Stave makin :) and a bit of tillering.
- Thread starter dwardo
- Start date
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Another awesome bow matey. I took the black cherry out at the weekend for a quick shoot. Lots of fun. Poundage does seem to have crept up a bit but not too much. Shoots really well!
Glad you are getting on well together
I find the heavier bows it helps to have plenty of breaks in between arrow sets.This one is a light weight bow around mid 30`s to 40 at 28. Yew with lots of ups n downs. makes tillering lots of fun. Shoots very nice, light but still quick. This one is a present.
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Ayup mate
Oh how I have pondered that pear stave.....
Its horribly between one definite good bow and two maybe good bows or worse still no bows, torment.
Going on gut its going to be one lovely bow and all for me!!!! for change. I have not even put a blade near it yet only spent hours looking at it then talking my self out of each possible plan. Stave like this cant be rushed and thank-you again.
Please get some photos up of the process so it doesnt look like i am the only nutter obsessed with making bows.
I've just read this whole thread and found it very enjoyable and a good resource. Please don't skip stuff, put in as much as you can be bothered with. I'm in the middle of making my first bow which is an oak board bow backed with drywall tape for my nephew Max. The grid lines you have on your tillering board are an excellent idea, they really help a raw beginner like me to spot hinges, flat spots and differences between limbs I will follow anything you post with interest. Thanks for taking the time to share your knowledge.
Mart.
Mart.
Tillering boards with a pulley system are a must for keeping the strain off the bow in the early stages.
Dont get me wrong, the masters will do 90% of it by feel and by eye. Some will use a mirror whilst drawing the bow to check for problems.
The "tiller stick" method I think puts too much pressure on the bow in the early stages. This is the time where the bow will take the most set/crushing belly cells. Crushed belly cells never recover and rob your bow of cast.
Tiller boards are easy to make and pretty cheap. I use a single pulley bought from a climbing shop for about £12. The rope is old retired climbing rope which can be had for free if you are lucky. The board is also cheap chipboard.
Thanks for the reply. I was all set to make a tiller stick when i saw a pulley system on an american guys blog. Pulley looks miles easier. I'm fairly well on with the kids bow I'm making so a tillering set up will be needed shortly. I plan to try and make cheap stuff, it would be a bummer to wreck a decent stave. After a friendly chat with a helpful guy in Jewsons sawmill he has agreed to help me pick out the best oak boards we can find. I can't wait.
Thanks again,Mart
Thanks again,Mart
Well this is the other side to making bows. Sometimes you lose some.
This cherry bow was pushing all the limits and this time I lost.
If you dont want to break bows then dont start. Had probably 30 hours work invested in this.
This cherry bow was pushing all the limits and this time I lost.
If you dont want to break bows then dont start. Had probably 30 hours work invested in this.
Well this is the other side to making bows. Sometimes you lose some.
This cherry bow was pushing all the limits and this time I lost.
If you dont want to break bows then dont start. Had probably 30 hours work invested in this.
Sh1t mate that's devastating. Bet you are gutted. Looked like a cracker too. I need to get over soon and have a go with ya if you don't mind.
Its been a while since i broke one properly so was due a good bang. Yeah it sucks mate but just gotta get on with the next one, all part of making bows.
Well this is the other side to making bows. Sometimes you lose some.
This cherry bow was pushing all the limits and this time I lost.
If you dont want to break bows then dont start. Had probably 30 hours work invested in this.
[Pics deleted to save space on the page
That first picture looks identical to one I had last year when I tried to make a Molly out of Whitebeam - mine stayed intact on the belly though. I still carry that broken bow around with me when I do show-and-tell, as the shattered back but still-prefect belly allows me to waffle on about how to deal with different woods with different mechanical properties ;-)
Peter
That's a real shame. I've had it happen too once. Made me feel sad. But as you say it happens just go on.
If built right they perform very well, on a par with modern day materials.
Have made quite a few English longbow designs and they shoot great but I prefer a short bow.
Longer bows tent to be more forgiving in regards to accuracy.
It's only recently that the glass bows have exceeded the 200fps barrier with a given weight of 500 grains per lb of draw. There are all wood bows that are 190fps made often. I would be happy with anything over 160. Remembering that these are hunting weight arrows rather than carbon straws that weigh nothing and give the fiberglass marketing people the high fps numbers they parade.
Have made quite a few English longbow designs and they shoot great but I prefer a short bow.
Longer bows tent to be more forgiving in regards to accuracy.
It's only recently that the glass bows have exceeded the 200fps barrier with a given weight of 500 grains per lb of draw. There are all wood bows that are 190fps made often. I would be happy with anything over 160. Remembering that these are hunting weight arrows rather than carbon straws that weigh nothing and give the fiberglass marketing people the high fps numbers they parade.
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Lots of variables with traditional bows, arrows have to match the bow with spine weight but once you get that sorted its down to how much you practice. If you are talking purely about performance lots of guys push wood right up to the limit to get the fastest fps possible (Dwardo pushed that cherry a tad too far). I know of a guy who can shoot a wand at 100yards with a self-bow. I suppose its a question of what you mean by a performance English longbow. As for how they perform, this is a 60lb Yew take down and it performs very well indeed.
Wondered when you would turn up mate ;-)
Thought u were gonna leave me here defending the traditional alone!
Found your arrow here last night :-D
Thought u were gonna leave me here defending the traditional alone!
Found your arrow here last night :-D
No thanks. I reckon that I can produce a far better design in the form of a flat-bow with Eiffel-tower style tapering to very narrow tips and a little bit of recurve leading to those tips. Anyway, finding yew good enough for the bow you describe is a rare event - staves sell for stupid expensive prices whereas wood good enough to make the bow I describe grows at the rate of a tonne a week within a mile radius of where I'm typing this ;-)
Peter
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You can buy them commercially from a place called flybow, just stick it in google,
or three rivers archery in the states. They are made from mild steel and brass,
cost about 40euros. They are a great choice if you want to transport your bow
and make finding suitable wood really easy as you only need to find a bit 35 -
40 inches long. Fitting them is no harder than hafting an axe and making the
bow relatively straight forward. I like to shape the two billets first just to
make sure the wood doesnt give me any nasty surprises and will actually make a
bow before I do the glue up. Some guys make their own from close fitting pipe,
I prefer the D shape of the commercially available ones. Hope this helps.
