
See that bend? That’s a zebra wood belly with crysaling. The last six bows I built had limbs with hinges so bad they make this thing look almost straight.
Here’s what happened:
See that bend? That’s a zebra wood belly with crysaling. The last six bows I built had limbs with hinges so bad they make this thing look almost straight.
Here’s what happened:
As your archery tutor and purveyor of tips n trix, I can do you no higher service than to send you to someone who actually knows what he’s talking about.
Thus: Simple Archery Mistakes — What beginners do wrong … and how to do it right.
Let’s call it “The Lawn Quiver” — although admittedly, that sounds a bit like a garden pest.
What it is is this….
The Samick Sage takedown recurve bow. Huh … Looks like a moustache.
If I could go back in time I would order the bow online, probably from my beloved 3Rivers Archery, probably with 45-pound limbs.
As it was, I drove an hour and a half to Lancaster, PA. It was raining and freeway-boring most of the way. And then of course there was the drive back, in heavier rain. On the bright side….
I began building bows because I didn’t want to spend $400 or $500 on a bow until I was sure archery would hold my interest.
So I built one. And got hooked. Especially on the building. I like shooting them, too. A lot. But building, making something wonderful, natural, and dangerous, and that functions properly: that thrill just gets better.
I plan to build more. But…
Instruction and personality galore. Another, long-awaited, Hickok45 archery video.
I can’t tell you how….
Don’t worry, this woman’s neck is not being broken by her coach.
A brief scan of World Archery TV failed to uncover any love for traditional bows, archers, or wood arrows. But, if you enjoy watching serious-looking people take turns squinting through peep sites, fingering releases, and popping shafts into yon tiny bullseye, WAT could be what you’ve been waiting for.
Me personally, I need to be in the mood. But ….
I’ve bellied a couple bows with the red fiberglass pictured here. The bow above was the first I tried backing with the stuff — elaborated on here. Maybe I’m wrong, but as far as I’m concerned, electrical grade fiberglass is not bow-backing material. I’m next to certain it was the weak link in this bow’s design chain. On the other hand….
Three-quarter-inch-thick MDF (Medium Density Fiber — no idea what that means, but there you have it) cut from a 4’x8′ slab purchased from Home Depot or Lowes for around $35.
If you started here and didn’t go directly to the design source of this machine (Jim Thorne’s How to Build a Simple Lamination Grinder), you probably want to see what happens when a inept dilettante tries to make and use one of these things. Ha ha! I shall not disappoint!
Hey, where’s the next installment of the grinder thingy?
Well, it got delayed by a dead well pump and assorted worse stuff.
Matthew B. Crawford’s Shop Class As Soulcraft: An Inquiry into the Value of Work is all about making bows, even though it never mentions bows, archery or bowmaking. (It’s been a while since I read it so I’m not absolutely certain of that.)
What you will find is a frank look at skilled manual labor by a motorcycle mechanic with a PhD in philosophy.