Bushmoot Bow Making?

[Seoras]

She shoots sweet Wayne - and her name is Annabelle

Thanks for the great tuition.

Pics here http://s219.photobucket.com/albums/c...view=slideshow

Cheers

George

[John Fenna]

Toys? - never did a mere toy give me so much pain and pleasure all at the same time!
Today I will be fining the grip area down a tad, re-taping the grip and covering the tape with thin leather...
Then all I need do is buy some arrows, make a bracer and tab - and perhaps a quiver as well, find a safe spot to practice, build some muscle, learn not to whimper so loudly when I miss a shot ... and I am away with a reborn hobby!
Many thanks to you (and Biker!) for your patience during the classes (and after)
I have repaired my hatchets edge (after the bamboo ate it) and just need to get the tarps out of the workshop, where they are drying right in the way of serious work, and the saga of the bow continues!

[Seoras]

covering the tape with thin leather...

Good idea John. Will do the same.

You always have your father and son bow in the mean time.

Cheers

George

[John Fenna]

OK - tried that ... and it looked awful!
The leather I used was thin and showed ever lump and bump in the tape... so I ripped it off again and used that latex impregnated conforming bandage stuff - in cammo. It hides all the faults and gives a comfortable grip too
Yes it is not trad looking - but then the yellow/black string is not trad either, nor are the glass arrows I bought today, nor is the bracer and tab combi I made years ago (and hope to find in the loft tomorrow) ... and after all - this is not re-enactment ... it is bushcrafting!
I will try and get photos up soon - when I have made a quiver

[Gailainne]

Glass arrows!!!!! surely you should be crafting them as well, and I know ( don't call you Shirley )

[John Fenna]

All in good time - I have some I have made before but they all have stone broadheads.
I want to practice with cheap arrows until I get reasonably good again

[dwardo]

All in good time - I have some I have made before but they all have stone broadheads.
I want to practice with cheap arrows until I get reasonably good again

I have a med style tab if you need one John, just pm your address. If not a glove thinking about it, cant get on with them my self.

To build up a handle i stack leather front and back of the grip then shape with a knife, bind with serving string then wrap with leather. Give you something to get a grip on.

[John Fenna]

I have a med style tab if you need one John, just pm your address. If not a glove thinking about it, cant get on with them my self.

To build up a handle i stack leather front and back of the grip then shape with a knife, bind with serving string then wrap with leather. Give you something to get a grip on.

All is done now
Made myself a couple of new tabs, found my bracer and made a quick mock up of the type of quiver I want (I finally found a use for the leather I had from Lindsey last year ) ... and the mock up turned out OK so I will use it instead of using top quality leather.
Bow, arrows, tab, bracer,quiver, arrow wiper (fox fur - again from Lindsey), - all I need now is skill ... but I cannot find a source for that on the interweb!

[John Fenna]

Hmmm - just had a bit of a shoot in the back garden... I think I need a better range...
One arrow lost as it flicked a raspberry cane and dived into the twiggy horror that is the compost heap of twiggy stuff (that rots and is later separated into good compost and rotten twigs) under my canoe racks, two stone heads shattered in contact with trees, one antler head shattered in contact with a wall, several fletchings ruined by contact with twigs.

The range was rather hemmed in by trees and fruit bushes (I could only see part of the target through the raspberries) and had a breezeblock wall as a backstop. The target was a builders bulk delivery sand bag filled with compost (an overflow compost bin between a plastic compost bin and my canoe rack under which is the pile of twiggy stuff rotting etc etc)
Slate tipped arrow in willow tree



Home made arrows after 1 hrs shooting

The kit I was using

[Wayne]

Glad to read your enjoying experimenting with the Bow finishes and handle shape John.

I am looking forward to seeing your final product.

[John Fenna]

Glad to read your enjoying experimenting with the Bow finishes and handle shape John.

I am looking forward to seeing your final product.

See previous post!
The bow is now very comfortable, shoots fast and hard and looks ... mean!
I will be saving my remaining home made arrows and flint arrowheads until I learn to shoot straight!

[Biker]

Looking VERY impressive John. Nice work.

Dug my bow out of the car today and showed my Mother and step-dad, they were impressed. Now my Mum want to have a go at shooting it with some arrows over in the orchard field at the end of their garden. Hopefully I won't lose too many of my arrows to her loosing them willy nilly.

Big thanks to Wayne for the workshop, I really enjoyed myself, and taking home a finsihed bow was the cherry on top.

[Wayne]

See previous post!
The bow is now very comfortable, shoots fast and hard and looks ... mean!
I will be saving my remaining home made arrows and flint arrowheads until I learn to shoot straight!

Pictures didnt display on the ipad.

Looking good John.

I really enjoyed running the workshop.

It was great to see people really enjoying creating their bows and taking their first steps towards becoming a bowyer.

[John Fenna]

I wanted to do the Bhutanese bow workshop 2 years ago - but my Tennis Elbow prevented me
Last year Roly and I made the "father and Son" bow under Georges watchful eye (the workshop ran as 2 people to 1 bow) and this has seasoned into a very decent bow
This year I made the Bhutanese bow - with lots of help from Biker as my lack of tool skills combined with the Tennis Elbow flaring up thanks to unacustomed effort and having to run off to run the Flint and Steel workshop made me very slow - without help I would have still been rasping away!
On getting home all I did to finish the bow was to reshape the handle area to make it more comfortable (junior hacksaw and rasps) - then it was shooting time!
It is very addictive - but after 1 hour the old TE started playing up ... and I had macerated 4 arrows and lost one (later found in a bush).
I am already thinking of making a Flatbow - but using my full set of workshop aids - following an article from "Popular Mechanics" someone posted here a while back, combined with the skills I learned a little of on the workshop.
I also need to "refine" (or learn!)my arrow making skills - so that I can repair/replace the ones I trashed!
A truely inspirational pair of workshops, the "Father and Son" bowmaking and the "Bhutanese " bowmaking sessions have revived an interest in archery/bowyery that had long been dormant (My first attempt at making a bow ended in tears/rage/kindling many years ago...) and I would like to thank George, Roly, Biker and above all Wayne for their help, patience, forebearance, generosity in time and loan of tools, materials etc
The only reason I am sitting here typing is coz it is pishing down outside with a gusting wind that would have me trashing/losing all my arrows!
I am now off to search out some doweling to have another bash at arrow making..... it is too wet to bother hunting out straight saplings in the woods...

[John Fenna]

Just had a go remembering how to make an arrow ...
The head is flint, the fletchings ... bird of prey of some sort...( buzzard?) glued with resin/beeswax/charcoal whipped with artificial sinew.
The shaft is reused dowel I found in my "useful wood" pile...
it is a bit chunky - but then so is the head

[Seoras]

Nice one John.