Stupid Question

[Eastern fisher]

I have a chance to buy a longbow from a guy.  The bow was hand made and seems to be in VERY good condition.  No cracks, stress marks, limbs are straight and seems to shoot straight. or as straight as I can shoot it.  The handle just has some red tape on it so I will fashion a really nice leather  grip.  The stupid questions is as follows.  I do not find the arrow rest is deep enough to hold regular arrows.  The guy shoots these crappy thin Dollar Store plastic arrows.  Can I cut away or sand away abit of the handle without jeopardising the strenght and integrety of the bow to allow "real" arrows to be used????

[freeman]

It would be easier to just build your shelf out a little bit. Use some of that leather you plan on using for the grip. glue up enough layers to get the thickness you want, cut to shape, sand it so it blends nice into the riser (I glue it to a piece of scrap wood and do this on a belt sander, then remove.) glue it into position, Put your new grip on, and your good to go.

[R H Clark]

First,there are no stupid questions.
If it is an all wood bow you should just glue on some leather and shape it for a rest.

Make sure if it is a self bow that it is long enough for your draw length.You also shouldn't leave it strung or get it wet.

Don't know how much the guy wants but you should be able to get a modern longbow between $100-$175.

[Dirty Bill]

Good advice here Fisher.  

[Eastern fisher]

It is a self bow.  It has sat in buddies humidity controlled basement for the last 16 years unstrung.  I checked it ALL over with a fine tooth comb.  I shot it.  Now, the arrows did not reach to target but these arrows are plastic crap and are garbage. It is a fairly decent looking bow.  made of some sort of wood, not sure what it is, but it pulls nice and the limbs seem to bend the same. He only wants $50.00 for it.  It came with the house.  It was left in the rafters and the guy who purchased the house shoots a compound "booo".  I had an add in Kijiji asking for a used draw knife so I can make my own and he emailed me back and told me about the bow.

[R H Clark]

Post some pictures if you can.At that age and for $50 it might be worth more just to hang on the wall.Any idea how old it may be or who made it?

[Shawn Leonard]

You can also glue on a piece of antler  that is shaped with a dremel tool or filed to shape. Shawn

[Jedimaster]

I saw somebody say somewhere that they used a golf tee split in half lengthwise as a cheap, effective and replaceable rest. Just stick it on, wrap it up and there you go.

[Eastern fisher]

RH.  I emailed the gut for some pics.  As soon as he gets them to me I will post them.  Thanks for all the help from everyone.  All great ideas.

[portugeejn]

Like this?  I learned this from John Strunk.  He uses broken golf tee that he picks up while golfing.  A little sandpaper work, and there you go.  His look a lot nicer though!

RonP

   

[Eastern fisher]

Sorry the pics took so long.  Here are thie pics of that longbow.  Not great but you may be able to tell the quality or lack of quality . IMG]

[Eastern fisher]

Just in case someone deletes these pics because they are to big I will redo them in the proper size=]

[Kingstaken]

Looks fine to me.

[John Scifres]

Is that strung or not?  If not, stay away.  If so, tiller is off.  I'd not give $50 for it unless it was a charity auction.  Offer him $20 then rework the tiller.

[Eastern fisher]

No I believe it was unstrung.  This is why I ask questions.  Thanks guys.  Not buying it.  Will still try to make my own.  Now I have to find the wood

[Eastern fisher]

I thought you guys would get a kick out of this email.. I emailed this guy back last night and topld him thanks but I would have to pass on the bow.  this was his response....

....Just thought I’d thank you for being such a pest and wasting so much of my time.  If you did actually know anything about archery you would be aware that a bow of the caliper of mine is worth over 900 new and I offered at 50.  What the hell did you expect? That bow will put an arrow 3 inches into a hardwood tree from 20 feet if the person aiming it could hit the broad side of a barn.  Good luck in your hunting….Jeff

Now this is a guy that when I asked him about this bow, he said he knew nothing about it or it's value.

[John Scifres]

Sounds like you made a good move for a couple reasons.

[Tom Leemans]

Yes... Buyer beware!

[Eastern fisher]

Yes I do too John.  He knew NOTHING about the bow and all of a sudden it was worth $900?  I did try to shoot it but All he had were some very cheap plastic arrows and one of them did not even have a tip on it.  Also I am still not used to shooting my long bow let alone someone else's.  I checked it all over and I found allot of tool marks on it and the pics that I posted were unstrung.  Diffinetly needed a tillering job.  Something I do not want to try yet.  Especially on something I would have to pay for.

[jerrod]

that is an awfully plain looking bow to be worth $900.00.  Must be a heck of a guy to sell it for $50.00.  Good choice on not dealing with that guy you should offer him a screwdriver to tighten up some of his loose screws.