Bow Horse Gift

[ber643]

Folks, I was given a "Bow Horse" by a friend who's wife made it. It is copied after a circa 1500 pattern, I understand. and was designed for making wagon wheel spokes. I was hoping to share some pics of it and, since I have never used one, perhaps get some comments and advice on use. Then it dawned on me, since it isn't a bow, this might not be the forum to do that in. Any suggestions as to where it would be best accepted would be appreciated.

[mullet]

  Heck Bernie,just post it,if it's wrong somebody will move it.

[ber643]

LOL - Reckon I'm getting gun-shy in muh ol' age??? Guess I could throw a teaser pic or two up here and see if it gets nuked  .

Broke Down for transport, two views (large block to set level/height of work can be moved out and set separate also - I forgot to):

[DanaM]

Man that looks real nice Bernie, I like

[mullet]

   Nice,I like the way it breaks down,looks simple.  Hey,Isn't there a Jar head saying about ,"It's easier to ask for forgiveness then to ask for permission"?

[ber643]

LOL - Yeah, there is that saying -  BUT ... (as a friend of mine, COB, always says, "There's always a but...") 

[tom sawyer]

Looks cool, I made one a lot like that.  I don't use it much but still have it.  It does work better for smaller stuff, I thought I could use it for removing bark and sapwood from splits but its not real handy for that.

[Olschool]

Your going to like it!, I have to get around to building one like that, after hunting season 

[Slivershooter]

Bernie,
I had a Bowhorse that was similar to yours several years back.  It worked well on smaller staves but the larger staves were too hard to get under the cross piece.  I got mine at MoJam in 2002 then traded it for some Osage staves at MoJam in 2006.  I didn’t realize how much it was used until it was gone, so I made a couple of heavy duty ones from scrap 3” timbers this past week for the upcoming bow building season.  I will take a couple of pictures and post them in a few days.  One ther thing, you might want to pad the top arm and  with leather, that will help hold the stave and protect it at the same time. 

Walt

[ber643]

Good point Silvershooter, most of the plans I've seen mention that and I'd forgotten it. Thanks.

OK, I'm gonna throw the other pics up here. One thing I wonder about "your" opinion on, is will it handle "full length" staves? I'll point out certain aspects/features as i post pics.

With legs inserted and screwed in (you can see where Angie formed wooden threads on the tops of the legs.) Views from both sides, and on one side (2nd pic) you can see a small handle (bar) to screw in, locking the clamp position, after using foot pressure - I think one may still have to maintain foot pressure while working but, if you loose it, the adjustment will surfice to hold the work in place untill you get back on the foot bars - not sure about this aspect yet.

BTW there are only two metal parts: The adjustment threaded rod just mentioned, and an "eye" for the wooden pin holding/hinging the top and bottom parts of the bench, near the front.

 

 

This next pic shows a nice Hickory handle locked in place (for demo). Buzz broought two of these hand picked handle but I won't use them soon as they would need to be spliced or a take down made - and I'm not any where near up to that yet. BTW, the bar that presses on the "stave" top has a notch in it and rotates so you can use the notch or a flat surface clamped against your work piece.

 

This next pic shows me sitting in position (I think), again for demo:

 

Three more pics in next post.

[ber643]

Another note on the versatility of this design - You can use cement blocks (or other items) rather than the legs, and Buzz also said something about setting one end (or whole bench) up in back of truck.

These following pics (3) may help you address some further questions regarding length of work piece, reaching foot pedals and/or adjustment for locking clamp, and general use/positioning. I also will get my bowyering mentor, Mike, to take an eyeball to eyeball look when he has some time off from his work, and when I can get back to my sweet Osage stave that I started with him in early Fall- LOL.

 

 

 

 Thanks for looking, folks. Special thanks to Buzz and Angie.

[Minuteman]

Thats a pretty cool one and its an awfully nice gift.
 The one thing that strikes me as a "whoa" is the legs, they look kinda thin for my tastes. I'm only 200 pounds mind you but they still look a little under built to suit me. 
 The other thing( and I'm not being critical  just to be critical) is the fulcrum( the pivot that the dumbhead and foot pedal move on) is too close to the bottom. You'd have much more leverage if the pivot was through the table and the two sides of the dumbhead assembly had three or four holes in it to adjust it for different size pieces. Now I don't know if the wood that the sides are made of would hold up to having holes drilled in it so if you decide to make the changes you may have to replace or build a new pair of sides.  I've built about 6 of those things of various designs. Gave away two and sold one.Still have two and burned the first one, looked like Frankenstein built it! I'll see if I can find any pics of some of mine.
Hey just my two cents.
 Heres the pics hope they work been awhile
 I've since extended the foot pedal so you are pushing down as well as away from yourself.

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[ber643]

I can see what you are saying, mm - the improvements of time and experience, plus the fact that Angie was copying a model designed for making (relativly short) wagon wheel spokes. (I'd like to have yours too, along side of mine -  ) Thanks very much for the good pics, and the added info/interest.

[Minuteman]

Hey try it out and see it may be fine the way it is. The way the one in my pic is made you can go from a 1/4 split thats 6" across all the way down to the thinnest bow limb with the same horse. If you do all your roughing out in a vice or something then it will probably work great for holding the bow while scraping a limb during tillering.
 You get to the Tennessee Classic or Mojam, Bernie? I'll be at Pappy's this May If you can make, it I'll put one together for ya, for a small fee or trade. All the wood is reclaimed deck material so its free.
 Chris

[ber643]

That's a kind offer, mm, I'll keep it in mind. I don't travel very far alone anymore but I've had others ask me about TN Classic, and I sure liked the "report" on it this year. A couple of the NC guys do go too, so you never know - LOL. I've been going to a great shoot in Baltimore in May the last two years.