Making My Longbow

[Stickbow Hunter]

Good to see the progress Tom.

Jeff

[Tom Alker]

Thanks Yeo, Kelly and Stick

[Tom Alker]

Hey guys i started doing some more tillering today and got the bow braced. Perry wasn't kidding when he said tillering is the hard part. Even though its difficult im still enjoying the build a lot.

Once we strung my bow i got really excited lol, I was half tempted to pick up the ruler and try to fire it at perrys 3d target in the yard but i resisted.

Perry also showed me how to make a Flemish Twist string today. At first i couldn't get it right, But i swapped from trying the right handed way to the left handed way and it just clicked and started working (Which is odd as im right handed 100%) He has lent me his string jig and i will be making a replica of it so i can make my own strings.

First go at the tillering stage and i got a lot more to do so go easy on me


Thanks for reading,

Tom.

(Side note: the bow isnt braced like it is in the pictures anymore, its a much much lower brace height. Ill put a pic up tomorrow.)

[perry]

Morning Folks, poor old Tom, the moment I braced the Bow for him you could see in his Face all he wanted to do was shoot it. The Tillering is frustrating him but I keep telling him it's not a Bow Yet, it's still a Stave !

I have him watching the very slight emerging Set which is an indication the Outer Limbs are not working enough. It is a Job to keep Tom focused on getting the Outer Limbs working as they should as there is slight tiller issue's on the Inner Limbs and he keeps wanting to switch back and forwards between Spots - A gentle reminder every now and then is needed

This Stave has a marked propeller Twist and some character dips and bumps along the Limbs, it is not as straight a piece of timber as the Photo's indicate. Because of this the string line is not down the centre of the Handle. It has turned out the string line is offset to the left and as such is almost a true Centreshot Arrow Pass. I like this in Selfbows as it means less critical Arrow Spine requirments

Tom, you are going well Mate, your work to this point has been excellent You have learned how to handle the Hand Tools required and you are learning the ins and outs of making Selfbows. You are asking insightful questions and I see the light coming on regularly. The Patience bit is the Hard Part I do not know anyone who does not struggle with that from time to time when it comes to Tillering. The Clue is to know when to Walk away and leave it, go and watch the Trash Boys DVD for instance.

Despite the dimensions of this Stave I feel it's already at 45# ish but being 78" long there is lots of scope to shorten it to bump up the Draw Weight if we miss the 40# goal weight. There is very limited space in my Backyard. Tom is using his Phone to take Photo's so the aspect ratio of the Camera is an issue with front on tillering Photos. He did take some , maybe they will be the ones posted today.

regards Jacko

[GrahameA]

Morning Tom.

Look on the bright side. Reports are suggesting the Flathead are biting well in the passage, there are a few Tailor around, the weather has turned really good, you could be out throwing a few lures (or Flies) at the finny creatures. Instead you are making a bow. Hmmmmm..............

[Tom Alker]

Cheers perry, Trash boys was nuts and the center-shot string line is awesome! i explained center-shot to my brother last night and i think we may have turned him around on the Asiatic bows, will have to wait and see.

grahame,
Funny you mention that, I was just saying to perry yesterday my boat trailer has a flat and i havent got it fixed in over a month. Lazy me. My brother said the same about the flatties getting around. Still have to beat my personal best flathead at 90cm using soft plastics. And the passage is FILLED with tailor around this time of year, last year i was cast netting herring and gar for bait and i kept getting tailor in the net haha!

Cheers guys.

[Stickbow Hunter]

The bow is coming along well. There is a good propellor twist alright but I like character in self bows.

Jeff

[greybeard]

Tom,

The self bow is coming along very well; patience is the name of the game.

Listen to what Perry has to say as he has a wealth of knowledge regarding self bows.

Daryl.

[Tom Alker]

Thanks Greybeard!

[Tom Alker]

Oh yeah i forgot to add a part about the string building, Perry likes to stress them a bit to remove any stretch and he told me to hold one end while he pulled from the other and he flung me across the yard at lightspeed

[Tom Alker]

I just finished tillering to a neutral tiller guys. It's bloody scary working on the bow without perry watching i was worried id make a mistake but hey, it went ok

At brace there's about a 2 to 0mm difference in string height between the top and bottom limbs. (compared to 6-9mm LOL)

Thanks,

Tom

[Stickbow Hunter]

Sounding good mate.

Jeff

[Fanto]

fantastic work there Tom, it's really looking like a nice bow now.

can't want to see it shooting

[perry]

Cool Tom, we'll double check things tomorrow, especially those Dark Marks, get it tillered to Brace and then march it down the Tillering Stick as each increment is tillered - and a Cuppa every now and then to keep you focused and fresh Tom

regards Jacko

[Tom Alker]

Getting close now guys, Should be shooting it on Wednesday. It's taken me a long time with the tillering mainly because I'm always worried i will take too much wood of then i take shavings of hair off the bow and it's not enough haha.

We have the bow at a 5-6inch brace now and have tillered it to 16 inches. The tiller measurements im doing are difficult because of the twist in the limbs but it's going okay so far. It really is mind blowing how you can't make the wood do what you want, you have to follow IT and let IT decide what happens.

More to come, thanks for reading.

[Tom Alker]

I was doing some tillering today and i added this Beautiful, Graceful, Distinctive...

Hinge.

Worked it out a bit, still a bit of fixing to go, more pics to come soon. It was tillered to 21" till i hinged the darn thing.

[perry]

Its not as bad as Tom is making out here Folks, a moments confusion, a little impatience, few too many passes with the Cabinet Scraper. Don't stress about it Mate - it is not even close to a Balls up. You have made 2 small errors in all this time, both last Saturday. I wish I only made 2 small errors on each Bow I've made, as does every one here who has made Bows

I left Tom a little more on his own on Saturday for the first hour and a half as I felt he is grasping the fundamentals well. I was in the side Yard Casting some 00 Buck Roundball with a view to it being Slingshot ammo, might save it for the 12 gauge instead, too light. I might just buy myself a 3/8th Sinker Mould and leave out the pin for the hole. A Slingshot is damn handy for entertainment around Camp, flinging out Bait whilst Fishing, Rabbits etc

I start 7 weeks leave next week and if Tom has time will get his Bow finished then. It is dragging on but Tom is working at his own Pace and there is no use in pushing him to work outside his comfort level !

The minor Hinge was probably masked by the Propeller Twist. Just a little work on the slightly stiff Limb Tip and mid Limb on the Hinged Limb and all will be well. Then bring the Limbs back into balance. As he said, its been down to 22" on the Tiller Stick so it's close

regards Jacko

[bigbob]

Glad to hear its progressing well Perry. Know Tom will be stoked to be able to use his own personally crafted bow, with your mentoring .

[Tom Alker]

To shoot, Or not to shoot....

Hey guys,

Back at it again today trying to do some touch ups. Just when i feel like i've got it right i start to over-think my work because i'm so new to it, I don't trust my own judgements haha
Tried to do some work on the limb that was hinging (Top) It appears to be bending ok now. I took a bit off wood of the tip and around the handle to even out the bend and i think it's worked.

I'm not sure at all when it's ready for shooting if I'm being honest, Also im happy either way but is backing a safer option for me? I'm happy to do it if it's needed.

Please let me know what you think,
Thanks for reading.

Current Specs: 78", Around 58#@28"
The hinge from last week


The hinge now


Heres a pic of the feathering now


Other pictures. Sorry about the low light and bad angles. Not a great photographer lol.

[longbow steve]

Hey Tom, you could probably get the area near the fades working a bit more, looking pretty good otherwise. Steve

[Tom Alker]

Thanks for your reply,

You mean this area?

[longbow steve]

Yeah, not a great deal. It looks to be a very long bow. How much set/ string follow has it got? Steve

[Tom Alker]

i will get you a pic give me a minute

[Tom Alker]

It's 78 inches

[Tom Alker]

I actually shot it today...
It didn't break..
Heart was in my neck...

Feels great though very happy it didnt explode. All the precautions perry got me to take have clearly payed off. I feel as though the bottom limb is not bending as much as it should. I have only shot the bow 9 times and i'm too anxious to shoot it anymore because i feel like the tiller on the bottom limb will lead to a break..

Check out these short clips of me shooting the bow. On the third video you can see the tillering quite well if you pause before i release. Very keen to hear what you guys have to say, Is it ready to be finished, Or should i keep tillering?

Thanks!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsvFLkiewz0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEBTYpdfepk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PwmxHBImiQ (Best Side View)

[longbow steve]

The bottom limb should be marginally stiffer, I get the impression from your photos that it is pulling into your hand quite firmly so taking a bit of the bottom limb should work for you. Go by feel, if thats what it feels like then it is probably correct.
Set is pretty great so it must be a marginal wood so you have done a great job of getting a bow out of it. You could try a reflex of the limbs with a heat gun and plenty of veg oil or chalk it up to experience and be happy with it for what it is.
You have done great!
My Osage bow took a bit of set and I reflexed it 2 " and now it holds 1 1/2" of reflex. I live in a climate with high humidity and moderate temps so it is hard to get the moisture content down to 10% and the probable average is about 15% for air dried staves. Cheers Steve

[Tom Alker]

Thanks for the info steve, So i'm thinking ill take a very light amount of timber off the bottom limb to let it bend just a wee bit more then it might be done.

I will leave heat bending to my next bow and just leave this one as it is currently.

How do you tell when a bow is ready to be sanded down and finished properly? Is it after youve shot it or what? If i can shoot this 10 times is that enough signs to say its ready to be 400 gritted and sealed?

Cheers.

[longbow steve]

He Tom, couldn't get the side view to load but from what I can see it is shooting great so would be inclined not to touch it. 20 more shots and finish her up. Steve

[Stickbow Hunter]

Tom,

To me it appears that the bottom limb could bend a little more in the inner limb. It may only need a few scrapes to get it right. It does seem to shoot well though. You have done well.

Not to do with your bow but it appears to me when you are shooting you seem to be holding the draw weight of the bow with your inner thumb joint which won't give you consistent results as your bow hand would be wanting to collapse inward. If this is the case try holding the bow so it is in line with your forearm.

Jeff

[Tom Alker]

Tom,
you seem to be holding the draw weight of the bow with your inner thumb joint

I think it's because its the first bow ive shot over 50lb. My heaviest before this was 44lb so going almost to 60 is definitely intimidating and probably the cause of my crappy form. Still learning though, I'm almost at my 1 year mark (2 months to go) with archery so im still keen as beans for any tip's and info y'all can give.

One thing that is truly amazing about this bow is how center shot it is. The string is absolutely perfectly inline with the arrow pass perry and i marked down. When perry was first explaining it to me i couldn't understand what he meant but my god, i do now haha.

Will put more pics up of the bow shortly. Camera is charging.

Thanks.