Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: aero86 on November 28, 2010, 03:53:57 pm
-
hey everyone, back at making bows again. havent posted one since my last broken one months ago. just havent been into it lately. also, the new has worn off the Mongol bow i got, so i wanted to try my hand again at a shorter siyah'ed bow. and of course i went with red oak..
had to start out with a 3 inch wide board, cause the 1.5 inch wides werent any good. i made it a bit longer than the last one i tried to make. this one was 55 inches long before the siyahs were glued on, compared to the others at 48. not sure how what the space is between the nocks or what not. but, an interesting thing happened when making this bow.
i goofed up! lol. go figure. i didnt notice till i started tillering it. the top limb is an inch longer than the bottom. i moved the handle down a bit by mistake, but i guess its not such a bad thing, asymetrical might help me. it has taken set, more than likely from me not removing wood properly in the early stages of floor tillering, not too worried about it as im not reallly looking for a performer out of it, just an unbroken bow! lol.
anyways, ill stop being so long winded with this. i need help with the tiller. i usually use my porch floor for tillering, but i couldnt take a decent picture as the shadows were funny, so i had to use the side of my house. hopefully the lines of the siding can help with you guys reference.. i can see its off, but it doesnt seem to because the siyahs appear to be at the same angle.
so im a bit stuck and need some help. it looks like i need to get the right limb bending a bit more, but im not sure as its an inch shorter. also, from the looks of it, anyone think i might be able to get to 27 with it unbacked? thats right at 2 times the length.
(http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t49/whiteneon98/003-1.jpg)
-
I don't know about the tiller, but that's a sweet ride you've got there!!
-
Trying to get on his good side, Cameroo? Aero is totally into performance sports cars, even on his limited budget. hehehe
-
Looking pretty good. I would scrape a bit more on the mid to outer limb of the right limb, looks a bit flat there. Have you tried a tillering gizmo yet?
-
I'd agree. The right limb is behind, and stiff in the middle.
-
"anyone think i might be able to get to 27 with it unbacked? thats right at 2 times the length."
It's not 2x the working limb though, which is the general rule, but who cares about rules right ;D This is supposed to be fun. If you're willing to take the risk, push for the 27"...Have you heat treated the belly? Maybe heat treat, get the limbs bending more evenly and give that 27" a whirl. What's it drawing now?
-
yeah, that there is lighting mcqueen. 12v of fury. i wouldnt even trade JW for his bow for that thing! lol.
your right NTD, i had it a bit messed up there. im probably gonna heat treat the belly. i have some sinew, i thought about using on it, but im not sure. i might have a better blank of another wood coming that i intended to use it on.
in that picture, its drawing 24. about the same as my last one, that broke at 25 on me. this one definitely looks better than that one did..
-
well, i braved it. made it to 27 inches. i need to get a proper string made for it. im still thinking its going to break on me. either way, ive learned a lot on taking my time, planning it out, paying attention to where ive measured! lol. might put some linen on the back just to keep it from blowing up and beaning me in the head.
its about 58 inches NTN
it ended up at 35lbs @27
set i wont post because idk how to measure it for sure! lol. needless to say, its not pretty.
well, heres 27. again, left limb is the upper, longer limb
(http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t49/whiteneon98/005-1.jpg)
-
Hey Aero
As soon as I read "Back at it", I knew that it was a siyah style you were attempting. ;D You are gonna get there. With that longer upper limb...don't call it a mistake....it is a version of a Japanese style bow ;). I think it will come out just fine! We have both snapped a lot of that danged red oak. I know the pain! :-[
Can't wait to see the final pics. got a good feeling about this one....DON'T HURRY...TAKE IT SLOW!!
Ron
-
aero , if you shoot with a selfbow , how long would you hold up the bow on full draw ? 30 seconds ? or even a minute ? No , 1 or 2 seconds because, you don't want to hurt the bow .
But you do make a photo under fulldraw on the tillering tree :o...... ;D
A photo drawn to around 23" is good enough to know how the tiller looks like . ;)
Oh, tiller looks good :)
acker
-
yeah, i know, i dont leave it there for long.. i have the camera ready, draw it, hook it, line it up, then snap. probably too long and the reason why there is lots of set! lol
-
I think we all did that often,(me as well ;D ) them sort of photos , but if you think about it you know how bad it is for a selfbow
-
"I think we all did that often,(me as well Grin ) them sort of photos , but if you think about it you know how bad it is for a selfbow"
So true. I only take full draw pictures when drawing it by hand now. Sometimes even full draw videos. Something about the tiller tree giving the bow almost no slack really aint good for a bow.
-
im gonna go out on a limb here , in my mind if its tillered correct and no one part of the limb is overstrained i dont think 30 secs. will hurt a bow. ive taken numerous pics and then brought them to my pc to check on tiller .and the bow still come out with zero set. its not something i would do with a flight bow with the lowest possible mass but a normal hunting bow should be no prob. jmo
-
thats all i use is a tiller stick,no fancy tree with a pulley for me
i made a stick when i first started in this hobby
every one keeps saying you gotta have a tree,they are soooooo much better
better for the bow,safer for you
well i take my pics on it,i tiller on it,sometimes i even stare at the bow while its drawn on it
i am with Ken here,my bows all perform well,none have taken a huge amount of set,and i have yet to have one blow on the stick
i think as far as them causing undue stress on a bow,that is kept to minimum if you arent exceeding your intended draw weight/length
now if someone wants to come over with all the supplies and make me two tiller trees(i have two work areas ;D ) then fine i wil use it
untill then a tiller stick is just fine for me,(im too cheap to go replace something that aint broken or missing )
-
sailordad , you have two work areas but only one tiller stick ???
You have to build more bows ;D
I have two work areas as well but 2 tiller sticks and a pully one ::)
;)
There is nothing wrong with to use a tiiler stick , I like to use them and only prefer the pully version for really heavy sort of bows like over 70# .
I think, it īs sometimes saver to stay a bit away from the bow...
-
sailordad , you have two work areas but only one tiller stick ???
You have to build more bows ;D
I have two work areas as well but 2 tiller sticks and a pully one ::)
;)
There is nothing wrong with to use a tiiler stick , I like to use them and only prefer the pully version for really heavy sort of bows like over 70# .
I think, it īs sometimes saver to stay a bit away from the bow...
yup 2 work areas,one tiller stick and one set of tools needed for bow making ;)
like i said,too cheap to buy more when what i have still works and aint missing ;D
as far as building more bows goes,why ?
you can only shoot one at a time ;D
i used to make a bunch,but most of my bow shooting friends and family have them now
plus once i learned to knapp,that now takes up most my free time
not to mention,to me bow wood is a premium.i dont own land so accumulating bow wood is tough at best
gets too expensive to buy on line and have it shipped,rocks cheaper ;D
-
well, before i put a few more finishing touches on it tonight, like wrapping the string and applying string silencers, i decided to shoot it a few times, even though it was dark out. so i placed my holey bag by the tall wooden fence, just incase i missed. this thing really flings an arrow! feels like it shoots pretty close to my Mongol FB bow. at its about 47lbs at 27. this one is 35. of course, mine has more working limb, more actual draw lenght, and not so big of siyahs to slow it down.
anyways, cant wait for the weekend when i can shoot it during the day and see how it really does!
-
would just like to add. i took it out today to shoot it at the outdoor archery range. shooting two totally different arrows, cheap carbons from walmart, 29 inches long, and my handmade bamboo arrows, also 29 inches long. the carbons i had to nock a quarter inch lower than my bamboo, but no big deal. if you can shoot, this thing will drill an arrow right where your looking. im very impressed with how it shoots. re measured the draw weight. its around 40lbs at 28. even though i shoot about 27.5 so it works just perfect for me
also, two compound guys walked by before i left and commented on how impressive it looks, especially hand made.
how about some pics!
bow with two bamboo arrows
(http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t49/whiteneon98/bow%20stuff/009-1.jpg)
belly shoot
(http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t49/whiteneon98/bow%20stuff/012.jpg)
handle. hemp wrapped with thick leather on the back. also, you can see the canvas backing as well
(http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t49/whiteneon98/bow%20stuff/011-1.jpg)
and heres the siyah attached to the limb tip. should be able to see the glue line, and how i tried to blend the end of the limb into the bottom of the siyah. you can also see my small string bridge and rabbit fur silencer. the knots of the string rest on the string bridge.
(http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t49/whiteneon98/bow%20stuff/010.jpg)
-
Awesome. Nice arrows too. Did a really good job with this one. I like the silencers. Did you make em or buy em? Sweet bow.
-
thanks man, means a lot! im really enjoying, but i think im ready to move on to the next project already! lol
the silencers i made myself. they are just rabbit fur. cut the strips a bit wider than 1/4in i believe.. they look kinda then, but they work decent so i left them alone
-
Aero
Dang son finally! Great job 8)....Man am I glad you got that one under your belt. You have tried soooo hard. With the trial and error you should be a master. I admire a man that will not take NO for an answer!!! (especially with limited wood, ie red oak...I feel the pain!)
Happy for ya!!! :)
God Bless
Ron
-
thanks Ron! i do appreciate that! ive been mulling it over in my head, trying to make one work, even though ive got one already. actually, im already thinking about my next one! lol
Ryan
-
thanks Ron! i do appreciate that! ive been mulling it over in my head, trying to make one work, even though ive got one already. actually, im already thinking about my next one! lol
Ryan
Good! I wouldn't expect anything else from YOU!
You are a DIE HARD. I mean that as one hell-of-a compliment!!!!
Ron