long bow making trouble! Help

[jon r]

Everything was going fine until i started put a string on it to tiller it. I pulled the string back and a big crack apeared next to one of the knots!

I carved the split out so it did'nt spread further but the split was deep and now i have a big chunk taken out of my bow!

Heres some pics so you can see the scale of the damage.

Heres the bow:

And the damage:

What do you think? is there too much of a weakening?

 

[demographic]

At least your kindling looks easy to carry

 

[chrisanson]

I have no idea. But what is the worst thing that can happen ?
Even if it explodes at least you will have tried!
But that’s the way I go about things, just my view .

 

[jon r]

bugger! This is a real shame because its a waist of wood if anything!

 

[Eric_Methven]

Take it all down to the same thickness of the weakest part. Then tiller it again, slowly. It'll drasticly reduce the draw weight, but you can always back it with rawhide from a dog chew (the kind with a rawhide knot at either end) which will give you a little more draw weight and help protect the bow as well. Even if it doesn't work, it's good experience for next time. Remember to be patient during tillering. A bow is nine tenths broken, and it doesn't take much to go beyond the limit.

Eric

 

[Exbomz]

You appear to have 3 knots within a few inches on the same limb and this will require very careful tillering. The knots are quite large and therefore would require reinforcing/design adjustment - one may even go right through/across the limb but it is hard to work out on the photos, which could mean serious trouble even before the crack.

Try as Eric says but do it carefully and remember what happens - you learn by your mistakes.

Good luck.

 

[jon r]

hi

I've been working on my bow today. Its now a bow and arrow, not a long bow.

I cut throught the bow just below there the gouge is and carved the peice i had left into a bow and arrow.

Heres the result, and im very happy with it.

Further tillering was done after this point but not much.

Im still going to make a few adjustments because the string is quite hard to pull back.

What do you think?

 

[fredcraft]

Turned out pretty well IMHO !

Good job,

 

[Snufkin]

Looks pretty good. The inner two thirds of the left limb could bend more and the middle third of the right limb could use a little more off.

 

[chrisanson]

at least its a bow and not fire wood. but most of all you didnt give up!
nexd time you will have a better bow and the time after that an even better one.

 

[ArkAngel]

Looks nice, good to see you overcame the problems with the knot/crack.

Out of interest.....is the bow dwarf sized or is that a monster arrow?
How tall is the bow?

 

[jon r]

Yea that is a bit of a monster arrow! I will measure the bow up later.

How big should an arrow be? ive only ever made my own.

 

[jon r]

The bow is 1.27m long (46" long) Thats not too bad.

 

[chrisanson]

baby bow the smallest i have made is 57" KtoK.
still nice bow

 

[Snufkin]

Arrow length isn't that important compared to spine (the weight it takes to start the arrow flexing). Alot of native cultures that used short bows actually use quite long arrows by modern archery standards. The only danger with having a long arrow on a short bow is it is easy for the bow to be drawn past its draw length. The worst case senario is a broken bow, at the least you could expect cast robbing set,