Whale Baleen backed Selfbow

[getstonedprimitivebowhunt]

Anyone ever seen a selfbow backed with whale baleen ? I seen one once ! way to cool...Jeff

[lpcjon2]

Isnt China the only country that can whale harvest anymore?That would look cool.I guess you cant get that at 3R.

[Izzy]

I believe Dean Torges and the Siberian Wolf builder have used it as well as Aleut bowyers.Cool stuff!

[Lucas K]

The Japanese used to make a short "sidearm" bow out of baleen. That country is still whaling.

[Hawkeye]

I believe Dean used a "historic" piece of baleen he was given on the belly rather than the back of a special bow.  I think it is a material that is stronger in compression than tension...

[Shaun]

You can buy legal baleen from Alaskan natives. It has to be made into "art", usually cleaned and "scrimshawed" with some light scratch carving. If you use it in a bow, I would recommend hanging on to the paperwork to prove legality. The unmentionable big auction site usually has some listed.

[wingnut]

Yep Dean did a bamboo backed / baleen bellied bow some years ago.  It is a dandy.  Also J.D. Jones did one or two.  We looked at it but it's too hard to get and the restrictions on resale make it hard to justify.

Mike

[getstonedprimitivebowhunt]

thanks for info !!!

[getstonedprimitivebowhunt]

http://s971.photobucket.com/albums/ae196/jeffdron/?action=view¤t=untitled.jpg" target="_blank">http://i971.photobucket.com/albums/ae196/jeffdrown/untitled.jpg" border="0" alt="BALEEN">

Its the "HAIR"

[Bjorn]

Ted at Raptor made one.......it shoots great.

[Davt]

Glen St. Charles made a number of them years back, before any restrictions. Very rare and very valuable. I have seen a few but did not shoot one of Glen's bows. For me, it's hard to top a nice sinew osage. I do have an old baleen yew that still shoots well but I do prefer my old sinew osage raptor.