(http://i823.photobucket.com/albums/zz160/glenbo/DSCF9046.jpg)
Here are a few photos from the start of Curt's first self bow.
(http://i823.photobucket.com/albums/zz160/glenbo/DSCF9047.jpg)
Working the Bandsaw like and old pro !
(http://i823.photobucket.com/albums/zz160/glenbo/DSCF9049.jpg)
introducing some reflex after an hour long steam bath / stump shoot
more pics to follow as progress continues
Glen
Cool! I have no doubt about the outcome. I've seen other stuff Curt does.
Shop is just too neat looking for selfbow making! :biglaugh:
Keep us posted Curt!
How do you work in your shop!way too clean!LOL!If im not tripping over something in my shop I cant fined it! :)
Lookin' good. Jawge
Looking good guys, but you really should have some eye protection on when running the saw...just 40 years of running machine tools and such. Is this the end of the Canadian recurves....lol!!!
Talked to Glen a bit ago on the phone... I didn't even know he had started this thread....
Ron, you're right about the glasses!
That's Glen's shop and it's awesome! I mean "squeeky" clean!
I don't know the first thing about making a selfbow, but he's showing me the ropes. He won't admit it, but he's quite talented :notworthy:
He gave me this Hickory stave last fall, back when we first met on a job we were on.
Hope to turn it into a shooter :archer:
I'll add some pix of the Damascus and stone points....
Should have more progress soon as well...I'm very exited about this "journey"!
Just a Deer? How about one of them turkeys?
Sounds like you set a goal. Can't wait to see it all play out, Curt. :thumbsup:
Frank, I'd luv to try with turkey, and probablt will at some point...but it's such a tuff target!
Not sure if it would "feel right" with a string tracker either. I'm not sure if I could bring myself to try without one...
But that's coming soon, and it is a very close range thing...we'll see...
That's a lofty goal! Well, maybe not so much for a Guru kill'n machine. Yes, Ive seen what you can do with a glassbow!!!!
I wish you the best of luck and will follow your journey with interest!
Curt,
I have some JLMBH wild rose shoots if you want to make some real primitive arrows for your bow.
They're nice and dry... crooked as all get out.... but they'll straighten up good.... let me know.
I should have left the thorns on, they would have killed without points..... but you already know that.
That's ok Keith, I'm not ready to tackle something so crooked bud.
Here's the points I spoke of earlier. Two Doug Campbell Damascus trades. Both weigh 188 grains...
• (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1060812.JPG)
• (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1060813.JPG)
• (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1060814.JPG)
And the Woody Blackwell stone points, two different kind of stone, identical in size, and weigh within 2 grains of each other!
• (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1060815.JPG)
• (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1060817.JPG)
• (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1060819.JPG)
• (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1060820.JPG)
• (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1060821.JPG)
Both extremely talented!!
Those points are awesome! That Woody sure can Knapp.! Looks like they were stamped from a die.
Look forward to seeing the arras.
Those are some of the finest points I have seen.As much as I respect the skill to knapp such fine stone points,those damascus trade points are SICK!I cant wait to see them as completed arrows.I think they would look good with a little blood on them.Glen
Doug's points are neat ,but those stone heads are just amazing,nice work. Wait till you put one of them thru a deers chest.....take photos!!!!!!
Glenn, any chance you 2 can build this bow with an ambedextrious handle?
So after Curt's done shootin some animals, and puts it up for auction, a righty, can bid. :D
I'm gonna watch this thread like a hawk. My I can convince Glen to show me the ropes next? Glen's selfbow school? Skippy
Curt those heads are awesome. You've got all the goods brother.
Frank that was a great idea bud, I didn't see that till just now and I cut the shelf today. Not enough material left to do so now and still stay together...maybe next time!
Jason, Just I hope I can "put it all together" come fall...Glen's Selfbow School....I like that!
Finally got back together with Glen to work on my bow a bit...
Here's a pix of the reflex we put in her last time...
• (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1060952sbow.JPG)
First time ever using a cabinet scraper, spoke shave, and a draw knife...
• (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1060953sbow.JPG)
Glen showing me how to mark the depth of the limbs on the side of the bow...
• (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1060954sbow.JPG)
Workin' up a sweat and messin' up Glen's shop...
• (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1060956sbow.JPG)
Side profile of the upper limb. A bit of a challenge...
• (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1060957sbow.JPG)
Backside...
• (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1060959sbow.JPG)
This is where we got it to. Got a call from home to bring lunch!
• (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1060961sbow.JPG)
Maybe Thursday we'll try to get some more done.
Not to often I feel like a "novice" when it comes to bows after shooting them for almost 40yrs., but this is one of those times
But I'm sure having fun learning a whole new world!
Very Nice Curt!!!! I'll talk to you tomorrow Afternoon.
I feel like I am teaching Wayne Gretzky how to make a hockey stick.glen
QuoteOriginally posted by glenbo:
I feel like I am teaching Wayne Gretzky how to make a hockey stick.glen
Haha, I like that one Glen.......can't wait to see this one finished and shooting, and I'm glad you took the plunge Curt...... :thumbsup:
David
Man them points would leave a good Indian with his head hanging looking at his feet!!!
Inspirational fellas. Curt,,, dont forget to consider carp skins for backing that bow.Thats what I plan to use due to our lack of huntable snakes up here.
Geez it's been a long time since i posted anything on this :knothead:
Unlike a lot of you here that whip these bows out like nothing. It's been a long drawn out journey for me.
I never seem to get more than an hour or so once in a while to go to Glen's to work on it.
But it's is coming along pretty well.
There has been several times I've worked on it and forgot my camera. But I'll try to update and get caught up right here...
Working the belt sander...
• (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1060962sbow.JPG)
• (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1060963sbow.JPG)
Spoke shave...
• (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1060965sbow.JPG)
Raspin'...
• (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1060966sbow.JPG)
Those pix were from early spring.
Like I said several sessions not captured in pix. But Glen has really a had a lot of patients with me and my slow pace of work.
Just really trying to minimize the chance of making any "fatal" mistakes.
The stave had some propeller twist that, during one session, we pretty much eliminated.
Let me get more pix....
These are from a few sessions ago...starting to look like a bow.
Alot of shaping still to do, but I finally got a string on it...
• (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1080278sbow.JPG)
• (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1080279sbow.JPG)
• (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1080280sbow.JPG)
First attempt at getting the limbs lined up. Heated up the section right below the grip. Pulled the limb over with strap attached to pole...
• (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1080282sbow.JPG)
Last work session...really starting to look good after countless times with a string on and off, sanding,scraping, string on, then off and so on...
• (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1020157sbow.JPG)
Glen shooting his bow he made while I was making mine. This is his first attempt at full draw shooting, hence the safety glasses.I'll let him tell you about his "Stick"...good shootin' bow!
• (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1020158sbow.JPG)
• (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1020161sbow.JPG)
• (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1020162sbow.JPG)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v77/Guru39/self%20bows/th_P1020164.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v77/Guru39/self%20bows/?action=view¤t=P1020164.mp4)
Second attempt to get things lined up just a little better...
• (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1020165sbow.JPG)
That's where we left things this past Tues.
Today I'm heading over to mess around a bit more and hopefull shoot arrows at full draw for the first time...keep your fingers crossed :pray: :archer2:
This getting to be a lot of fun now!!
Can't wait to do the "finish work"!!
Good stuff. Way to go guy's!
You will be hooked now Curt!
Nice work guys. Lookin good Curt. Glen sure knows how to make a selfbow. I am a bit envious of his shop and shooting range though. I'm no expert but the top limb of glens bow looks a bit stiff? I will add that I too was lucky enough to aquire one of glens staves I beleive it may be from the same tree. I hope i can manage to make a bow from it this winter.
Nice work, Curt. Wood bows, although a lot of work, can be fun and fulfilling to make and shoot. Looking forward to seeing your finished bow and the quarry you take with it.
One thing to remember is you are not building a glass lam bow here. A selfbow can take some twist and offsets that a glass bow can't take so don't try to hard to make it "perfect". After all, it is only a piece of wood and not a Swiss watch you are working on! d;^)
Nice bow, Curt. Did the strap trick work out with the crook in the limb? I cut and peeled 10 hickory staves this summer and plan to attempt selfbows. That may help. Nice bow.
Stan
Off to go bowfishing right now, but I did some work on it yesterday and shot my first arrows at full draw....what a great feeling!!
I'll have some pix later...
You guys sure need a tillering gizmo. That left limb in Glen's bow needs some work to get the hingy spot worked out. The right limb looks OK but is a lot stronger then the left.
I'll send my address Eric :readit: :goldtooth:
Red Hill, Yes it worked some, but I'd like to do it one more time to get it better.
Pat, Thanx man....That's what Glen says pretty much. Work with what the wood gives ya...
Still needs some tweeking to get things lined up. But I did shoot about 30arrows out of it the last two days...
• (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1020172sbow.JPG)
• (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1020168sbow.JPG)
Top limb somehow ended up about a 1/2" longer than it should have been. :archer2:
• (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1020169sbow.JPG)
You hit the nail on the head Pat B.I have never made a perfect anything.I just try my best and learn from my mistakes.I have made some pretty funky selfbows over the last dozen years that shot well,and killed game.I tweaked the offending limb Eric.If You can send me info on the tillering gizmo hopefully I can improve my skills.thanks,glen
Some how the gizmo get overlooked by a lot of folk. Great tool, takes the guesswork out of tillering if you remember to go slow on wood removal.
Here it is.
http://tradgang.com/noncgi/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=125;t=001047#000000
Update!!!
She earned a nick-name this weekend..."Stinker"!
When my snakeskins showed up from my buddy(they had been skinned out and either on ice or froze since March), they were absolutely rancid, putrid.....whatever you want to call it...they were in bad shape!(found out later, that something had gone wrong)
I immediately got them into the sink to wash them with Dawn, and while doing that the outer skin just slipped right off, scales and all! With that a lot of the color/pattern also went with it.
Ater working on both of them for a couple hours, I had what I was praying would be usable skins. These meant a lot to me as they were from the Pig-Gig snake wrangle in the snow. When we caught them, I knew right off they were meant for my soon to be 1st selfbow. So I wanted to save these bad!
So after washing, rinsing, and getting rid of all the loose outer skin, I got them tacked to some boards to dry over night and see what I had....my fingers were crossed....
The next morning I cut them off the boards and what I found were some of the prettiest rattle snake skins I'd ever seen and they were very smooth without the outer layer.
But since they had lost some color, I decided to stain/dye the back of the bow black to hopefully make the skins really "pop"....I think it worked!
One skin on, but not dried yet...
• (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1020237sbow.JPG)
• (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1020238sbow.JPG)
The skins had beautiful "coon tails"...
• (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1020239sbow.JPG)
You can see how the black under the skin came though between where the scales were...
• (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1020242sbow.JPG)
Black leather dye was used for the black color. I use it for wood arrws as well...
• (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1020243sbow.JPG)
• (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1020252sbow.JPG)
• (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1020253sbow.JPG)
As you can see here, the snake had a scar on it's skin, it came through as black...pretty cool...
• (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1020254sbow.JPG)
Skins dried, but no finish yet...
• (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1020255sbow.JPG)
Belly side stain fade, Walnut stain and the black leather dye...
• (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1020256sbow.JPG)
• (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1020257sbow.JPG)
• (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1020258sbow.JPG)
Shelf/grip area
• (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1020259sbow.JPG)
• (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1020261sbow.JPG)
First coat of Deft lacquer. I opted for Deft because i wanted something that wouldn't "yellow out" those bright white "coon tails" or turn the black "greenish" as I've experienced with poly finishes...
• (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1020262sbow.JPG)
Should have completely finished pix soon....
Absolutely beautiful Curt.
She's coming along nicely Curt. Those coon tail tips are striking!!!
That thing is wicked!!
Looking good :thumbsup: You could do the Muzzy next year with that.........
Wow! :eek: I may have missed it...what's the draw weight?
As good as it gets! That bow is Beautiful
Wow. Nice work guys. Beautiful points too. I need to go home and pickup my Osage- "Smokey" and put a few arrow through it!
Nice!
Real nice Curt.Excellent job building your first bow.I believe that was phase one of your quest.I cant wait to see the outcome of phase two .One month to go !. This winter would be a great time to mangle some osage staves.I meant wrangle.
Thanx for the kind words fellas..I'm pretty proud of my first, but I never could/would have done it with a lot of help from Glen(Glenbo)
Thanx again buddy :notworthy:
I finished "Stinker" yesterday and shot it some this evening...
• (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1020269sbow.JPG)
• (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1020266sbow.JPG)
• (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1020267sbow.JPG)
• (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1020268sbow.JPG)
• (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1020264sbow.JPG)
• (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1020271sbow.JPG)
"Coon tail"...
• (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1020273sbow.JPG)
Not the best leather work, but it's my first grip...
• (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1020274sbow.JPG)
• (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1020275sbow.JPG)
• (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1020278sbow.JPG)
Last shot of the night...
• (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1020280sbow.JPG)
Where it rests....for now...
• (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1020282sbow.JPG)
It shoots really well and is extremely quiet...no doubt if given the chance, If I do my part, "Stinker" will do just fine!
Up next...some snake skin arrows with "Knife river" stones points, and Doug Campbell danascus trades :pray:
Man that is a great looking bow there bud, one day I'll learn to do this but till then I'll have to drool over the beautiful works of art like you have made.
I am sure Curt that thes will be the first of many.It is a pleasure to share what knowledge I have aquired from my mistakes to another.Also nice to work with someone who is comfortable and competent in the workshop,with an eye for detail.G
Curt, That is a sweet stinkin' bow LOL.
Awsome skins and I love how you worked the tails into the tips.
I used deft on my last bow although I did do tru oil over the skins the used the deft satin to dull her down some. It's great finish for sure and all I have used for years on other wood projects.
Well done my friend.
Is season in yet? I can't wait!!
Better get on them arrows Curt!