Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Jodocus on April 12, 2012, 02:57:52 pm
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Hello everyone,
I just made my first bow. It is made from a birch (Betula pendula) that had been cut last autumn and has been laying outdoors during the (rather warm and dry) winter. The log was roughly 16 inches thick. I used the outermost yearring as the bows back.
I did not measure anything, used an axe, a rasp, sandpaper and a scraper. The bow is as long as I m tall, 5‘8’’. At my full draw it is probably about 50 pounds. The arrow shelf is about half an inch above the bows center. On the back, I glued overlapping scales of the white birch bark, as I just love the look of that. It took about an inch of set while tillering and shooting the first 50 or so arrows.
I cant really tell if it shoots well, as I have no experience shooting bows. Right now, I cant even hit a large target from 10 yards. But I’m practicing hard.
Now, before starting the next one (I am making arrows at the moment): Having no experience at all, I probably overbuilt the bow a lot. Where could i have reduced weight? Is there a way to find out, I mean, except breaking bows?
Also, as you see, I still got the tillering string on it. Is it at a good length like this? How about the tiller? Limbs and fades are not the same length, since I wanted the arrow to pass close to the bows center. Was that a good idea?
I would appreciate all advice on how to modify this one or go about the next bow. I got some nice maple staves seasoning, some more of that birch and a short (4’5’’) but otherwise perfect yew stave. Some more wood is still standing, but on my radar. I love the wood hunting, I got to say. Bow hunting or fishing is strictly illegal here in Switzerland, so I will mainly want to target-shoot and have fun in whatever vegetarian way there is to have fun with a bow.
Thanks and greetings
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Excellent, my first wasn't that good.
Del
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Looks very good to me! Certainly for your first bow. Do you have a lot of experience with woodworking?
I check the braceheight of my bow by placing my hand with extended thumb on the handle of by bow, my thumb will just touch the bowstring. Propably there are some others with better advice ;)
There are people who like the arrow to pass in the center, thats OK as long as tiller accordingly. I would move on to your next bow and focus on making a good set of arrows that match the bow, I rather shoot a crappy bow with good arrows then the otherway around.
Greetings,
Stefan
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Thank you. I have no experience at all with woodworking. I just proceeded very slowly, always paranoid about cutting off too much. Having no clear picture of what to aim for, it took me about 40 hours or so to make this :)
Next time i'll go more quickly, sticking with the axe longer...
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That looks great! The birch bark is a nice touch, I'll have to give that a try sometime.
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There have been a lot of "first bows" recently here on PA but this ones my favorite. Good work.
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what do i think, i think you made a heck of a nice bow, raise the brace to about six inches and start practicing, Bub
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Nice work, really like the way you did the birch bark.
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Your tiller may not be perfect, but I've done worse on bows long after my fiftieth bow was finished! You took on a rather tough design and turned out a shooting bow, that's a sure sign that you are a patient woodworker! And the finish work with the bark on the limb back is very novel and quite attractive. I would say you have something to be proud of, Jodocus, good work!
Good luck hunting carrots and cabbages with your bow! Who knows, maybe some day you will make a trip to the United States and can go hunting with some of us!
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Thank you Stefan, judging by the rule you propose, I still need to shorten the string quite a bit.
It will be a while until I have made a couple of good arrows. I can't sem to get any two or three shafts with similar spine AND weight up to now... I have made about a dozen shafts up to now from hazel and hackberry (I like the hackberry shafts better). I absolutely want to find some wayfaring tree shoots, but i dont recognise them with no leaves on. In europe, it is almost the only wood used for arrows since the mesolithic.
I straighten the shafts by hand, cold, wich works just fine, and put some kind of bone field-points on them.
last week my wife told me about a dead grey heron (like the great blue ones) that was lying in the field. I sure got some nice feathers from it. I have no flechting jig and am still quite tense while flechting, though it is very satisfying to look at when done.
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I would say you did pretty good for your first bow, congratulations. They will only get better. and birch isnt the easiest wood to make a good bow out of. I would say you would get a better tiller if you make both limbs the same size next time. But still a great looking bow.
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Very nice bow regardless if its your first. really like the birch bark backing too. great job
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Thanks everyone for the positive feedbak, it is very motivating.
The birch baking was pretty tricky. While birch bark ist quite robust, this is only true for the lower layers, and those have an orange or pinkish color. I wanted the truly white stuff, and this one is fragile, brittle and tends to disintegrate on touch and thus is messy. I therefore coated it with wheatpaste after the glue had dried. This helped well. In the end, the whole bow, including the coated backing where treated with linseed oil. the oil spreaded nicely on the dry wheatpaste.
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awesome job!!!!!! I can't wait to see your next bow!
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First of all absolutely fantastic job with your first bow!! seriously. Extra points for cool look and creatitivy! ;) On the next one just take the tillering slower and don't progress past where you see any issues. Both limbs should be even. Your right limb (upper) bends much more than the lower. it's supposed to bend slightly more but very slightly (3/16 of an inch at brace). Since it's not a hunter you could carefully take some scrapes off the bottom limb to even it out a bit. May be perfect after that. Using a computer to draw a line on it like this helps show the tiller. Again really great job overall! Remember hunting butterflies and grasshoppers are in all year!! >:D :laugh:
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That's pretty!
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Thank you PAarcher. There are really some questions I could not quite see trough while tillering. I distributed the bows asymmetry (freely) between fades and bending limbs. Thus, the fades are not the same lenght. So, do I tiller relative to the edges of the bending parts (blue line in pic) or where the string will rest (red?). I also had difficulties with the parts close to the handle, which I barely got to bend.
I was insecure about the bow not sitting there flat (green line) when pulled in the middle of the string. I also noticed that when struck like a cord, they would differ in pitch, indicating different tension/lenght ratio. I admit my tillering tree is truly crappy, carelessly chopped from a twisted piece of hazel. This might be a reason as well.
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sorry, forgot the pic:
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do I tiller relative to the edges of the bending parts (blue line in pic) or where the string will rest (red?).
Anytime bro. I'm no expert btw just another noob learnin my way through this stuff. The style bow you designed will not bend near the tips they are too thick. They are like "levers". That's fine but it means your tillering will happen between the blue line and middle. Then bends look pretty good actually just the top bends a lot more. First I would do full length strokes with a scraper/knife along blue line to handle. Start with 40 down the belly (or sides, whatever) of the top limb. Check the tiller, do another pic if needed. if it doesn't move much do 40 more. keep going until they even up. Draw it several times throught the process. Make a mark a few inches past the fades (out from the handle) on both sides and measure the distance from the string to the bow belly. The top limb should generally be about 3/16 of an inch more than the bottom (it's much more right now). Infact do that before you start so you have a point of reference. Hope that helps! Keep us posted!
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That is way better then My first bow. You did great. Every bow is different and each style has pros and cons. My advice is try them all >:D And find out what you love the best. Congratulations and welcome to the addiction ::)
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I'm impressed! I haven't even attempted that style of bow. Very well done, especially for your first. Thanks for showing it.
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Good job! I guess I'll have to add you to the list of guys setting the bar high for us beginners! ;D
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Looks great!!! I have yet to try that design.... I think you did a great job with the details!!
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Nice job on your first bow. Now you've done it! gone and got yourself addicted. ;) Now for your next bow, If you have lots of hazel like your tillering stick, that will make a fine bow also. And yes, the way to look at the tiller on that style of bow is in the area between the blue line and the handle. You could also remove some of the thickness on those tips (they would still not bend) to lighten them for improved performance.
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Wow, rarely do I reply to a post on the bows page, but you're inspirational with that sweet bow. I have yet to make a shootable bow, but seein bows like your's make me want to keep tryin!! as for not hittin the target, keep shootin and try something new if you're still not hittin the target. Use one arrow and shoot it multiple times, then aim opposite the way the arrow usually goes. and have fun, great bow!!! and welcome. dpgratz
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There actally is tons of hazel growing around here. I planned to use it for practicing my bowmaking, too. But guess what: I collected about ten good, long and thick stems, and they where all grown in a spiral twist. The last three I split twisted over 180 degrees over a bows lenght! ??? So they ended up as wedges, for my kids to grind on while i did my bow, as hilts for my rasps, or as tillering tree...
But I definetly want to do a hazel bow, as son as I find a suitable piece. I'll post it. If ever.
There is also lots of hornbeam, which I read makes good bows, but those trees look like they're braided, I doubt there is a single usable piece of hornbeam out there.
There is, however, black locust, as a neophyte. Got introduced for wood production and felt right at home, as it seems. And I already spotted some promising branches.
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Fantastic bow, never mind for your first.
The backing looks very nice too, very individual. I agree on the tiller great job just the balance is a little off. Brace height for me is as low as it doesnt slap my wrist when shooting and a good brace height tension. More often than not on shorter bows my brace is nearer my last knuckle of a fistmille, or fistmile - 1 oncle :)
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Beautiful bow! Great job for your first one. I feel sort of like dwardo on the subject of brace height. I like mine a little lower - just enough to where it isn't slapping my wrist. I think the lower brace height makes a faster arrow, but a higher brace height helps your accuracy. If you raise it up some, your shooting might improve. Welcome to the addiction.
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Very nice job on your first,10th for that matter, I would have thought I had died and went to Heaven if my first several turned out that good.Sweet. :) :)
Pappy
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Wow, rarely do I reply to a post on the bows page, but you're inspirational with that sweet bow. I have yet to make a shootable bow, but seein bows like your's make me want to keep tryin!!
so what's stoping ya, go get a good hickory board and get one built,jump in the deep end with the rest of us >:D, Bub
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Wow, rarely do I reply to a post on the bows page, but you're inspirational with that sweet bow. I have yet to make a shootable bow, but seein bows like your's make me want to keep tryin!!
so what's stoping ya, go get a good hickory board and get one built,jump in the deep end with the rest of us >:D, Bub
;D I've still got the plans you sent me. I was hoping to work on a bow @ the classic and hoping to shoot it there too. Don't know if that'll happen or not, but I'm hoping. Until then I don't plan on starting one. ;) dpg
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First bow, a stave, birch, the design you chose, all in all, very impressive! Congratulations!
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Thanks everyone for the warm and positive reception. I am new to bowmaking and new to this forum and it was a pleasant surprise. :) :D ;D
From what you all wrote, I make up this:
The bow is probably alright like this as my first bow. I will proceed to the next one. In fact I have already made a second, yet small bow for my 4 year old son, since he insisted on shooting along with me.
From what some of you said, I figured I might take on an different design soon. I was not aware the one I chose might be more difficult than any other.
But on the other hand, I want to try and make a lighter bow of the same design, see how far I can go. When my wife first saw the bow, she said: "Nice and pretty, but why did you make it so big and bulky? One needs a stand to shoot it!" I don't, but it is true I was always afraid of cutting away too much.
First I'll make a new tillering tree.
So again, thanks everyone, I hope I'll be back soon.