Kissenger Selfbow

[Mint]

Hey Guys,

My friend Ray past away back in 2005 (motorcycle accident) and he always wanted me to have his kissenger selfbow after I raved about it back in 1994 shooting it at his house. His daughter knew this and gave it to me when i saw her in 2006. It is a beauty and is backed with sinew and covered in rattler skin. I really wantto shoot it and take a deer with it this year but I'm scared to death it will break after it not being shot for 10 to 12 years. What do you experts think?

[rainman]

Put a lonf string on it and start bending the limbbs.  Kind of like warming up.  Once you get to about 15 inches. of draw 50 times I would string it overnight.  Move this post to the bowyers bench and you will get a lot more info.

[Mint]

Thanks, I'll post a thread there too.

[4est trekker]

You don't want to string it overnight.  That'll compress the belly beyond repair.  This can happen easily with a sinew-backed bow.  But yes, start with the long string on a tillering rig and work it in very slowly.  When you've got about 7-9 inches of tip movement with good tiller still in tact at 50-75 pulls, move to a short string at a low brace height.  Work the bow some more (again, 50-75 times), stopping about 3-4 inches of the bow's intended draw length (unless yours is shorter).  Then raise the brace height to normal and work it in to the intended draw length.  

You really don't want to spend more time than necessary on the long string, as it can give you a false reading and work the limbs slightly differently than the short string.  Also, take it SLOW!  When exercising the limbs, don't go crazy fast, as you can build up internal friction that can lead to limb failure.  Let the bow relax back to its static strung position (whether short or long string) after each pull.  And if the tiller looks off at any point, do NOT draw the bow any further.  That'll need corrected.

Post lots of pics, and do add this thread to the Bowyer's Bench.  There's a bunch of us that would love to help you out over there that don't spend a lot of time on the PowWow.

[wingnut]

What wood is the selfbow made of?  You have to ask yourself if the bow is worth more too you as a keepsake or as a hunting bow.  Because there is a chance it could fail.

That being said, it's going to depend on the wood.

You are going to have to make sure it hasn't over dried in the years of nonuse.  Then train it to be a bow again.

Check on the bowyers bench and see if someone local that knows what they are doing can give you a hand.

Mike

[George D. Stout]

The bowyer is Dave Kissinger (not Kissenger). He probably is still around making some bows.  He used to frequent Denton Hill (ETAR), and wrote some articles for the old Traditional Archery magazine.  I believe Dave is a Pennsylvania boy, and lives in the S.E. portion of the state.  Try Primitive Archer's website as well.

[Renaissance Man]

Dave was in Berwick PA I believe, he used to put on self bow building seminars at my shoppe. Hunted with him and his son several times. Anyone know where he is I would love to get back in touch, he dropped out after he told me he was going to move out west.
Built good bows,you have a prize there, hold onto it and do as the gents above say with the longer string and flexing the bow. Also if the humidity is low where it has been stored can also cause a more brittle state.

[Roy Steele]

I've built selfbows for 20 years.Through the years I've had lots of bows some were 10 to 15 years old and shot 10,000s of times.I have one hickory bow [retired] I've shot 100,000s of times and used it on and off for 11 years and kill 9 bucks 4 gobblers with.And still get it out a shoot it now and then.And it's 14 years old.As well as lots of people still have my bows.Some say they still get them out and shoot them after 10 plus years.Some use them all the time.  
  So it your bow has no major flaws shoot it it's what it's made for.