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Around the Campfire / Re: Wing bone calls
« Last post by Aaron1726 on December 20, 2025, 10:36:00 pm »
Quote from: Piddler on December 20, 2025, 08:21:07 pm
Like those. I have some bones in the freezer that is on my list to do. Any tips would be appreciated.
Piddler

Thanks.  I can tell you my process.  I toss the bones in a pot of water and add some dishwasher soap and then boil them for about 5 min or so.  I tried dish soap before and it worked, but once it comes to a boil its a bubbly mess.  Then I pull the bones out and let them cool just until I can pick them up.  I use a spoon to scrape the remnants of meat and such off, which should come off really easy if they boiled right.  You don't have to get them clean all the way out to the tips, that part will next get cut off.  So then I cut the ends off to where it looks right.  Then you have to clean all the stuff out of the inside of the bones, this part is a mess and the best way I've found is a coat hanger wire and keeps working it through, rinse and repeat.  Then fit them together with some sanding, and then I hot glue the pieces together, or use pitch glue, that works too.  Then these I wrapped the joints over with artificial sinew. 

Good luck on yours, let us know how they turn out.
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Around the Campfire / Re: Wing bone calls
« Last post by Aaron1726 on December 20, 2025, 10:24:28 pm »
Quote from: JW_Halverson on December 20, 2025, 06:32:59 pm
Wanna know some background information on that broken wing? A bird can completely heal a major bone fracture like that one in as little as 14 days. They can efficiently strip calcium from strong and healthy bones and transport it to the site of the break faster than any other group of animals with skeletons on earth!

That's pretty cool, I didn't know they could heal up that quick.
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Around the Campfire / Re: Wing bone calls
« Last post by Piddler on December 20, 2025, 08:21:07 pm »
Like those. I have some bones in the freezer that is on my list to do. Any tips would be appreciated.
Piddler
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Bows / Re: Tillering advice: This thing is kinkier than...
« Last post by bjrogg on December 20, 2025, 07:36:17 pm »
Really like it WB.

Bjrogg
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Bows / Re: Tillering advice: This thing is kinkier than...
« Last post by Robert Pougnier on December 20, 2025, 06:47:39 pm »
That is a heck of a bow. With that amount of character going in so many different directions it must have taken ages and lots of care to tiller! Really nice job.
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Around the Campfire / Re: Wing bone calls
« Last post by JW_Halverson on December 20, 2025, 06:32:59 pm »
Wanna know some background information on that broken wing? A bird can completely heal a major bone fracture like that one in as little as 14 days. They can efficiently strip calcium from strong and healthy bones and transport it to the site of the break faster than any other group of animals with skeletons on earth!

Being egg layers, their bodies are designed with this super-power. A hen turkey lays down ALL the calcium on an egg in under 20 hours! Just a day before an egg is laid it is in that thin membrane you find on the inside of the egg. Her body ramps up, stripping calcium out of storage in her bones and depositing it rapidly on the membrane until it's finished. Human babies are almost as fast, but that's because their bodies are a maelstrom of growth hormones burning like the booster rockets on the space shuttle, and it's for a short period early in life after being born.

Yeah, birds are waaaaay cool.
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Bows / Re: Birch bark backing
« Last post by Doug509 on December 20, 2025, 06:21:47 pm »
The bark I have is already cut vertically in 2" x 40" strips.  I cant flip it 90 degrees.  I pulled it apart into 1mm thick strips.  Its pretty flexible.  Will try to get it thinner if I can. I'll follow everyone's advice and mount it like it grew on the tree with hide glue.  If its a failure I can peel it off and sand it back to the sinew. Ill post my progress.
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Bows / Re: Birch bark backing
« Last post by Robert Pougnier on December 20, 2025, 05:47:00 pm »
I've used birch bark to waterproof a bow backing. It'll work fine with either hide glue or wood glue. If you use hide glue I would size the bark with very thin glue first.

I've applied it perpendicular to the direction you have it, with the side on the outside of the tree for the outside. I split mine less than paper thin using steam and it remained pliant enough to work dry after. I expect thick bark may crack once it's bent.

I've had good luck and plan on doing it again, I think it's a great look! There are some sweet turkish and egyptian bows that were covered with birch. Since paper birch grows in neither region I would assume it's benefit was well worth it.
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Bows / Re: Birch bark backing
« Last post by willie on December 20, 2025, 05:25:29 pm »
looks like the bark is too thick in the photos for going over sinew
http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,68162.0.html
shows the use of the paperey outer bark
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Bows / Re: Tillering advice: This thing is kinkier than...
« Last post by WhistlingBadger on December 20, 2025, 03:14:46 pm »
Did a little shooting through the Chrono today.  This bow is spitting 600 grain arrows (all I have at the moment) at 125-130 fps.  For a bow that's only pulling 45#, that seems pretty fast to me.  I'll have to get some 450-500 gr arrows built and see how they do.

Overall?  I'm really pleased with this bow!
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