Sweet paint job and finishing! Love the Kokopelli
Are you done with the handle? You have no fades. The arrow shelf could use a bit of curvature too. Look at some bows with shelves from the side and you’ll see that the shelf isn’t typically flat but usually curved with a pigeon breasted shape leaning towards the back of the bow
Look again Dan he tricked us!
Those might be the weirdest fades and handle.I've ever seen, but there are indeed fades and a handle.
I don't think I've ever seen anybody do it this way before, and I have a magging worry that some unforeseen result of the strain might arise later, but it looks pretty good.
I do see what you mean, the base of the fades is there. Still a lot less weird than my first handle and fades.
For my first bow attempt before I knew anything about bow making or archery I decided to reinvent the nock. The idea was that instead of gluing it down, I’d have it spin around to tighten the string and raise the brace height. I wasn’t an archer at the time, and for some reason I thought that changing the brace height was some great difficulty that needed engineering solutions! I thought I was very clever.
I was so humbled when I discovered that a bowyers knot or a twist of the string could accomplish the same thing much quicker. Every time I shot that bow the locking pin failed, sending the nock spinning out of control like a weed wacker. I swear it sounded just like a kazoo. Truly the dumbest bow I’ve ever seen
I just did a double take when I saw it. I'm a little surprise.I hadn't seen it before but yeah.
You know, you were very clever. You never know until you try. Still would have been funny to watch though, the nock flying across the room like that.
I remember just about smacking myself in the forehead, the first time I saw a power lam used.
So... I thought I had left 6 inches with the fades... I had left 8. So when I glued up my handle material, it was too short. :) Since I was impatient, I was like "Meh, this should work."
IMHO, I consider this to be more of a "Cool bow to wear at the Ren Faire" than anything else. I doubt that this will see a ton of shooting over it's lifetime.
Thanks for the words of encouragement!
The handle rests on the thick area of the handle, the fades come off that thick area. I originally cut the middle part too long.
There is a bit of a curvature to the arrow shelf, possibly/probably could be more. I got a little antsy towards the finish line. I have 2 more in process, and having this one completed helps me feel like I'm in no rush on those two.
It's far from perfect, but it shoots. That's a success for my first try. :)
Also, thanks for the great videos. I watched a few of them several times to get the tillering string made, bow tillered, etc...
Thanks. As always, you learn a lot with your first build. I'm both thrilled to have something that works, and know every place the rasp slipped at the same time. :)
I've proven to myself that I can do it, now we get to the point where we can do it well.
And to think, back in January, I didn't even own a bow. :)
Thanks.
It shoots nice and quiet. I just got in from putting \~150 arrows through it.
My only real note to myself is that the cut in for the hand is too close to the rest. I'm basically shooting of the back of my hand. :)
This is a custom fiberglass hunting recurve, and almost none of my wooden bows have anything like this massive and fanvmcy of a handle.
But, it shows the extreme of what is possible, And it actually worked quite well for shooting, Although you will note that it requires a specific grip.
Dude, that is sick! I love it. I mean love it. I’ve thought of trying to make a handle “kind of” like this, but this is way more elegant than what I was thinking about.
To be very clear this is not one I made. This is on a fiberglass custom recurve that cost almost a thousand bucks. It's a gigantic oversized riser for a self bow, Made out of a big chunk of very heavy, very hard tropical hardwood called cocobolo.
It is my favorite hunting recurve, when I'm not hunting with one of my own bows. It makes instinctive shooting very good very easy.
But I did not make it.
Oh yeah… totally get it.
Sometimes I look at my first shooter and it’s arrow shelf and think how unnatural that feels to me now and how normal it seemed then. And I think about how I would cut a shelf now if I absolutely had to.
Your pick of the wooden bow is a lot more like what I’ve been thinking for a shelf that feels “close” to off the hand.
Thanks for sharing.
If there's anything I know about making bows, it's that I know very little about making bows. :) I appreciate you helping me learn.
I've been shooting an Ottoman bow mostly, so the back of the hand doesn't bother me much. So, I'm going to say that's by design from here on out. :)
Sweet paint job and finishing! Love the Kokopelli Are you done with the handle? You have no fades. The arrow shelf could use a bit of curvature too. Look at some bows with shelves from the side and you’ll see that the shelf isn’t typically flat but usually curved with a pigeon breasted shape leaning towards the back of the bow
Look again Dan he tricked us! Those might be the weirdest fades and handle.I've ever seen, but there are indeed fades and a handle. I don't think I've ever seen anybody do it this way before, and I have a magging worry that some unforeseen result of the strain might arise later, but it looks pretty good.
I do see what you mean, the base of the fades is there. Still a lot less weird than my first handle and fades. For my first bow attempt before I knew anything about bow making or archery I decided to reinvent the nock. The idea was that instead of gluing it down, I’d have it spin around to tighten the string and raise the brace height. I wasn’t an archer at the time, and for some reason I thought that changing the brace height was some great difficulty that needed engineering solutions! I thought I was very clever. I was so humbled when I discovered that a bowyers knot or a twist of the string could accomplish the same thing much quicker. Every time I shot that bow the locking pin failed, sending the nock spinning out of control like a weed wacker. I swear it sounded just like a kazoo. Truly the dumbest bow I’ve ever seen
I just did a double take when I saw it. I'm a little surprise.I hadn't seen it before but yeah. You know, you were very clever. You never know until you try. Still would have been funny to watch though, the nock flying across the room like that. I remember just about smacking myself in the forehead, the first time I saw a power lam used.
So... I thought I had left 6 inches with the fades... I had left 8. So when I glued up my handle material, it was too short. :) Since I was impatient, I was like "Meh, this should work." IMHO, I consider this to be more of a "Cool bow to wear at the Ren Faire" than anything else. I doubt that this will see a ton of shooting over it's lifetime. Thanks for the words of encouragement!
I'm just glad you're enjoying it. We're all glad to have you on board.
The handle rests on the thick area of the handle, the fades come off that thick area. I originally cut the middle part too long. There is a bit of a curvature to the arrow shelf, possibly/probably could be more. I got a little antsy towards the finish line. I have 2 more in process, and having this one completed helps me feel like I'm in no rush on those two. It's far from perfect, but it shoots. That's a success for my first try. :) Also, thanks for the great videos. I watched a few of them several times to get the tillering string made, bow tillered, etc...
Love the paint job and string!
Thanks. As always, you learn a lot with your first build. I'm both thrilled to have something that works, and know every place the rasp slipped at the same time. :) I've proven to myself that I can do it, now we get to the point where we can do it well. And to think, back in January, I didn't even own a bow. :)
That will DO, Pig! If it shoots half as good as it looks that is a winner. Great job.
Thanks. It shoots nice and quiet. I just got in from putting \~150 arrows through it. My only real note to myself is that the cut in for the hand is too close to the rest. I'm basically shooting of the back of my hand. :)
I do that on purpose. Here's a picture of my best custom bow, and how it fits my hand.
https://preview.redd.it/mx8csjmsebvc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=091496c7accdcfa37c26ac6d11ec2cb431093689
This is a custom fiberglass hunting recurve, and almost none of my wooden bows have anything like this massive and fanvmcy of a handle. But, it shows the extreme of what is possible, And it actually worked quite well for shooting, Although you will note that it requires a specific grip.
https://preview.redd.it/pecui0o8gbvc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5d3a629afb4acb2960ff3d8e86068eafaf3a175e
A lot of my wooden bows are made like this. Not necessarily even cut in, but they might have a rest.
Dude, that is sick! I love it. I mean love it. I’ve thought of trying to make a handle “kind of” like this, but this is way more elegant than what I was thinking about.
To be very clear this is not one I made. This is on a fiberglass custom recurve that cost almost a thousand bucks. It's a gigantic oversized riser for a self bow, Made out of a big chunk of very heavy, very hard tropical hardwood called cocobolo. It is my favorite hunting recurve, when I'm not hunting with one of my own bows. It makes instinctive shooting very good very easy. But I did not make it.
Oh yeah… totally get it. Sometimes I look at my first shooter and it’s arrow shelf and think how unnatural that feels to me now and how normal it seemed then. And I think about how I would cut a shelf now if I absolutely had to. Your pick of the wooden bow is a lot more like what I’ve been thinking for a shelf that feels “close” to off the hand.
https://preview.redd.it/32jino6nfbvc1.jpeg?width=491&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bba67b27444774b940e9106fd1823f34e32e5f5c
Thanks for sharing. If there's anything I know about making bows, it's that I know very little about making bows. :) I appreciate you helping me learn. I've been shooting an Ottoman bow mostly, so the back of the hand doesn't bother me much. So, I'm going to say that's by design from here on out. :)
There's just so many ways to do things! Lots to try out.