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My Latest Bow (Read 7032 times)
smspliff
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Re: My Latest Bow
Reply #15 - May 3rd, 2007 at 7:11pm
 
that is a remarkable piece of art and workmanship....so how do you do it.  i've been trying in vain to get even just the basics off of the internet.   i've seen some osage orange around, do i have to fell the whole tree or can i use a branch?  anything you can tell me to help me get started would be great!  once again, beautiful bow bud
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Dravonk
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Re: My Latest Bow
Reply #16 - May 4th, 2007 at 4:50pm
 
Does the skin stretch and add power to the bow just like sinew does, or is it just there to prevent the wood from breaking?
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Monster
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Re: My Latest Bow
Reply #17 - May 5th, 2007 at 9:40pm
 
I shoot both compound and recurve bows.  The compound is more accurate for me and much easier to shoot.  But I think the recurve is more fun because it is harder to shoot and takes more work to learn to use well.  Kind of like a gun and a sling.  The sling is much harder to master but gives me much more pride to learn.  I want to next make a long bow with my own hands and master it.
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Bikewer
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Re: My Latest Bow
Reply #18 - May 6th, 2007 at 7:46pm
 
Snakeskins are strictly cosmetic; the skin is very thin, and would not add much protection to the back.   This was my first attempt with osage, and my ham-handed working of the back down to the single ring left a bunch of minor tool marks.   Since the ring was rather thin, I didn't want to sand it down further, so I just covered them up!

Here are the two primary internet resources I used:

Ferret's page:
http://groups.msn.com/ferretsarcherywebpage/_homepage.msnw?pgmarket=en-us/
has a number of well-photographed articles, and a great section on making "board bows" from scratch.

George Tsoulaka's site:
http://www.angelfire.com/magic/jawge/

Also lots of well-photographed build-a-longs.

Primitive Archer magazine has a very nice forum too.
The Bowyer's Bible series has everything you'd ever want to know, and they are about 12.00 bucks each in paperback from Amazon.

Most don't recommend osage for beginners, as the wood tends to be very "snakey" and also to have little branches and knots.  I was lucky to get a nearly-perfect stave from one of the forum guys.

Far easier to work with a forgiving wood like hickory if you want to start from a small tree or sapling.
Excellent bows can be made from boards; hickory, red oak, ash, etc.  All the above resources have good stuff on how to proceed.
Ferret (above) has a very nice tutorial on making a basic "board" bow with illustrations of what kind of grain to look for in a board.   ( I went to a local hardwood dealer for a red oak board, and the second bow I made from that one is still shooting fine.)
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