2016 Primitive Archer Bow Trade Sign up and Information

[PlanB]

I actually looked it up while waiting to hear back from you. I went out to the trash and retrieved the skins. If you want them PM me your address. Dried first of course. Don't want to upset the mailman with rotten fish smell.

Wow! Not to mention the missus! But she's used to some pretty crazy projects after all these years. PMing you. This should be interesting!

[stuckinthemud]

Thanks Jason -

A trilam will be new for me.  Need all the help I can get.  I am going to try to rig up some kind of jig for my sander that will allow me to taper.  Wish I have a drum sander. 

You can buy a sanding drum drill attachment on line for about 10 dollars

[PlanB]

Found the reference, Dakota:

"Rausing also emphasised the importance of glue boiling, which requires
ceramic vessels, as being a necessary precondition for the development of the
horn bow (Rausing 1967: 148). The method for making glue from the skin of
perch (Perca fluviatilis) used by the Saami, and presumably by other Finno
Ugrian tribes, however, does not require the use of vessels for boiling, since the
skins only need to be steamed to obtain a high- quality glue, suitable for bow
making."

[mwosborn]

Stuck - I have a couple of sanders.  I was talking about a drum sander that would allow me to sand lamination down to a very specific thickness or taper a lamination from one end to the other.  Thanks!

[mwosborn]

With the blizzard going on and no work today I was able to get a few hours of work in on "plan A" - hackberry self bow.  I worked it down to bow dimensions and ready to start bending the limbs to floor tiller.

Here are a couple of pics from each end with the alignment string on.  The string goes through the handle fairly well from what I can tell.  There is a slight prop twist on one end and a little bend in the other, but I don't think it is worth trying to straighten with the way the tips are lining up through the handle as is.  What you think?

Also a couple of pics of the side profile - 1 from each side.  Has just a bit of natural reflex.
Mitch

[Drewster]

Hey Kid, looks like you're in for some tasty eating.....nice catch.

Mitch, here's a pic of the stave since I removed the clamps while ago.  Looks like I'm good to go :-)  There are a couple of layout lines that I'll need to adjust......cause it's hard to lay out a bow on a bent stave. 




I like Rich's short steam times.  I'll continue to do that.  Even steaming the handle for only ten minutes, there was some discoloration to the water.  It always makes me wonder if there is damage being done to the wood when the steam if causing leeching.  At least this was at the handle and should cause no problems.

[mwosborn]

Here is what it looks like outside.  That "white hump" is one of my 3D targets getting buried by snow!

[Drewster]

Nice shop Mitch......all that natural light is fantastic!!!

[---GUTSHOT--->]

Thanks Jason -

A trilam will be new for me.  Need all the help I can get.  I am going to try to rig up some kind of jig for my sander that will allow me to taper.  Wish I have a drum sander. 

I purchased a spindal sander at harbor freight. The mounted 2 inch aluminum angle iron on one end then I swing it toward the spindle set my depth and hold the other side with a c clamp. That's my poor mans drum sander. I am send a pick of it to you if you want to see it.

[mwosborn]

Hey gutshot - that would be great.  That is what I was thinking of doing also.  I already bought the aluminum angle iron - seeing how you did it would help.

Drewster - looks like it lined up rather well!

Hey Kid - if you are giving away perch parts....I don't need any skins...but those fillets sounds yummy!!  You could ship them on dry ice and they would get here just fine!!

[Stixnstones]

Mitch , that Hackberry looks almost identical to one i'm workin on. what are your dimensions? I dry heated the prop twist out of the one limb and found a check crack on the one tip. the crack goes all the way thru from back to belly. will post a pic when i get home. ran some gorilla super glue in it and clamped it.

[mwosborn]

Stix - if you got glue down into the crack and clamped it, I bet it will be fine.  Currently mine is 66" ntn and right at 2" at the fades.  Parallel out to 12" then tapered to 1/2" at the tips.  By the time it takes shape, it will be a bit narrower at the fades and I will narrow the tips as much as I can.  From the hackerry bows I have made in the past, wider is better - much less set.  But then again, maybe my tillering just sucks! 

What about you for dimensions?

Mitch

[Stixnstones]

Mitch, the dimenssions are 64" ttt 1 5/8 to mid limb(14") taper to 1/2" tips. This is my first go at hackberry

[Fred Arnold]

looks like some beautiful bows shaping up here.

Mitch, that is a nice shop. I have to work outdoors to get that good of lighting and as you know there's no outdoor work being done today.

I did get 2 layers of sinew on the bl. Thought I had it close in tiller with the long string but after the sinew began to dry it is showing a lot more reflex in what was to be the top limb. I'll have to wait quite awhile to check that out and may need to retiller or switch top to bottom.

CBG your trilam looks like it could be a real shooter.

This thread is so huge I'm having a hard time keeping up.
if anyone has questions that haven't been answered already, shoot me a PM and I'll try to give or find you the answers.

[half eye]

Man you all are flat getin after it .......I have to agree with Fred if I missed any ? please let me know as well.

In case any of you missed it, this is how these trades was meant to be, and all of ya make me really proud to just be a part of this.....what a damned fine bunch of people

Plan B, Here in the Great Lakes the NA used fish skin glue....also perch (and/or Pike) but they included the perch roe. You might want to look into that as well......some of their petyrogliphs are still bright red on the rock faces of cliffs exposed to Lake Superior for hundreds of years.

Glad that worked for you Drewster

Back to belly cracks in or near the tips that are glued and clamped have never caused me any further issues.....just dont try to heat or steam bends into after the glue....wont hurt but you will get to do it a second time.....ya dont know how I found that out either
rich