BIG update on the build-a-long bow

Md 25v

Md 25v

Joined
Jun 11, 2008
Messages
1,409
I was asked to do a build-a-long on one of my bows, so I made this thread:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=789297

I was trying to make a historic bow that was very different from the eastern woodlands flatbows I am used to. At the end of the vid I had a 54lb bow at 27in and stacked badly thereafter raising the draw weight to quickly. That does NOT translate to a faster bow. It simply means that the bow was poorly designed.

It also had a lot of hand shock. That means that energy was not going into the arrow but instead was flowing down the limbs into the grip.

I almost didn't post the vid because I was so embarrassed of the bows performance and shooting characteristics but I figured that if I didn't post it I wouldn't have anything to go back to to see how much improvement was made.

Today I revamped the bow. I took the crown out of the belly, removed massive amounts of material from the tips (heavy tips slow limb speed and reduce cast), and re-tapered the limbs.

It is an entirely different bow. It was apx 55# at 27in and now it is 45# at 28in but it shoots 40fps faster!!!

I decided to forget about the measurements in the book for the historic bow I was trying to make and instead just make the bow shoot as well as I could.
I have bough bows from stickbows.com, rudderbow, etc... and I compared this one to three "purchased" bows of equal draw. My bow shot faster than two of the three and has NO HAND SHOCK at all.

New bow performance vid: Make it full screen to really appreciate the speed improvement.

[youtube]e71maAJtPSQ[/youtube]
 
Thanks for your posts. I think they look nice and I'm impressed.
Keep it up.

The whole make it yourself thing is awesome.
 
Thanks for the update.

Looks like you smoothed out all the issues:thumbup:
 
I was going to recommend a tighter grip (squeeze the sap out of it) to reduce handshock until I saw the tips. Overly heavy limb tips contribute to hand shock and if you removed 2/3 of what you had and still have those huge tips - yikes!

Still looks like you could lose some wood out there but if it shoots right for you now, I guess not. Anyway - it seems really quiet and appears to cast a great arrow. Nice work!

What sort of wood is that? You may have said and I may have missed it. Looks great!
 
GK: the bow is red oak from a board,costs about eight bucks. The odd tiller and tip design are because I was trying to copy a historic holmegaard bow. I'm not sure why the original measurements are so over built but I wasn't able to get a copy with good cast out of the board I was using. Maybe next time
 
bikermikearchery said:
Nouthing to be embarrased about the bow, But in my circles those arrows would get you laughed at.
Click to expand...

yes but those arrows are free. I do most of my tillering with a friend who runs a youth archery range so thats where the arrows come from. The other problem I have is that I never have more than six of my own arrows at a time because they are good to trade for flint/chert, antler, and other supplies and I only make three or four at a time. I have another thread about a new style of "trade point" arrow I have made.
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?p=8922536#
The first one is in the pic and now I have two more for a total of three. I will give these three as a gift tomorrow and once again I will only have two river cane arrows for myself. This one is birch:

045-1.jpg

040-1.jpg

043.jpg
 
Md 25v said:
yes but those arrows are free. I do most of my tillering with a friend who runs a youth archery range so thats where the arrows come from. The other problem I have is that I never have more than six of my own arrows at a time because they are good to trade for flint/chert, antler, and other supplies and I only make three or four at a time. I have another thread about a new style of "trade point" arrow I have made.
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?p=8922536#
The first one is in the pic and now I have two more for a total of three. I will give these three as a gift tomorrow and once again I will only have two river cane arrows for myself. This one is birch:

045-1.jpg

040-1.jpg

043.jpg
Click to expand...


Thats more better :)
I learned a long time ago to process shafts in batches of 100. If I lose one I only need to fletch and I have a happy quiver again. I make different arrows to trade. The ones I make for my-self are like a signature, and I dont like finding my signature sticking somewhere where it dosen't belong.
 
Very nice! As for mistakes, anyone who makes none learns nothing. Keep up the good work.
 
I could be wrong but I think that is just traditional archery humor. Kinda like someone showing up to a traditional shoot with a fiberglass bow. There is some teasing, but it's all in good fun.
 
bikermikearchery said:
Thats more better :)
I learned a long time ago to process shafts in batches of 100.


The ones I make for my-self are like a signature, and I dont like finding my signature sticking somewhere where it dosen't belong.
Click to expand...



I would love to have a hundred shafts at my disposal, that would be such a time saver. Unless someone gives me shafts to make arrows for them all of my arrows are rivercane. It is very abundant but not as easy to find the perfect stalks for arrows. I don't care if they are straight(fire can fix that easily enough) but the taper has to be just right and I prefer to find the right shaft lengths with six nodes. I might be too picky but I think that having very similar characteristics helps the cane arrows fly the same even thought there is a fairly big difference between each shaft.

I have even thought about buying shafts of cedar like most trad shooters make arrows from but have decided against it because thats not what I want to hunt with. It means a whole lot more to me to take even a rabbit with an arrow that I made start to finish that it does to have more arrows or an easier time making them. I usually try to take good cane shafts home when I find them but I might only get two or three that fit my preferences each time I go out.



REGARDING SIGNATURE ARROWS: as far as trading with the primitive skills community, both paleoplanet.net and M.A.P.S. (Mid-Atlantic primitive skills) group, there is a tradition that quite a few people observe. If you receive an arrow made by someone else, the first game taken with that arrow must be shared equally with the person who made you that arrow. I got an email about ten years back about a friend who took a doe with one of the arrows I had made for him. I was not even aware of this tradition at the time but a few weeks later I got a HUGE box of homemade venison jerky from him and his wife. I emailed him to say thanks and found out about the tradition. With that kind of camaraderie I would gladly let my "signature" live in any friends quiver.
 
Md 25v said:
I could be wrong but I think that is just traditional archery humor. Kinda like someone showing up to a traditional shoot with a fiberglass bow. There is some teasing, but it's all in good fun.
Click to expand...

Exactly.
I hope it is understood that any comment I make is always made with the best intentions and good humor.

Mike
BMA
 
Thats really cool!
Making a Penopscot double bow is on my dream list. Could you take a close up of the smaller front bow's nocks? Thats one of the parts I've had the most problems with. Can you adjust the draw weight by twisting the smaller bow's string to apply more tension to the full size bow?
Thanks
 
Md 25v said:
Thats really cool!
Making a Penopscot double bow is on my dream list. Could you take a close up of the smaller front bow's nocks? Thats one of the parts I've had the most problems with. Can you adjust the draw weight by twisting the smaller bow's string to apply more tension to the full size bow?
Thanks
Click to expand...

I'll see what I can do about pictures later.
In my experence If you change the strings from the smaller bow you need to retiller the whole bow. Once you have it tillered and shooting leave the front bow alone. the easy solution to Nocks is to tie an archers knot.

Mike
BMA
 
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