Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: dbb on October 01, 2013, 03:25:55 pm
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I just got hold of an old osage bow marked Ben Pearson. around 70" if you measure the static recuves,no handle or shelf,but remains of it and a arrowpass
Its spilced in the handle with a very narrow deep handle overlay.
I strung it at very low stringheight just to flex it a little...ouch..very heavy.I shoot a 70# longbow with no problems but this is head and shoulders above that.
So anyhow..Do anyone know anything about this maker or bowtype?
Here are a few pics
(http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr17/dbb1963/Bows/DSC_0023_zps09ee7e56.jpg) (http://s465.photobucket.com/user/dbb1963/media/Bows/DSC_0023_zps09ee7e56.jpg.html)
(http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr17/dbb1963/Bows/DSC_0024_zps9275e803.jpg) (http://s465.photobucket.com/user/dbb1963/media/Bows/DSC_0024_zps9275e803.jpg.html)
(http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr17/dbb1963/Bows/DSC_0025_zps70c692ba.jpg) (http://s465.photobucket.com/user/dbb1963/media/Bows/DSC_0025_zps70c692ba.jpg.html)
(http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr17/dbb1963/Bows/DSC_0026_zps260bdabb.jpg) (http://s465.photobucket.com/user/dbb1963/media/Bows/DSC_0026_zps260bdabb.jpg.html)
(http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr17/dbb1963/Bows/DSC_0027_zps102341bd.jpg) (http://s465.photobucket.com/user/dbb1963/media/Bows/DSC_0027_zps102341bd.jpg.html)
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I would hold unto that bow like a new born baby. How did you get it, if you don't mind me asking? You do know who Ben Pearson is, right?
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very cool.
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I would hold unto that bow like a new born baby. How did you get it, if you don't mind me asking? You do know who Ben Pearson is, right?
I found in swedens version of craigslist,a guy that had too many bows and i fell for this one.
And yes i know who Ben Pearson is/was,but i guess i dont really know how important he was...its like what do you know about the Swedish King? ;D
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I hear you dbb! I know nothing about the Swedish King, or even if Sweden has a King!
Ben Pearson was a huge pioneer of archery in the early 1900's up until his death in the 70's. I cant confirm this, its just a suspicion of mine, but I would almost bet that was a "basement bow" he made because he loved bowyery. I would question whether he mass produced these bows. His fortune was made in fiberglass bows and arrow kits for a less than rich folks. If it where my bow? Id leave it alone and proudly display it until I knew more about it. That could very well be a somewhat personal bow of his.
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I have been searching a bit and found some targetbows from the 40ies that looks pretty much like this one and have the same almost carved tips/nocks.
On my bow there is also what looks like a decal like those watertransfer ones from modelplanes when i was a kid with the name Ben Pearson in black and a gold Arrow through it under the laquer
Some moore pics
(http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr17/dbb1963/Bows/DSC_0029_zpseefcf714.jpg) (http://s465.photobucket.com/user/dbb1963/media/Bows/DSC_0029_zpseefcf714.jpg.html)
(http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr17/dbb1963/Bows/DSC_0030_zps8a2a2c00.jpg) (http://s465.photobucket.com/user/dbb1963/media/Bows/DSC_0030_zps8a2a2c00.jpg.html)
(http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr17/dbb1963/Bows/DSC_0031_zpsf9688a2e.jpg) (http://s465.photobucket.com/user/dbb1963/media/Bows/DSC_0031_zpsf9688a2e.jpg.html)
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Man that's a cool old bow. I love to see the lines. Something so classy, like an old car.
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I would go broke trying to get that from you. very kool to even see online let alone own. killer find
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You should take that bow and show it off on The Leatherwall they can probably tell you a lot more about Ben Pearson bows.
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Heck of a bow. :)
No wonder it's heavy....it's osage and it's almost a half inch thick at the end of the limbs.....
I'd love to have a good look at this bow.
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I have seen some early Pearson production bows similar to that but never that ornate. I wonder if it might have been a prototype or show model of some sort? What ever it is I think you have a real piece of archery history right there!
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That's a super find! Are those numbers about a half inch below the nocks?
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Being osage, it probably is still shootable, after some careful retraining, incrementally, slowly increasing the bend. But it is too nice a piece of history to risk damage.
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Awesome....I love the nock style and string grooved belly side of the curve of that era ....I'm gonna have to do one like that in the near future
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Super cool. That bow is a classic!!!!
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Here is an intro to Ben
http://www.stickbow.com/stickbow/history/benpearson.html
http://talkbusiness.net/2013/03/whatever-happened-to-ben-pearson/
More later if I get time !
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Good reading,thanks Buckeye.
Im itching to shoot this bow just once,but i guess its not worth the risk
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The style is classic early Pearson before glass. The article on "Old Hic" refers to this exact style, only in hickory. It was pretty common for early wooden bows to be offered in a variety of wood types with the lower end models in Hickory or lemonwood and higher end in Yew or Osage.
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I would love to go back in time and see folks mass producing self bows/all wood bows and such...how would you like to be the guy who chased rings all day,day in n day out...lol..id like to shake that guys hand...I bet some of those guys would put some of us(me included) to shame...unless they invented a ring chasing machine? If they did I want one ;) :laugh:
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Grumley was known as the man when it came to doing all that work to a high degree of skill. Those guys did have access to the best quality material so they weren't wrestling with character staves and thin rings.
They did quickly switch to a more mass production technique as demands rose and that meant using woods like lemonwood or Hickory which take the board bow style very well or backing Osage and Yew with Hickory, Silk or Fortisan to speed up the process and eliminate the need for ring chasing.
The Old Hic bow showed clear evidence of being made mostly by bandsaw.
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Exactly Pat..(I know that)....and it ain't much different than what we do today except on a much much larger organized n professional scale...its still all wood and they still need to be handled the same...we will never see all wood bows being made at such a magnitude as that ever again....hence why it would be sweet to go back and see it....and it s prob the reason why we are left with fighting character staves cus they cut and used all the good wood...lol :laugh:
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Very cool, great find. When I have the time and coin I will travel the country looking for unique finds like that. Those tips are rank..