Selfbows - WOW!

[YosemiteSam]

I'm not an expert bowyer.  Heck, I've only made two that I like very much and they're still nothing worth bragging about -- just some simple board bows.  But I'm hooked!

My last bow, which finally came in at 42# (about where I wanted) is just a simple maple board bow -- nothing fancy.  I've been shooting it & trying to figure it out.  It seemed very unforgiving and inconsistent, which was to be expected since I ended up with almost 1/2" negative tiller (oops).  I kept having a loud "CLACK" of the arrow hitting the riser somewhere & couldn't figure it out.  Finally, thanks to a tip on the Bowyer's Bench, I shifted my grip down a little ways & suddenly, the arrows started coming out straight.  The "clack" noise turned into the softest strum that was far quieter than my recurve with its beaver ball string silencer.  And my groups were cut in half -- putting 6 cedar arrows within a 7" circle at 20 yards when doing my part.  The arrows are slow -- 20 yards is point-on.  But they fly beautifully straight, consistent and with such a nice sound that I just want to keep shooting it.  And when I occasionally hit that little post-it note that I'm aiming for, I can't help but smile.

If I ever figure out how to put pictures up on this site, I'll post one up.  But it's nothing glamorous like the archery porn some of you create.  And I may still hunt with my recurve since it's more forgiving and has a lot more power behind it.  But this selfbow is going to get its share of attention from me.

If anybody is on the fence thinking about whether to try their hand at building your own, I highly recommend it.  Keep your expectations low -- no goals other than personal enjoyment & take your time.  When it all comes together, it will be worth it.

[Mark Baker]

A half inch "string follow" is nothing to worry about at all...and can actually make the bow a bit "nicer" to shoot.   It's addicting, this bow-building stuff, especially the primitive realm of it all.    Keep with it, and no need to compromise your goals as far as hunting goes...you can really take anything you have a mind to, once you wrap your head around the idea that "you can"!   Here's a pic of an elk I killed with a simple maple board-bow 20-some years ago....

 

[Mark Baker]

I should add that this was not a "selfbow", but a hick-backed maple board that I made.  In those days I had little or no access to good bow wood, and did the best with what I could scrounge up.  But the addiction to building those bows, and the ones I make now is the same, as is the remarkable characteristics of wood bows in general.

[ChuckC]

String follow or negative tiller ?  These are not the same things are they ?

[Mark Baker]

Perhaps not...I took it to mean the same as string follow, but it could be opposite of "positive" tiller, so good catch on that.   If so, negative tiller could also be easily fixed with minimal poundage loss I think...by easing up the upper limb some.   You'd lose a small bit but not much.

[Shadowhnter]

Mr. Baker, that was an awesome harvest!

[YosemiteSam]

Mark Baker -- that's a great picture.  Love the simplicity of it all -- a homemade bow and a clean kill for meat.  Do you mind revealing your setup (draw weight, length, arrow weight, etc.).  The most I'll ever chase around here is tule elk.  Even the bulls aren't that big relative to the rocky mountains or roosevelts.  Figure whatever works for you would work for me.  Just got to find some hickory backing...

My issue was negative tiller.  At brace, the lower limb is about 3/8" further from the string than the top limb (measured at the fades).  I could fix it but I didn't catch it until I put in my "art work" on the belly of the upper limb.  There's a small pin knot & some coloring that I made into a tree trunk with an owl sitting on top.  I'd be sanding that exact spot, I think.  Besides, I won't be disappointed if I have to build another     Good maple boards are hard to find but I did find a local mill that has a chunk of pecan available.

[ChuckC]

Do you have a shelf cut in ?  If not, turn it over !

[K.S.TRAPPER]

Mark and his boys are the real deal and so are his bows, you might want to pay attention when he offers up some of his good advice.

Love your pictures Mark! Always well done buddy        

Tracy

I am a failure with oasge.  I made some pretty good backed yew lam bows.  i have a piece of yew that I need to cut into a billet drying  right now that looks pretty straight grained and clear.  My fisrt attempt made a nice bambo  backed bow, but it cracked for the person that I made it for and gave hime a super early Mike Ballenger reverse 68"r/d.   I made one pignut hickory, not shag bark,   I adjusted it once and may reduce it a few pounds this winter.   It is a simple flat limb, but is a great bow, its only thing is that it likes arrows that are ten pounds under the spine  of what a similar weight Hill would require.  The arrows are about 8 grains per pound, but with the lighter arrows it shoots very close to a glass backed longbow and is very gentle in the hand and accurate.  I would make another one if I could get a perfect piece of super dry  pig nut again.   My friends think its the best bow I own.   Kind of bazaar how a free chunk of wood can be so valued.

[Mark Baker]

That bow...and most of them for that matter, because I love the length, weight, etc....plus I don't always need to find new arrows...is 64 inches, NTN, and about 65 or 70lbs at around 28inches (my draw).   In those days, there were not many folks making "wood bows" anywhere, let alone in MT, and access to good wood (osage, or yew, or other) was very limited.   So I picked through whatever hardwood supplies stocks I could find, and really, I cut my teeth learning how to tiller and design bows out of boards.   Now that I have access to good wood, I prefer staves, but those early board bows performed every bit as good and many of my best selfbows do now...and there is no better way to learn the craft without breaking the bank, than to learn on board bows.  

BTW, that cow was killed in late January, sub-zero cold.   I worried that the bow would blow apart when I came to full-draw!  Of course it didn't....

That used to be a great late-hunt for archery-only here in SW MT, but wolves have put an end to that....another story altogether.

[Mark Baker]

Not that I would ever trade my "journey" of learning to build bows for anyone elses, it took me years to learn, on my own, what folks nowdays can pick up in short order by talking with folks on this site and others who are masters at this now.   There was no internet for me, even books on the subject, prior to the Traditional Bowyers Bibles, were vague and hard to put to actual hands-on trial...and the good custom bowyers I knew (except for a very few) would not even be willing to "try" something or knew nothing at all about this stuff.   There is a real great resource here, and a lot of knowledge and artistic talent to be had for the asking...and many great gatherings of folks learning all across the country nowdays.   All of that really helps a newbie to this get past the confidence part, which in reality is the biggest hurdle for folks.

[JEFF B]

           nice Bow mark and harvest

[YosemiteSam]

Originally posted by K.S.TRAPPER:
Mark and his boys are the real deal and so are his bows, you might want to pay attention when he offers up some of his good advice.
           

Tracy

I'm listening     Mark, I checked out your book on Amazon & appreciated your mindset.  Will have to pick up a copy, for sure!  Having just gotten back into archery and hunting after 20 years on the sidelines, I feel that I have more to learn than to teach.  I am very grateful for these online forums where I can learn from people who I wouldn't otherwise know.  It's mostly all compounds & sniper rifles out here.  Thank you for your insights.