New bow broke on 2nd draw.

[M_Kanzler]

Thanks!
I bookmarked that thread.
I'm looking at some commercially made recurve/longbows on fleabay. I found an Indian Archery Cochise that might be a good value if the bids stay low.

I'd love to build a bow, and have the skills and tools. I don't have the experience & knowledge, but from my general knowledge and experience, with guidance like what you offer, and the Traditional Bowyers Bible & other resources, I would probably have success within a couple of tries.

But I just started a new job with a nightmare commute, so the time is just not there until I move closer to work.

[Bob Barnes]

sorry it broke...but, if you decide on another wood bow you might do some reading on how to handle one before you get the new one.  Wood bows are not like glass bows in that they need a little pampering...at least at first.  I always have my students string their new bows and let them get use to being bent for a few minutes before ever pulling them back.  Once they decide to start shooting, I have them exercise their new bow by short drawing it several times, drawing a little longer each time, until they reach full draw....and I never hold a wood bow at full draw.  It takes wood time to learn to be a bow...

Glad you got it worked out.

Bob

BTW- a longer string will not drop the pounds on that auction site bow...

[ranger 3]

As said before, look on the classifieds here  more than likely you won't be disappointed if you buy from here.

[horseapple]

Good advise Bob.

[M_Kanzler]

Thanks for all the advice so far.

I guess I would have expected a bow builder to already do the basic break in... if I ever build my own, it'll be good to know how to ease it into life.

I'm shifting gears and looking for a more vintage bow from a reputable company like Ben Pearson, Bear, etc.

What other brands are generally a safe bet when buying an older used bow?

I'd like either a longbow, or a recurve without much curve to it - purely based on aesthetics. Maybe I have Errol Flynn imprinted on my brain?

I see an old Ben Pearson longbow up for auction...
It's described as    

Nice old 1950s vintage Ben Pearson 67 inch Long Bow with fiberglass face and leather grip. May have original string. Good condition for its age with no cracks or chips.

I wrote the seller to ask how long the wood arrows which are included are, and try to talk him into stringing it and measuring the draw weight for me.

But... is it too old to be trusted?    :confused:

One of these days I'll just build my own.
I can't do any worse than the one I bought from Wolf.

[bigcountry]

Honestly I would never expect much for a 88 dollar handmade wooden bow.

[Stiks-n-Strings]

How about some good ol' Trad Gang spirit here fellers if I could get some help on materials and or building I think we could just build this feller a bow that would be the envy of the guy who sold him a piece of fire wood.

 What say ye Gang? In the spirit of the Gang I'm up for it, anybody else willing to pitch in something?

 Stiks

[M_Kanzler]

I truly appreciate that, but hold off awhile.

I'm going to keep doing some searching, and if I give up in futility, I'll send a PM to you Stiks & you can see if there is something you can work out to put together something I could contribute the $88 I expect to get refunded from the broken bow.

On a positive note... I found a Darton Thunderstick in 25# that my daughter is going to have me bid on for her. It looks really nice, and it would be a huge step up from her little Bear Goblin that she bought a couple of weeks ago. Hopefully it will stay within her budget.

She's the one who started all of this - did archery at summer camp, then asked if she could have a bow. I told her she could if she bought it herself. I told her I'll loan her money for the Darton bow - she immedaitely asked if it was an interest free loan   :D

[Stiks-n-Strings]

Mark,

 Keep an eye out in the PowWow for the youth bow give away every month posted by Vermonster13.

 As far as the 88$, you might need that for arras. As far as holding off, Well you ain't been around the gang for very long and you will find out these are some of the best folks around and we don't let our trad buddies go wheelin if we can keep from it.    

 Stiks

[walkabout]

shakespeare bows are good shooters if you can find one. i have a super necedah that shoots wonderfully.im sure there are alot of good shooting bows from the 50's out there still shooting today, i have an old ben pearson jet that has been through so much it literally would make most nervous to brace just from looking at it, but strung up she will fling arrows for probably another 10 years or more.

[M_Kanzler]

I almost bought an Indian Archery Commanche - but someone here recommended against that brand. He said some of their bows are built from lemonwood, and he's had one fail and has heard of more failures than some of the more respectable brands.

He did recommend a Shakespeare among a few on fleabay for sale. I watched the ones he recommended pretty close. But the nicer looking ones went out of my budget... and I really would like less recurve (Actually, I'd like a longbow - it's that Robin Hood thing - I got Errol Flynn imprinted in my memory).

The Commanche was a recurve with out a lot of curve to it - which made it look nice to me, but at the last minute I wised up and went with the advice I'd been given and let it go.

The Darton bow for my daughter is one I ran into when searching for myself... I did some Google research and found that they are well liked by people who have them. I think she'd be really happy with it - we are staying low in the bidding & may not win the auction, but I think she will want it badly enough not to want to wait (Now where could she have gotten that trait from?)    :rolleyes:

If she doesn't win the auction I'll watch for the giveaway... My son is wanting to also upgrade, so maybe he can buy one from y'all

[Stiks-n-Strings]

Mark,

 How old are your younguns? I have a few osage staves that would make a great kids bow. All I need is a good excuse to make some yeller shavings.    

 Stiks

[M_Kanzler]

My Daughter (Elizabeth) is 14 & my Son (Drew) is 12.

If you want to do that... could they pay for the materials or at least part of them? I can get measurements of the kids for you, but let's talk about a price and all that. I really prefer them to buy things when it's not their birthday or Christmas - mainly so they appreciate and care for things.

My daughter may have her heart set on a recurve now after starting the process of watching the bow on fleabay (item=350383847183). I'll probe her brain a little.

I think Drew might like a longbow.

Let me ask them and see - I want to be sure their interest level would do justice to your generosity.

They both have bows they can work on proper form with for the time being, and I do think they would love to step up to a real bow, but I want to be sure they are committed.

[Stiks-n-Strings]

Mark,

 All I build is wood bows and most are longbows. I don't have any money in the wood I would use. I go cut it all myself. And even though I understand you teaching your kids a great lesson in life. I under no circumstances ever sell a bow I have made, I give them away as gifts or trade and if I made your younguns a bow it would be purely a gift.

 Stiks

[M_Kanzler]

An Update:

I had to file a claim with PayPal & fleabay.

The seller is no longer answering my phone calls.
I have emailed them (I got the "Bowyer's" wife the one time they answered - I should have tried it w/o caller I.D.). Anyway, I say "them" because I don't know if I'm dealing with him or his wife.

It's hard to tell, because they have about 4 or 5 fleabay I.D.'s - almost all of which are new names applied to old accounts. They keep changing the seller names and rotating accounts in order to evade their negative feedback.

Sooner or later someone is going to get injured by one of their shoddy bows.

It really bothers me that there are people with such low morals that they will sell products that they know they are not qualified to produce.

I might have to contact the Better Business Bureau to try to slow down the amount of defective bows that are going into the market - it gives honest people a bad name when people don't know who to trust.

[Bent Shaft]

As counterpoint, I bought a nearly identical bow from this seller in mid-May.  Rated as 45 - 50# at 28", it tested right on 45# at 28".  I have run about 500 arrows through it, and I am pleased.  I DID clean up the notches for the string loops to remove some angles that could wear the string; now the notches are smooth, compound curves.  

I am very pleased with the bow.  For $78 (what I paid for it at auction), it is the perfect bow for me, a Noob.  

I have more than twice that amount into arrows, quiver, brace, and glove!

[M_Kanzler]

I'm glad it worked out for you - and I mean that.

I ended up having to go through a long process to file a claim in order to get my money back.
The seller first promised a refund, then later would not answer email (sent to their company website, paypal address, fleabay seller email address, and through the fleabay message system), and they ignored my phone calls.

I ended up losing $12 to send back the broken bow (I did save some shipping by folding it in half at the break and just wrapping it in brown butcher paper)

I later found that this seller has at least ten fleabay ID's (5 current names which all had previous ID names). They keep rotating the 10 names to avoid negative feedback.      :confused:    

Here is a list... and these are just the ones I could find by searching for their product in auctions:
Coyote-Archery (was formerly wolf-tech11):

Wolf_Archery (was formerly wolftech_archery):

k_kraft_nickknacks (was formerly snugglebugandkids):

singingwolf_flutes (was formerly striped_wolf_bows)

crystalcheeks_auctions (was formerly flyingeagle_bows)

I would advise anyone thinking of buying from them to run away as fast as possible.

[M_Kanzler]

BTW, my wife claims I have spent almost $1000 on archery equipment since then - but that includes stuff for the kids and tools to save money by assembling arrows.
I think it's really more like $400 to $500.

At least I got my $88 back for the broken bow.
And I'm very happy with the recurve I bought.

[fish n chicks]

Nice work Mark! Glad things worked out in your favor, even if it took a month or so.

[Bow-n-Head]

I agree; Terrible grain in the backing strip. Right in the middle of the limb too.  Bummer!!