys,

This is a bow I finished back in January. It is a D-bow made of Pacific Yew, 64" ttt, 62" ntn, 35#@28". I made in this during an attempt to make a bow for my uncle and this truly is 'Plan E'. Plan A was a leather backed red oak board stave that I killed by trying to string it up to early, broke below the handle on the lower limb. Plan B was a red elm stave that I let the limb tip on the lower tip become too thin and it broke off during tillering, still a salvage bow in it but not if you want an unbacked stiff handled bow that pulls 28". Since then Plan B has had a setback steamed into the handle and I'm to sinew back it at a later date. Plan C, a Black Hawthorn stave, a piece of wood peeled off the back while floor tillering, thought I could fill in the gap with glue, sand it smooth, back the bow with rawhide, and continue. That didn't work so that stave is waiting for me to devote my time to it. Plan D, an unbacked red oak flatbow, it came out way too light, less than 20 lbs at 28", so that bow has since been shortened to 60" and recurved, awaiting a backing of sinew at a later date. This was Plan E and I decided to pull out one of my yew staves and make a D-bow to see if could get a 55#@28" bow like my uncle desired. Well, I made a bow, but once again, it was too light. However, my friend's girlfriend said she'd take it so the bow became hers. At her draw length the bow is 29 lbs, which she could more than handle, which is good because when me and all friends hang out, sometimes we shoot bows and arrows and all of my bows are too heavy for her, so now she has her own. At the time I am writing this, I have finally succeeded at making the bow that's worthy to give to my uncle. Plan E was finished in three coats of blonde shellac, basic wrapped black leather handle (I'm thinking brown would've looked better), calf hair strike plate, I made 2 B-55 Polyester endless strings for it, and its current owner got a half dozen arrows with it too. I really liked the bow except that it was rather light but I would've kept it if no one else wanted it. There was a touch of handshock upon release and when I look at the bow's tiller I think I still have much to learn. Let me know what you guys think.

Thanks for looking,

Aaron

Offline ajbruggink

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  • Aaron Bruggink, Oostburg, WI, USA
Re: "Plan E", bow from January
« Reply #1 on: April 06, 2016, 06:28:48 pm »
more...

Offline cadet

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Re: "Plan E", bow from January
« Reply #2 on: April 06, 2016, 06:59:26 pm »
I love it when a plan - eventually! - comes together.

Is it a trick of the light, or does that right limb look pretty stiff in the middle?

Offline ajbruggink

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  • Aaron Bruggink, Oostburg, WI, USA
Re: "Plan E", bow from January
« Reply #3 on: April 06, 2016, 08:33:32 pm »
Yes, the right limb is stiff, I should have kept going to correct it but I didn't.

mikekeswick

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Re: "Plan E", bow from January
« Reply #4 on: April 07, 2016, 01:42:45 pm »
Your handshock is because the bow is bending too much in the middle 1/3.
To help stop coming in underweight get a long string on your roughed out stave sooner eg. when it is thicker. Pull to your intended weight from the very beginning unless you spot a problem area. Stop and correct it. Your aim then is to get it looking good enough that you are able to pull to your desired weight with no problem areas. Aim for perfect tiller from the beginning or else you end up chasing your tail and losing weight fast.

Offline joachimM

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Re: "Plan E", bow from January
« Reply #5 on: April 07, 2016, 05:38:54 pm »
Good to see you're making progress.
The yew bow seems to bend a bit too much in the inner limbs and not enough in the outers. that's causing the hand shock issue.

I wouldn't waste sinew on red oak. I've used flax + hide glue on oak with good results. A very thin layer can be enough to really increase the draw weight. If the bow is still wide enough for 55" (at least 1.5", better 2") I'd back it with flax or so, but I'm not sure how easy it would be for you to find some.

your red elm: cut off both tips and replace with fish-tail spliced tips of a light wood. You can recurve it that way immediately. Elm can take a lot of bending and stiff tips may be even advantageous.

But first, get your hands on good tillering technique. Jim Ham tillering is where to start. TBB1, or else google it.

hang on there!
Joachim



Offline ajbruggink

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  • Aaron Bruggink, Oostburg, WI, USA
Re: "Plan E", bow from January
« Reply #6 on: April 07, 2016, 08:16:59 pm »
Your handshock is because the bow is bending too much in the middle 1/3.
To help stop coming in underweight get a long string on your roughed out stave sooner eg. when it is thicker. Pull to your intended weight from the very beginning unless you spot a problem area. Stop and correct it. Your aim then is to get it looking good enough that you are able to pull to your desired weight with no problem areas. Aim for perfect tiller from the beginning or else you end up chasing your tail and losing weight fast.
I see what you mean, thanks for the advice.

Offline ajbruggink

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  • Aaron Bruggink, Oostburg, WI, USA
Re: "Plan E", bow from January
« Reply #7 on: April 07, 2016, 08:22:41 pm »
Good to see you're making progress.
The yew bow seems to bend a bit too much in the inner limbs and not enough in the outers. that's causing the hand shock issue.

I wouldn't waste sinew on red oak. I've used flax + hide glue on oak with good results. A very thin layer can be enough to really increase the draw weight. If the bow is still wide enough for 55" (at least 1.5", better 2") I'd back it with flax or so, but I'm not sure how easy it would be for you to find some.

your red elm: cut off both tips and replace with fish-tail spliced tips of a light wood. You can recurve it that way immediately. Elm can take a lot of bending and stiff tips may be even advantageous.

But first, get your hands on good tillering technique. Jim Ham tillering is where to start. TBB1, or else google it.

hang on there!
Joachim
Thanks for the advice, I need to work on tillering first and foremost. I thought about plant backing instead but I can find sinew much easier. If linen can be thought of the same thing then I have some flax but I was going to use that for stringmaking. I recently bought some polished hemp from the store and I was going to test its breaking strength with the intention of trying to make a string out of it but maybe that would work instead? I also have some sisal, do you think that would work?

Offline joachimM

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Re: "Plan E", bow from January
« Reply #8 on: April 08, 2016, 03:59:31 am »
Sisal works great for me, just use less liquid, tackier hide glue. Treat like sinew for the rest.
As for tillering: dont rush it. A few scrapes at a time, check on the tree, etc.