Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: knap_123 on July 29, 2009, 09:24:54 pm
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ok guys, i'm getting frustrated here. i've ruined more wood than i care to share and still have not made a decent bow by myself! recently i keep messing up trying to get a twist out or bend a tip. everytime i heat a limb up i get cracks running up my limbs. is the wood still green? its osage, 6 mths. old, and dry heat. i think i no the answer but give it to me. and how many bows did you guys ruin till you got a shooter? i'm up to about 8 or so.
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just keep making them, dude, they will get better and better
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i still got the first bow i made. but i have broke a few. dont stop.
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I broke 3 bows before I got a shooter. Than 2 more before the next shooter. Then next one was a shooter as well. Then I started tryin different types of bows. I get more shooters than I break now, but still have one once in a while. Keep on buildin and learnin. It will all come together.
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I broke about 8 before I had one that I felt was reliable. I had a couple of successes in there but they had chrysaled and were just very blah.
My two cents: If you haven't made a successful bow yet, I'd start out with something more simple than trying to recurve tips and chase rings. I consider myself to be basically brand new at this going on 8 months. The best thing to happen to me was to turn to hickory 2x4s at a hardwood dealer. It has provided me with a chance to make bows and learn a lot of the key processes without getting frustrated and being able to enjoy the finish work and ultimately shooting. I don't yet have the luxury of staves but I've had a blast with the hickory boards.
Good luck!
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I went backwards. My first try at a hickory board bow turned out very good. Still have it downstairs and bring it out to shoot now and then. But after that, I'll bet I busted over 20 diff. bows. I busted hickory, oak, elm, black locust, black walnut, you name it, I broke it. Maple, I broke more maple bows.
This was back in the mid 90's and all I had to go from it Laubin's Indian Archery book. Then I found the bibles, also Murray Gaskins had a site with directions, oh, and Prim. Archer mag. had the bow building issues. I got all of them, cut out the bow building part and made my own book.
Still have the cut outs and ref. them along with the bibles and yes, I still ref. Laubin. Lately though I've just clicked over to Jawge's site. Been building bows since 95 and sometimes still feel like a greenhorn.
You'll get it and then you will make a good run on bows. Then you'll break a few then you will get back on board. LOL. Or stave.
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I broke to many of them but when you do get one it makes it even sweeter. Depending on if the crack running up it runs off the side or not it may still be good. One that I made devoloped a small drying check or crack but it runs vertical with the limb for a couple of inches. Shoots good no problems hunted two years and will use it again this year still going strong. post a picture of the crack in the limb and lets have a look.
Dennis
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parnell's right: hickory is a very forgiving and pretty cheap wood to make bows with. BUT it tends to collapse in compression. For me, it's a backing strip material: easy to work, tight grain.
You need some successes under your belt, but build the bow you want to build. I broke a whole bunch and then made a 60" red oak recurve that was really powerful and fast. I don't even know how fast, or the draw weight, because i didn't have a scale. Don't be shy about taking on challenging projects. They build your skill level. But get some successes under your belt: wouldn't be a bad idea to start with some hickory 2x4's.
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if you get a vertical crack or a crack in a knot, just put liquid CA in there. Done deal.
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sounds to me like the wood is still to green, does your wood have a coat of shellac on? 6 months wont dry osage unless it was thinned down first, to allow it to dry quicker,, I always coat stave with shellac wheather wet or dry,I will thin down my osage and make a blank, shellac it heat straighten it, put it up for a year, straighten some more then make a bow, a big thick osage stave set back for 6months is still very green.
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I am with Woodstick....still have my first three I made....but have broken some since I decided to make them more Fancy than practical....I still feel the simpler the better...JMO
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If you are working with osage listen to Yazoo. He has dealt with more osage trees and staves and bows than almost all of us put together. Just because a stave feels dry doesn't mean it is. If it checked when you heated it, it was too green(wet). You can force dry osage that has been reduced to almost bow size but nothing beats natural drying over a period of time for a durable stave and bow.
You seem to be complicating the bow building process and frustrating yourself. Start simple!!! Make a simple flat bow and learn how to tiller and what proper tiller looks like. Once you achieve this you can experiment with other styles and configurations. You have to learn to crawl before you can learn to walk! ;)
Read Jawge's site! Take his advice and get yourself a good board(also following George's advice) and get started with your next bow. Bring all your questions(with pics) back and we will walk (or crawl if that's the case) you towards a successful bow.
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What did I say above....huum....See even the Old Bearded Geezer has to agree with Me......... ;D......... >:D
....I still feel the simpler the better...JMO
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;D
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If the wood is checking after heating it's too green. My first solo bow was a shooter. I broke the next five before I got another one.
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mike ur hilarious! quoting yourself!
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I broke my first one, the second is still shooting today. I've broke three more since then, It's just part of the process just keep learning and keep trying and you'll get it.
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I never work Osage less than a year old,I only use dry heat after steaming if it is less than 2 years old and only use dry heat when it is over 2 years old.I also seal it with polly or something like that. :)
Unless the checks run off the edge they won't hurt anything.Just fill them wit super glue and carry on. :)
Pappy
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What everybody else said. I broke a couple when I started, and made a few with chrysals and 3" of string follow. Much of my problem was trying to make bows from green wood. One suggestion I have-go to an event like the TN Classic where there are a hundred experienced bowyers sitting around who wil give you some hands-on advice. I would have started making good bows much sooner if I had done this-it's like being able to walk into the Bowyer's Bible. :) Like somebody said, my first attempts many years ago were after reading Laubin's book. Laubin knew his stuff, but he was talking about 48" sinewed osage recurves and stuff that it took him a lifetime of bowbuilding to work up to. I agree with everybody else-get you a couple staves of hickory, white ash, or elm and make a couple of long flatbows to get yourself headed down the right path. And you may find yourself preferring them to the fancier bows you'll build later.
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Knap, there's no need to try to make your all wooden bow look like a glass bow. Choose a nice straight stave. No heating and bending just yet. A little twist is ok. I seldom do. I broke 14 to answer your question. Thanks, FVR. Jawge
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thanks guys, i will take all the advise and apply it. i new it was to green but it was a kids bow and very thin so i thought it wouald be ok. i was trying to practice on a small scale before i tackled a larger scale. i have succesfully tillered 2 bows. one i made thats my first shooter. a friend taught me how to chase a ring on and got me down 2 a very thick blank. i still have it but its realy strong so i put it up in hopes of one day going back and fixin it. this is it here(http://i328.photobucket.com/albums/l338/knap_123/bow7002.jpg) and another that a guy sent me that all i had to is tiller. (http://i328.photobucket.com/albums/l338/knap_123/2ndbow007.jpg)(http://i328.photobucket.com/albums/l338/knap_123/2ndbow001.jpg)(http://i328.photobucket.com/albums/l338/knap_123/2ndbow002.jpg[/IMG ][IMG]http://i328.photobucket.com/albums/l338/knap_123/2ndbow002.jpg) i still havent added any cosmetics to this bow yet. its 72# at 26" and i thought of waiting till i get up to see ridgerunner and see if he couald help me get the weight down. but i might just leave it a shoot it like it is. luckly i have access to 500 acres or deep forested osage to cut. so i'm to worried of wasting good wood. the owner of the land considers it a pest and lets me cut all i want. but its all swamp so nows not a good time to go. maybe in the fall when the mosquitos and snakes are down.
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(http://i328.photobucket.com/albums/l338/knap_123/2ndbow002.jpg)
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That one is looking pretty good,I broke probably 6 or 7 before I got my first and still break one on occasion.Sometimes it ant you,sometimes it's the wood don't want to be a bow,it wants to cook brats instead.You can get away with a lot of thing from time to time but as you go along you will find there are a few rules that can't be broken. :) Stay at it ,you will get there and when you do there is nothing like shooting your first arrow out of you first bow. :)
Pappy
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what is brats?????????
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Bratwurst. Good with peppers, onions, and cold beer.
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OK now im hungry..... No brat trees on location, and especially no beer to simmer them in.
Ive had 4 shooters out of 20, and your doing fine the tiller looks good on those you posted pics of.