New bow broke on 2nd draw.

[M_Kanzler]

MY NEW LONGBOW BROKE THE 2ND TIME I DREW THE STRING BACK!

I asked about a company in Russelville, Alabama in  another thread ... well, I got the bow today.

Because it's getting late, and I have to get up at 05:00 tomorrow morning to start a new job...
Rather than give a lot of description, I'm going
to paste what I sent the person I bought it from into the next message below.

[M_Kanzler]

I got the bow today. Put the string on, drew it back, heard what I thought
might be cracking, let it back down, drew it back again & listened, and after
about 10 seconds it went SNAP!

I'm working on getting some pictures on my photo album site so you can
see the break. I would like a refund.

I will send a link to the pictures as soon as I finish uploading them to my
photo page.

I hope you will resolved this with a complete refund.
In the time while I was waiting for this bow I let a good deal on a Ben Pearson
longbow get away because I thought I already have a bow.

It has also taken me a lot of time to take the pictures and upload them.
I'm extremely disappointed.

Regards,
Mark Kanzler

[M_Kanzler]

Here is a link to the pictures.
You can click the thumbnails to see them larger.
You can view them in several sizes - Large is probably best.
WARNING - original will be huge and you will have to use the
scroll bars to see anything at all.

Here is the Link

  http://www.pbase.com/mark_42/archery

Or, if that is too huge, use this and then click next
to see them one by one

 http://www.pbase.com/mark_42/image/127405594/large

[M_Kanzler]

BTW, is a Flemish Bowstring supposed to have loose ends like this:

 

 

[walkabout]

wow the grain on that looked horrible. i wouldnt have even drawn it seeing that. sorry though its always rough when that stuff happens. hopefully they can get you your refund. string looks like it was rushed when it was made too, usually the ends are diferent lengths so they fade into each other better.

[M_Kanzler]

The string looks like the cheap poly twine they give away at hardware stores to tie loads down with.

After it broke I looked at the wood and said to myself "This should never have been made into a bow".
I have worked wood all of my life and never would have used that for anything expected not to warp - especially anything that would ever be loaded in bending. I would have rejected it for a model airplane or a boat, and those aren't stressed very high normally.

I didn't think to inspect it before stringing it.
I figured it was professionally made, so didn't think to inspect for anything that obvious.

I doubt the builder ever drew the string back other than maybe once to measure draw weight.

I'm not happy.

[horseapple]

Well, sorry for your misfortune, the backing was the problem for sure, can I ask one ? did you hold the bow back at full draw for 10 seconds? My advice would be to find a older glass backed longbow, if you look hard enough you can find one for about what you had in the hickory backed bow.

[Dublin Joe]

I'd say the 'bowyer' can make 'decorative' bows but not working ones.  If you don't get satisfaction please post his particulars so we can avoid him.

Joel

[chopx2]

Seeing where you bought it, file a claim and stick to it and follow all instructions and email reminders exactly. I have successfully gotten my money back through paypal, but it took a couple months. The seller never responded so I won by default.

[John Scifres]

Bummer.  That is really a poorly chosen piece of wood for a bow.  I would seriously question the maker's qualifications based solely on that piece.  The string is a piece also.

I'll never forget the time I went to Cloverdale and there was a vendor selling selfbows.  I talked to him a bit and he said the bow he had for sale was maybe his third bow and he had only been making bows for a couple months.  It was not a good representation.

Thanks for sharing this.

[sulphur]

that is exactly why i stopped selling wood bows.  they make great gifts though.  that string looks really crappy btw.  really a b50 string might cost all of .50 in material.

[Eric Krewson]

Yep, a real lousy piece of backing.

Pretty sure the seller learned bow making from Jimmy Taylor then struck out on his own. He has been making bows for a number of years.

I would request a replacement or money back.

The guys who make these bows are set up with the right machinery to crank out a bow in about 15 minutes.

I watched Jimmy make a similar bow once. He ran the glue-up through a milling machine to taper the limbs, strung it up and tillered it(sorta) on a balloon sander followed by a trip through a polishing wheel to slick it up. Next he pulled the strung bow to 31" and guessed the poundage. If the bow didn't break on a 31" pull he boxed it and shipped it. Total time from start to ready to ship, a little less than 15 minutes.

At that time he had a pile of broken bows 6 feet high outside his shop.

[John Scifres]

Caveat emptor.  No wonder some folks get a bad taste in their mouth for wooden bows.

[M_Kanzler]

My wife told me that my 14 yr old daughter looked at the broken bow today & said "I see why it broke" and then explained how the grain pattern made it weak (She knows nothing about woodworking, but is prone to those "Aha" type moments in a scientific intuitive sort of way).

If a 14 yr old who hasn't got any background in woodworking could see it, it's a bad piece of wood.

I probably would have tried it even if I saw it and had doubts. I would have assumed the guy who built it has done enough of them to know.

I have his phone number.
Gonna call him right now.

[M_Kanzler]

I just got off the phone with the lady who does the selling part (bowyer's wife I assume).
She was very nice, and even understanding about how disappointed I was after waiting in anticipation for my new bow and having it break.

She asked if I was the one who sent the pictures, so they are aware it broke. She said they could either send me another one, or a refund (though usually they just offer replacement). She said usually they don't have any problems, but every now and then "they get a bad piece of hickory". That was enough to tell me they don't know how to evaluate wood, and they don't test the bows well, if at all.

She said they will refund my money, but it may take a couple of days. (I paid via paypal, so it really shouldn't).

I hope they don't try to stiff me for the $17.99 shipping, but at least I wouldn't be out the whole $87.99

Right now, $88 is a stretch for my archery budget, so I guess I'll just tune up the old compound bow I built from a kit 30 years ago.
I've been told it's a Jennings Lightning (good in its day). I finally got some arrows on fleabay that shoot really nice and straight in it. I took off the sight, and intend to use it for instinctive shooting until I eventually gey a traditional bow, then I'll put the sight back on and it will be old technology, and whatever traditional bow I get will be ancient technology.

I'll keep you guys posted... I did see a recurve go for a good price while I was waiting for my longbow to arrive.

[Steve Kendrot]

Anyone selling a hand made wooden bow for $88 as a business is cutting corners somewhere if they are making a profit. You can get a great vintage glass bow for that if you prowl the pawn shops and yard sales. Good luck.

[Bruce Prosser]

This peice of wood should have been backed or preferrably used in the smoker for bbq, now a bow. I do not know why someone would have even wasted his time to make one such as this.

[M_Kanzler]

Actually, I think the backer is what failed.
It's hard to tell that it's laminated because there is no color contrast between layers.

I found one on the same auction site (the bad word filter keep censoring the name, not sure why, but I'm new & don't know the history).

If anyone wants to look at a few auctions for me, PM me & I'll try to narrow it down so as not to be too big of a PITA. I'm still trying to stay in my budget, and some of the older used ones (tried & true) might be safer than a new one that has no history.

I found one that says it's a longbow but looks like a recurve to me (maybe deflex/reflex?).
But it ends it about 15 hours, IIRC.

But it has zero bids so far, which worries me.

It's described as:
INDIAN ARCHERY RIGHT HANDED LONG BOW, 40#,60 INCH

[M_Kanzler]

Found another one... nice looking recurve.
Experienced bow (from descrip), but 63 pound draw.
I wonder if a longer string (less brace height) would get the draw weight into a range I could pull (about 50 lb... prob. not)

It sure is pretty though.

[4est trekker]

Every thought about making your own?  If you work with wood in any capacity, and I believe you said you did, you can certainly fashion your won.  Here's a thread I did to help folks in your shoes:

 http://tradgang.com/noncgi/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=125;t=002064

I would hesitate to buy a bow off fleabay for the very reason you have described in this thread.  Rather, check out of the classifieds here on TradGang.  Best of luck, and sorry about your bow.