Traditional Seminole bow in works

[Coo-wah-chobee]

Dana yer correct. I do it freehand. Iam workin' on strings in backyard . Any enviroment will do ya need ta be resourceful with all these projects.....bob

[Kegan]

Holy cow! Or should I say squirrel? I had trouble cutting strips with pencil lines and scissors . That's amazing!

Do you use any plant fibers for strings, or is rawhide that much stronger?

[Coo-wah-chobee]

Kegan...I use rawhide but I think plant fibers are stronger or should I say ta be correct last longer. In plant fibers I use bromeliad, coconut, banana and nettle. I prefer coconut cause its readily available and waterproof. Rawhide from fox tree rats lasts 1000 shots fer me. Holy S#*^ here come the arguments ! Rawhide is NOT waterproof and stretches some in the humidity er in the rain. Who cares ? Not me I just adjust the string. Like the freehand huh ? Use a sharp obsidian flake set in a stick ta make a hoko knife and it works better than a sisszor. After a while ya get real good at it and the obs just looks at ya waitin' ta cut ya , a added bonus !   (yer blood )yummy .........................bob

[michbowguy]

 

[Kegan]

Kegan...I use rawhide but I think plant fibers are stronger or should I say ta be correct last longer. In plant fibers I use bromeliad, coconut, banana and nettle. I prefer coconut cause its readily available and waterproof. Rawhide from fox tree rats lasts 1000 shots fer me. Holy S#*^ here come the arguments ! Rawhide is NOT waterproof and stretches some in the humidity er in the rain. Who cares ? Not me I just adjust the string. Like the freehand huh ? Use a sharp obsidian flake set in a stick ta make a hoko knife and it works better than a sisszor. After a while ya get real good at it and the obs just looks at ya waitin' ta cut ya , a added bonus !   (yer blood )yummy .........................bob

Thanks! I've begun a milkweed string, which, at the moment, seems much stronger than a similiarly sized rawhide string (the individual threads that is). Hoko knife huh? Looks like it would really do the trick! You're really helping us all out with this build along !!

[jamie]

nice. but your wrong about tree rats

[Coo-wah-chobee]

Nope.Not about fox tree rats. Greys arent worth crap. Ifn ya usin' them ya aint gonna get about 100+ shots outta a string. I use fox 4 strand fer 50 + lb. bows and 6 fer bows 60 lbs er so. The hides are different the fox is much stronger......bob

[Pat B]

Bob, Great thread.    Would you show your technique for stripping the strands. When I had the leather shop we used to make our own lace with circles of leather.  We would put a nail in the center and use a draw gauge to strip lace as the leather circle pivoted on the nail.
  We have gray skirlz(and a white variety from Austria I think) plus "Boomers"( red skirlz.) We also have ground hogs.    Pat

[Rich Saffold]

  I love it Bob "Carrotwood" gonna have to check the book and see if we have been invaded yet..It was avocado you sent me right?
I like it.

My brother-in-law is a developer. He uses tape to keep the horns from popping out of his skull.

Rich

[Coo-wah-chobee]

I love it Bob "Carrotwood" gonna have to check the book and see if we have been invaded yet..It was avocado you sent me right?
I like it.

My brother-in-law is a developer. He uses tape to keep the horns from popping out of his skull.

Rich

       Rich..believe I sent ya sweet orange from my neighbors yard. Was invadin' my space ! Carrotwood is Cupaniopsis anacardioides. Its an evergreen and I believe originally came from "down under." Ha ! Had a family member that was on of those ! ...........bob

[Coo-wah-chobee]

Pat........when I make second string I will show ya my less than modern way of makin' strands. Will finish up 1 st string first since I am part way there. Okee dokee ?...............bob

[Pat B]

okee dokee!      Pat

[Rich Saffold]

Bob, Carrotwood is growing all over the place here! The book says its listed on Florida's State list of Noxious Weeds!  It's all over the neighborhood.

 Looking at it, never would have thought it would be good. I bet there's a lot of species common to both of our regions. They invaded your area, and the rich folks here imported them in the 1800's since the climate here is quite mild, and to dress up their mansions.

Rich-Thanks Bob! 

[Coo-wah-chobee]

I have been a little distracted the past week, sorry foks. A youngin' that is seriously ill wanted ta go bowfishin' with me. So fer me that takes priority over this build-a-along. Hope y'all understand. Iam makin' him a bow ta go fishin' with but the relevant thing here is I used the leftover fox rat hide ta make him a 2 strand string fer his bow. So here it is ta keep this thing goin' and "waste not want not !" . Ta be continued, the build- a- long that is ........................................bob

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[Justin Snyder]

Great looking string Bob. I guess you wont be needing any beaver fur silencers on that one.    Justin