Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: PrimitiveTim on April 15, 2013, 10:14:35 pm
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I've got a list of questions for this stave and I'll throw those in at the end.
This is a hackberry stave the back of the stave is the side with all the shadow. It's naturally curved like that. That is the bottom side of the branch.
(https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/537213_10151477005269865_196685195_n.jpg)
Brief History of the Stave:
This is one of the first staves I ever cut. I cut it and split it and sealed it late last year. I let it dry. When I decided I was going to make a bow out of it the bark would not come off. I heard you could soak them and that would work. I chucked it in the pond for a few weeks and about half of the bark peeled off. The rest wouldn't come off easily. I chucked it back into the pond and forgot about it.... until today. I pulled it out and got all the bark off the back. It measures in at 55" ttt but the finished product will be a few inches shorter than that.
I want to make a good woods bow that I can do a lot of hunting with. 50#ish draw at 25"ish would be preferred. I was thinking bend in the handle bow but I'm not sure if the recurve will put too much stress on the limbs or how that will work.
Basically I'm asking advice on what style bow for such a short bow would work best for being in the woods and hunting.
I've never made a bend in the handle bow. Is it similar to normal bow except you just work the fades down until the top and bottom fades meet and you can feel it bending? I've always based my process off of what Billy Berger did in his 4 part youtube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eWDgNrLYps) series. I'm just not really sure how to approach this one.
Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks!
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I've never heard of throwing a stave into a pond to remove the bark. I just use a spoke shave or draw knife. The moisture content of your stave is going to be sky high.
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I've never heard of throwing a stave into a pond to remove the bark. I just use a spoke shave or draw knife. The moisture content of your stave is going to be sky high.
Of course I'll allow it to dry out. I read about it on this forum. Don't have a spoke shave or a draw knife so I'm letting nature do the work for me.
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you'd better hope fungus hasn't set in....What's the discoloration on the stave?
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Little advice for the future I've found if you steam one end of the stave for about an hour the bark will lift up then you carefully pull the bark off try to get it off in one piece
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I use a very thin opinel knife to remove bark and then a scraper for the cambium.
Not much advice to offer on a stave that short but halfeye will put you in the right direction :)
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Umm forget the pond next time! ;)
What tools are you going to use to make the bow? Any knife will work to remove the bark. Patience is the key.
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Look in the HowTo's and Build Along for short bow tillering on page 2 by: Halfeye, he covers every step. He's the short bow man without a doubt...He tillers by bending across his knee!
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Look in the HowTo's and Build Along for short bow tillering on page 2 by: Halfeye, he covers every step. He's the short bow man without a doubt...He tillers by bending across his knee!
Oh wow that's a lot of good information! I'll have to wait to read it all after my test today. lol
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If I had wood that had been sitting in a pond for months, I think the best design might be foot long sized section stacked in a pyramid.
Seriously man, you might want to try another stave. Live and Learn, it happens, we all make mistakes.
Regarding the actual question, Keep your short bows a little wider than normal, get as much working limb as possible, tiller them well, and you'll be allright. :)
Also Check out Halfeye's posts. :)
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If I had wood that had been sitting in a pond for months, I think the best design might be foot long sized section stacked in a pyramid.
Seriously man, you might want to try another stave. Live and Learn, it happens, we all make mistakes.
Regarding the actual question, Keep your short bows a little wider than normal, get as much working limb as possible, tiller them well, and you'll be allright. :)
Also Check out Halfeye's posts. :)
We'll see what happens to that stave. I've got plenty of hackberry staves and access to plenty more so I'm not gonna get upset if it does ruin it. After a while I'll give it a shot in the name of science.
It does seem like half eye is the pro on these. I'll check those out.
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i'm interested in how this works out, pm halfeye, he is the man on bendy handled shorty's, good luck with it Tim