bowstring

[shaggystu]

i've been working on my first bow for a little while (about 4 years i think, i lose track) and i'm getting pretty close to the stage where i'm going to have to try stringing it. only problem being that i don't have a bowstring. so i'm looking for suggestions for something i can use that's going to be really cheap (free would be best) but that will do the job. i've got no idea what kind of draw weight i'm looking at, but i shouldn't imagine it's much, and i don't really mind if the bowstring only lasts a little while before i need to replace it, i just want something that'll let me have a few shots so that i can get that lovely warm "i made this" feeling. something that i might have laying around the house would be best.

any ideas people?

cheers

stuart

 

[telwebb]

I've got a few hanging about you could try - unless of course you're after traditional materials. The ones I have are 16 or 18 strand, dacron or majesty, to suit mainly 68" bows but some 66". Some have had little or no use. Let me know if any of that is any good and I'll pop something in the post.

tel

 

[shaggystu]

I've got a few hanging about you could try - unless of course you're after traditional materials. The ones I have are 16 or 18 strand, dacron or majesty, to suit mainly 68" bows but some 66". Some have had little or no use. Let me know if any of that is any good and I'll pop something in the post.

tel

thanks a lot for that tel :You_Rock_

PM sent

stuart

 

[lannyman8]

if you are after totaly i made this feel, try stinger string its very very strong costs nout and is easy to make. there are threads on here on how to make it.

all you would have to do is maybe double or tripple it up by plating or twisting it together.......

job done.......

hope this helps...

chris..................

 

[shaggystu]

if you are after totaly i made this feel, try stinger string its very very strong costs nout and is easy to make. there are threads on here on how to make it.

all you would have to do is maybe double or tripple it up by plating or twisting it together.......

job done.......

hope this helps...

chris..................

ultimately that's something i'd love to do, it'd be nice if i could say that i've sourced all of my kit from nature, unfortunately that's something that's years away (if it's even achievable) so there's always a bit of a trade off. the leather i'll be using for the handle is a long way from natural (no idea what the tanning process was but it feels almost plastic on the surface), i'll probably be fitting nocks to the bow, they'll be horn so lovely and natural, the two-part epoxy that i'll be fixing them on with won't be quite so natural. the glue that i use to fletch the arrows comes in a tube from the model shop - arrow points will probably be epoxied on etc. etc.

i do understand what you're saying about the whole "i made this" feeling, but what i'm striving for on that front is pretty much "head in the clouds idealism". i could always go back a stage and work out where i used something that i hadn't made in the manufacture of this bow. even if i used all natural materials that i'd sourced myself from this point on i'd still know that the axe used to fell the tree in the first place, and to rough out the bow, was made in a factory in sweden, the knife i used to refine the shape was also made in a factory in sweden, the files i used for smoothing and tillering were made in a factory in sheffield so on and so forth, ad nauseum.

looking at it like that, dacron's perfect!

cheers

stuart

 

[lannyman8]

depends on how YOU look at it. if YOU cant make a file then it would be unrealistic to say that you should do that.... glues can be made with dog chews for £1 and the bow string is easy to make from nettles.....

for example i made a knife from an old round saw blade and maggoty wooden handle from the hedge from down the road..... why, i wanted to make it my self, to say that i can, i also want an axe but can i make one NO...... i dont have the correct equipment for that (as yet) so i got a GB small forest axe, its not cheating its using what you have at that time. in 10 years you may have the time equipment and know how to do it all from scratch........

so this is what i say to you, try what you can, if you fail its not a waist as you will know how not to do it in the future. this will make that perfect bow all the real and in your grasp.

my first heat treating of a blade took 5 times to get it right, was it a waist, yes and no, i snaped the blade yes, i bent a blade yes, it even cost me money yes, but now i know i can do it nearly every time to how i want it.

im now going to move onto demascus steel, why, i want to give it a go. im going to get it wrong the first time for sure, but hey i wont learn from not doing it. i must either do it my self and learn, or pay some exspert to teach me. id rather teach my self, but thats just my way...

hope you understand what i mean......

regards.

chris..........................

 

[shaggystu]

i think i understand what you're saying chris, i think i agree with it too

as i said i think the level of idealism that i have about making all my own kit is a little "head in the clouds", but knowing that allows me to, as you say, "use what i have at the time" without getting all upset about the fact that i didn't really source and make everything myself.

i do things in a very similar way to you (i think so anyway) i've not made a knife from scratch yet but i have put a nice handle on a cheapo blade i picked up from a car boot sale, it gives me a lot of pleasure to use it, and a great sense of satisfaction knowing that i "made" it myself. i'd still rather i'd made the blade, collected the wood, made the glue, etc. but i'm happy with what i've got and i know that the next time i make a knife at least one more aspect of it will be handmade by me.

i reckon we're singing from the same hymn sheet here mate, it's just that on this occasion i want to move the project on a little more quickly so i feel that sourcing a man made bowstring as opposed to making one from nettles or bark or rawhide or whatever from scratch is an acceptable trade off. next time i try my hand at bowmaking i'll try and do more from scratch (for example, i've just got my hands on a big lump of sandstone so that'll be replacing the sandpaper in my tool kit, i'm hoping that a flint adze will be next on the list)

unfortunately it takes a little time to build up a complete stone age tool kit (my goal), as you say, maybe in ten years time i'll be able to make things like bows using only tools that i've made myself and materials that i've sourced myself, between now and then i'll be (fairly) satisfied with a mix of the old and new.

cheers

stuart

 

[telwebb]

I fully understand the desire to play by the traditional rules - I'd be happiest doing so myself - but there are times when the bullet has to be bit!

Unless you are very competent and have no other things clouding your life then you are unlikely to achieve a proficency in all things and compromises (sp?) must be made - the use of an efficient bowstring to go with your hand made bow being one such.

If you give me the specs stu I'll learn the art of a flemish twist in linen - just for you - never felt the need myself ...Oh - 'sint post by the way

 

[shaggystu]

I fully understand the desire to play by the traditional rules - I'd be happiest doing so myself - but there are times when the bullet has to be bit!

Unless you are very competent and have no other things clouding your life then you are unlikely to achieve a proficency in all things and compromises (sp?) must be made - the use of an efficient bowstring to go with your hand made bow being one such.

If you give me the specs stu I'll learn the art of a flemish twist in linen - just for you - never felt the need myself ...Oh - 'sint post by the way

my sentiments exactly.

thanks for your generosity tel, i owe you one

stuart

p.s. i've just realised that at some point today i've passed the 500 post mark, 7 years, 500 posts, i really should shut up a bit.

 

[lannyman8]

well said Stu and Tel a mix of old and new is very good, best of both......

 

[telwebb]

you owe me nowt - but if I feel the need to make a traditional string I'll let you know

and 500 in 7 years? I'd best shut up then....

 

[bushcraftbob]

hey shaggystu ive just done my first bow its a great feeling when its completed isnt it! Can you upload a pic so we can have a look? What wood have you used?

 

[shaggystu]

.......if I feel the need to make a traditional string I'll let you know ....

i will

well said Stu and Tel a mix of old and new is very good, best of both......

i knew we were on the same page

....ive just done my first bow its a great feeling when its completed isnt it! Can you upload a pic so we can have a look? What wood have you used?

i don't know about the great feeling yet, i hope it is!
i'll upload some pictures when i've got it strung

cheers

stuart