bowyers bible question

[texx]

i am going to have a crack at turning some osage into some thing that will shoot arrows .
i know zip about bows and arrows yet .
i am going to buy the trad bowyers bible which volumes would i need to get me going , IE just volume one or should i grab number 2 at the same time ???

johno

[longbow steve]

Volume 1 should be good to get you started. Steve

[Dennis La Varenne]

Johnno,

TBB Vol 1 is a good start, but read Tim Baker's chapter on bow design several times. It is Chapter 2 I think.

From 3-Rivers Archery you can get a copy of Paul Comstock's book - The Bent Stick - which is an excellent primer on bowmaking and is very cheap.

I have always thought that TBB is for bowyers who had already built a few bows and wanted to understand the technical side of bowyery a bit better.

I have built very many bows from locally grown Osage, including my very first bow. Could I suggest you hang onto yours for a while and start on some local hardwoods which don't have the problems of having to follow growth rings as with the deciduous woods from the northern hemisphere. Spotted gum is a good one to start with and so is Red Ironbark, both of which you can get from local timber merchants. If you live in northern NSW or Qld, grey ironbark is also a very good starter wood too. All of them are very dense and very strong. They are also very tolerant of beginner mistakes.

Keep your Osage for something special down the track.

[Nutgrass]

A someone who has just started down this same road.
The bible is a little deep if you are actually a beginner. Yes it has lots of info, but it is definitely written for people who can already knock out a bow.
I also purchased The bent stick under Dennis's guidance. For memwho knows absolutely nothing about making a bow, it is by far much more beginner friendly.
I am only part way into it, definitely alot better.

I am guessing after making a few bows the bible will make more sense & be worth reading again.

Just my very inexperienced point of view.

Ps. The bent stick costs 16.99 from 3 rivers.

[texx]

ok thanks guys i , i will buy "the bent stick" aswell
on the timber , i have a few bits of osage and i did actually think it would be better to save that until i had made a couple of bows but then i thought well i have the osage i may aswell use it .
but on reflection yeah you are probably right would be a shame to stuff up the osage and i have 90 acres of the local iron bark to play with at home
we have 2 different iron bark species on our place locally just known as narrow leaf and broad leaf , the narrow leaf is the one that is preferred for fence posts around these parts .
i also have a lot of wattle ( acacia ) but dont know which one it is .
i bought myself a brand new and scary sharp draw knife while i was in toowoomba yesterday .
i have a fairly well equipped woodwork workshop already ( bandsaw , sanders and so on )cos i dabble in woodwork, lately i have been making custom pens mainly and a few other things .

johno

[texx]

just tried to order 3 books from 3 rivers but at the checkout they dont have a paypal button .
hate using bankcard online may have to look elsewhere or drop him an email .

[longbowinfected]

John Mcdonald from AMSO 218, one of the trad suppliers on here gets my gear for me in from 3 Rivers. He regularly places orders with them. Drop him a line.

The other suppliers might do the same thing too.

Kev

[Dennis La Varenne]

Johnno,

I always use my MasterCard for online purchases and have never experienced any problems, especially with 3-Rivers.

The drawknife won't be much good to you on the Ironbarks. It will rip lumps out rather than take thin slices off because of the nature of the fibre structure of those woods. You will find a big farrier's rasp much better for taking off the by-wood (wood which is not part of the actual bow). Drawknives are good for long fibred woods like Osage where the blade can get under the fibres which run the full length of the stave. Many of the local hardwoods have wood fibres which run in a wavy fashion and drawknives cannot cope with this.

A farrier's rasp can cope with anything. So can an angle grinder used deftly. You only need to use them to rough out the shape of the bow. All the fine work with small tools begins after that stage.

As you will find out from reading, it is also a good idea to cut your stave, then mark out the bow and remove most of the by-wood and put it aside to air dry as an oversized roughed out bow. It will dry out much more quickly and evenly, and warping will be minimal.

It doesn't hurt also to paint the back of the bow (do you know what the back is at your stage?) with PVA glue to minimise water loss from that surface and prevent radial cracking.

[texx]

Johnno,

I always use my MasterCard for online purchases and have never experienced any problems, especially with 3-Rivers.

The drawknife won't be much good to you on the Ironbarks. It will rip lumps out rather than take thin slices off because of the nature of the fibre structure of those woods. You will find a big farrier's rasp much better for taking off the by-wood (wood which is not part of the actual bow). Drawknives are good for long fibred woods like Osage where the blade can get under the fibres which run the full length of the stave. Many of the local hardwoods have wood fibres which run in a wavy fashion and drawknives cannot cope with this.

A farrier's rasp can cope with anything. So can an angle grinder used deftly. You only need to use them to rough out the shape of the bow. All the fine work with small tools begins after that stage.

As you will find out from reading, it is also a good idea to cut your stave, then mark out the bow and remove most of the by-wood and put it aside to air dry as an oversized roughed out bow. It will dry out much more quickly and evenly, and warping will be minimal.

It doesn't hurt also to paint the back of the bow (do you know what the back is at your stage?) with PVA glue to minimise water loss from that surface and prevent radial cracking.

ok thanks for that , i still wanted the draw knife anyway .'
i have 20lt mobilicer end grain sealer here that i can use to control the drying of the staves .
just have to go for a walk with the chainsaw and pick a tree probably a youngish narrow leaf should fit the bill .
i have a few other timbers in stock also ,might go through them see if there is anything suitable to play with .

[woodie]

Texx I have made a few bows from spotted gum decking as a cheap form of staves to start with. As it is already seasoned you can go ahead and make shavings. Just have ot go through the stack to find the right grain. The photo on my avatar is one of them and it is only 1280mm long and was 55#@28" when I finished it 3 years ago not sure what it is now but it still shoots good ashame I donot.
woodie

[Steven J]

A farrier's rasp can cope with anything. So can an angle grinder used deftly. You only need to use them to rough out the shape of the bow. All the fine work with small tools begins after that stage.

A good souce for farriers rasps is http://www.thebarefootblacksmith.com/home.php?cat=251

You can find regular rasps (rasp and file) or finishing rasps (regular coarse rasp and fine rasp on reverse side). The teeth size on a finishing rasp are closer to that of a regular wood working rasp. I use these rasps a lot, but only on my horses. The Bassoli rasps are very sharp, but the regular pattern Bellota are like razors. Save Edge rasps are good, but are not worth the extra dollars for making bows (nor horses in my mind).

Drill out a golf ball to use as a handle.

Steve

[texx]

all sorted with 3rivers ( paypal is acting up )
ordered bent stick and vol 1 &2 trad bowyers bible .
i figure when ordering from over seas you may aswell make the parcel worth while .

johno

[looseplucker]

I second the motion on the farrier's rasp - I got mine from Horseland for about $20 on sale.

And the golf ball works a treat = a farrier actually gave me that tip.

[Nutgrass]

Excuse my ignorance, but what is the thing about the golf ball

[texx]

Excuse my ignorance, but what is the thing about the golf ball

i am thinking probably for a handle .

i have already sent an email to my sister inlaw who works at one of the biggest horsey places in the country ( importer/ retailer )that her brother owns .

had an answer back and they only carry the cheaper rasps , she even bought her's from elsewhere .
so i i'll be having a look around toowoomba next week for rasps .

[looseplucker]

It is all about ergonomics - enables the rasp to be held at practically any angle with a lot more comfort than with a standard file handle

[Steven J]

It is all about ergonomics - enables the rasp to be held at practically any angle with a lot more comfort than with a standard file handle

Yeah, that's it John!

I like them for wood work, but they are great for working with horses too. Tex just drill a hole (1/4" - 3/8") and wack it onto the tang with a hammer.

Texx, If you drop your file, with any luck, it will bounce right back onto the workbench too

Steve

[texx]

no doubt about it , it is a good idea , and don't get me wrong but i am a hobby wood turner and have made all my own handles for all my turning tools so i will probably craft myself a wooden handle for the rasp's too .
anyway my son's probably will get a bit cranky if i start drilling holes in their golf balls .


a few hundred years ago ( seems like ) when i was a kid in the UK i was messing around in my room and with my trusty pen knife i cut open a golf ball and when close to the middle and through all the elastic it exploded sending black ink like stuff everywhere including all over me and the new wallpaper dad had not long before decorated my room with .
cant remember how long it was until i could sit down with out pain for but i think it was a few days .( dads slipper had a rubber sole and he was a strong shipyard worker )