Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Iitchy on April 17, 2011, 04:08:21 pm
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Ok so I am just starting out making bows and have a hackberry stave that is 72in long just cut and split today. I have pealed the bark of the back and going to start reducing the belly of the stave to just starting to floor tiller later tonight or tomorrow. Also should I go with a flat bow design or a long bow? I want to go with the one that is easiest to tiller.
Heres some pics of the stave so far.
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Welcome to PA, Iitchy. You should probably seal the back and ends of your freshly cut stave. Carpenters glue will work fine for this but leave the split side(s) unsealed. Hackberry would probably fair better as a flat bow. Tillering is not easy no matter which design you choose. Take your time, ask lots of questions and we can talk you through the process.
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Welcome Iitchy. You found a treasure chest full of knowledge her at PA ;)
Pat seems to have said about all that's needed 8)
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The easiest profile for me to tiller is a pyramid tapered limbed flatbow, or a pyramid bow, with a nonworking handle. Even on character full staves an attempt at a pyramid tapered limb seems to speed up the tillering process.
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If you go with a flatbow, use the old "double your draw length plus 10%" rule, then add a couple inches more for good measure. Go at least 1 3/4" wide at the fadeouts and you should be just fine.
I enjoy working hackberry and have had some really nice results. I especially like the natural color of the wood and never stain it. Just be very careful that you do not violate a growth ring on the back. If you have any questionable areas besure to sinew wrap that area or back it with thin rawhide.
Good luck and keep posting pics as you go, we're all interested to see how it turns out.
-john
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Thank you Pat and hillbilly I thought it might take a few days to get a reply but this site is great :D. I will go and seal the back after this post. I also have another question is it alright to have the stave floor tillered and then let the the wood dry or should I have the stave near final now dimensions?
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Ok thanks JW I will go with the Flatbow design. my draw length is 28in and the stave is around 72in. I usualy shoot a 50 pound compound bow would a 40-45pound bow be abought right or do you think that I will need to go lower?
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here is another hackberry stave for my little sister that I am working whenever I am not working on mine it is starting to floor tiller.
I put the stave in some water to loosen the bark and it took some reflex and the tips have bent a little so I think that I will have to try to steam bend it.
here are the pics
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If you haven't made many bows, I'd say shoot for 70# at your drawlength. After a couple hundred bows I still shoot for at least 10 lbs higher than what I want. Let's just say I've made plenty of "kids" bows unintentionally.
If you get 'er tillered in heavier than you want, you can still gently scrape to a weight you can handle. Putting it back on is a bit more problematic.
As far as deciding what you want for a final draw weight, you will have to consider what you want thr bow to do. I have shot 50# bows for years and decided I want to push that up to 60 for a little flatter shooting for hunting. I'm not saying you can't hunt with a lighter weight bow, one of my 32# kid's bows harvested a whitetail doe a few years ago (I didn't do it, I'm too afraid of wounding and losing an animal). If you want a good roving or plinking bow 40# is easier to shoot all day long.
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Thanks JW I have not shot traditional bows except for the one my dads friend let us borrow(which I could pull back about 15in) it was 55 pounds at 28in.I just need a bow that I can practice with so it doesn't need to be high poundage but I will shoot for 60 pounds and take it down from there.
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Yes, you can get the staves to floor tiller stage without adverse effects. You may want to tie or clamp the stave to a board as it dries to prevent twisting, give it a month and it should be stable enough to unclamp.
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Ok thank you Pat.
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Ok I sealed the back and now ive tried to lay the bow out but not sure if i did it right.
width between the lines is 2in and middle of bow is 3ft down.
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Nice looking hackberry stave. I really like working with it. If you do decide to steam anything into it, you've got the right wood. You can just about curl hackberry back on itself. Very responsive to bending. It's great starter wood too. Enjoy!!
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try 68" tip to tip, and 40# is a good starter weight, if you can draw 55# 15" you can probably handle 40#, too heavy and you might develop some bad habits, ask lot's of ? and good luck, Bub
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thx I was thinking when I steam my lil sisters stave I would tie the tips in place to a couple chairs and put weights in the middle and have a stack of books stop the bend where I want it.
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Ok I got the bow ruffed out today and will work on floor tillering tomorrow.
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boo-yeah! I mean BOW-yeah!
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I posted the wrong pic LOL :D
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Ok so my stave has been drying for a month now and I started working on it again this morning. its not ready for the long string just yet I still need to even out the belly and get the sides of the limbs closer to final dimmensions.
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Ok so my first bow is basically done it is 50lbs at 28in and 68in ttt