attempt at bowmaking

[dwardo]

i went over to see a mate today, who happens to have a yew tree in his garden,obviousley i had to beg a bit for bow no.2 .i just happened to have a bahco folder in my pocket. so i got home and started about it with a small wetterlings axe,and by five this evening i had this .i am quite pleased with it already , although there is a hinge ,but it was more because the limb was preety bent ,i lost most of the bend but could not quite get it out altogether,i am not sure what to do with it.with the wood being freshly cut if i forced it into the desireable postion and left it while dryng would it straighten it any ,i doubt this myself though.it is 74 inches long so is more like the proper length, the first one was only 64 inches .i could be doing with a string josh any advice ,comments welcome .it is standing next to the one i made last week i have added a piece of leather to that one .

If you can try to clamp it whilst drying it will help. After that its a case of a pan of boiling water and tinfoil to get the kinks out. If it is freshly cut and rough bow dimensions get it in the spare room as it will dry a lot quicker. Good luck

 

[Gill]

thanks again for the advice Dwardo ,i,ll try the clamping method and see how that goes .how long will it take to dry out roughly.stephen the bushtuckerman is great ,especially in the canoe in summer .

 

[trail2]

Did you leave any heartwood on the stave? Let it dry slowly. If you rush it you can get checks in the end of the stave. Too dry heat and you will lose too much moisture. IIRC you want about 9%-10% left in the stave.
Jon R.

 

[Gill]

has anybody got a couple of horn/antler knocks for this second bow they are willing to sell me please.would araldite be good enough to put these on with.

 

[dwardo]

I havent tried horn knocks but i gather the principal is to tape the tips of the bow to a point then fit the horn knocks over the top and glue. There should not be any benging at that point so yeah 2 part epoxy etc should be fine.

Ebay may be your best bet for horn and antler knocks.

 

[Gill]

thanks Dwardo , will try the bay mate.

 

[moccasintracks]

If you are going to clamp them go ahead and put them in sever as possible reflex as this will reduce string follow later.

good on you

told ya it was addictive

 

[Diligence]

just to add to your thread...here is a great tutorial for an English Long Bow, including a detailed section on horn nocks....

I stumbled onto this last night - can't believe the wealth of info.

General bow stuff:
http://leatherwall.bowsite.com/TF/lw/THREADSX2.CFM

bow tutorial:
http://leatherwall.bowsite.com/TF/lw/thread2.cfm?forum=23&threadid=181950&messages=83&CATEGORY=4

 

[Gill]

aaaaaaaaaarg , i broke my smaller bow in the pics.it did,nt half break into a few bits,seems it was maybe too dryed out.it had sentimental value as well , ah never mind ,what could i make from the remains, maybe a back scratcher or something !

 

[dwardo]

If you aint breaking you aint making

 

[Bushcraftsman]

They are really good, im just making my own bow for the first time and I'd be over the moon if mine turn out this good nice work mate