Making a flat bow
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 22 июл 2024
- In which I talk through my process of making a bow.
The pattern I'm using is not exclusively Iroquoian. It was used all over the place due to it's simplicity. I've seen Inuit bows that used it, Haida bows that used it, even a Saami bow that was pretty similar. Nor was it the only pattern used by Iroquoian people. I've seen more than a half dozen different styles from the Six Nations.
The process took about ten hours over the course of three days. Of which easily half was spent tillering and sanding.
My great grandfather and great grandmother used to teach the Wampanoag and Narraganset children back in the early 1900's how to make their bows, my grandfather's title translated to Teacher of Young Braves and War. My mom and dad actually got me into archery when I was a kid and I've been slowly learning how to make my own tools with blacksmithing. I think this is a perfect instructional video on learning how to make these types of bows. Great work.
High praise indeed.
Gostei! Só mas só entendo em Português!
❤
That's some nice teaching skills you got there and I just love the down-to-earth tone. Thanks a lot.
Definitely some good info. You can’t go wrong with a flat bow. I’m guessing your bow is probably well over 70-80 pounds. Thinning out the limbs a bit and perfecting that tiller will be a good way to reduce weight. You are on the right path my friend. I’ve broke many bows. That’s how we learn. But I’ve built many beautiful bows over the years. Almost nine years of bow making under my belt. Not a lot. But I learn constantly. Good job man. Keep building.
Only nine, I've got twelve. Though not regularly.
Leaving aside all questions of efficacy etc, I just love the look of the flatbow. It's a design you don't see often enough in fiction.
Excellent video, fast paced, concise, informative, well done!
Cheers.
I enjoyed learning this process. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
No problem.
Thank you so much , I find peace in your videos.
Cheers.
Great work, well explained, love the look of the Bow, seems to shoot really well, watch that arm,easy to tweak something, especially at my age!
Reminds me of when my dad, who did a lot of deer hunting with recurve bows, kept cranking up the draw weight on his compound bow because it felt weak to him.
He thought it was slipping, but he had just worked the muscles necessary for that movement really hard and strengthened them. He noticed his arrows were acting unpredictably, and took the bow in for repair at a local shop.
None of the big burly young dudes there could draw it back....but another old guy into "primitive" archery could.
Thanks for the video. Nice bow . Cool work . I like it
Extremely well explained! Well done
You make good tutorials. I enjoy your videos
excellent craftsmanship, thanks for making this video.
Cheers. No problem.
Great content 😊 I've made many different style of bows. I've never made a flat bow with wide limbs. Think I'll have to give it a go. They look pretty cool. I have a stave of Osage that might just be perfect for building one. Keep up the great work
Very nice bow. I have made several but gave most of them away. The two I kept for myself are a 66 inch at 45 pounds and a 72 inch at 65 pounds. I have had the longer one for probably 9 or 10 years. I have taken several deer with it. You are right about the science. Most online bowyers try to make it sound way more complicated than it is.
Glad you agree.
That's a nice bow. Great work. I had a Douglas fir bow 50# blow up on me last week at full draw. I sh#t myself. I made it in one day as a survival project. It was a nice bow. I stupidly drew it back to my ear and not my face. It was already super tight at full draw and couldn't take the extra pull. Bang. What a sound. It was a flat bow too. I'm making a Yew flat bow now and its feeling nice so far. All the best.
That was a great video ... I tried making one last year and it broke while tillering ... But I'm ready to give it another try very soon. I have been watching a lot of videos like yours for pointers ... Yours was definitely one of the more enjoyable to watch. Thank you and God bless you!
Don’t be discouraged, My first two or three bows broke pretty quickly. It’s all a matter of getting your eye in, just take your time and do your best and don’t push the bow too far too soon, and if it breaks, well then that’s just part of the learning experience.
I'm currently just beginning to tiller my 5th attempt at a classic American style longbow. Of the first four I broke 2 on the tillering stick, another developed limb twist while shooting and one day broke as I was stringing it up. only one is still shooting and I can ready see the beginning tell tale signs of too much use with an imperfect tiller developing . . . gotta break bows to make bows. I'm happy I'm getting this education phase out of the way while working with hardware store red oak boards and not seasoned yew or osage, or on a bow I made a form for and ordered layers of various laminating strips then waited a week for glue to cure in a hot box I built . . .😅
@@jordanarther8798 Just keep at it! I broke a few during tillering by taking to much wood off at times creating a hinge. I noticed one bow a little weak, Blacked it with about 7 fiberglass tape strips & it still broke!
But so far I have made 5 good strong bows. 2 of them I have shot over 2,000 arrows on and they are holding up and working fine! They just have a little string follow which is common for Red Oak bows.
Great video! I've shot recurve for many years and my bow is 53# @28 inces and I overdraw so maybe 60 ish lbs. I have a wrecked draw shoulder but with regular use and some natural supplements I do ok! I've managed to draw and hold a 110 lb recurve for several seconds.....it was AMAZING! Thanks for the awesome video!
I don't need to shoot high power bows. I've got to get another fifty years of hard labour out of this damaged shoulder. It's not worth the risk of another tendon.
@@MalcolmPL I completely understand! I'm already 52 so I have less ahead of me 😅. You do beautiful work by the way.
Thats a great bow. Strong but simple. Well crafted for someone that isnt an expert
Great work, thanks for sharing.
You’re welcome.
Amazing, done with magical dream attention!
What?
Lover your work, thank you.
Cheers.
Brrrrrochacho. You have an enthusiastic new subscriber. I’m blessed with a decent size twitter account and already shared the Native American war club DIY. Which was quite enjoyable. Tweeted this one too👍🏼
Thank you, Malcolm.
Cheers.
Good job! Good advice! Good hunt to ya!
Cheers.
I really enjoyed this video a lot . I am now subscribed , THANKS Sir you are a GIFTED TEACHER,
I enjoyed the video, i think I will try it again using your method. The first and only bow I ever (try to) made blew up during tillering.
Just don’t pull it too far until you’re sure it’s ready. Take your time, do it well.
I’ve done that in the past where I’ve gotten excited and tried to shoot too early.
And don’t get discouraged. My first three blew up instantly and my fourth only lasted a couple months. Like anything else, it just takes practice.
It's important to note that unlike a compound bow, or modern fiberglass bow you can't hold these bows in the draw position too long. They're meant to draw and shoot in one rapid motion. If you hold them drawn, the odds of breaking increase.
Good job congratulations
Thank - you for sharing.
Cheers.
Great video
Cheers.
Excepcional..Very good
Nice video. I think flatbows that are too wide can be slower than round bellied bows, but flatbows can also be 3/4-1.25" wide and straight all the way no fades. My tips and most tips on bows I've seen in books etc are 1/2-1" wide. Any wider and your bow slows a bit. Cheers from Alberta
Wow. Ok you are a great bowyer. By the sound I'd say it's approaching 80lb draw. I may be off. Would have to fire it to know 😂. Great job.
I don't really care what the poundage is. It's not an accurate representation of the power in my experience.
@@MalcolmPL absolutely.
Great video and good sentiment about it not being as science-y as the internet makes it out to be. Just gotta get your hands dirty and start trying. I noticed you unstringing the bow at the end- were/are wooden bows commonly stored unstrung? I guess that would make the most sense but I hadn’t thought about it before.
Old fashioned bows take a set really easily.
If I were to leave it strung, I might lose a quarter of the power in a week.
Even if you take care of them, they still take a set after a while. My oldest bow, after five years moderate use is bent about three inches when unstrung.
Excellent method of using the whole body, probably between 70 and 80lbs from the acceleration the arrows had
That sounds about right to me.
I struggle with identifying which areas of the limbs aren't bending evenly as well. On this channel called "Shatterproof Archery", Kramer (the bowyer who runs the channel/company) made a video where he shows you step by step how to make and use a tillering gizmo and dude it's been a game changer for me. I can do the first like 60% of tillering by eye but after that the differences between negative and positive tiller as well as the adjustments you need to make to balance the tiller become SOOOO minuscule that there's no way I could pull it off without the gizmo.
A simple trick that works well enough for me, is to get a flat piece of wood or a level, and while the limbs are slightly bent, lay the piece of wood parallel against the limb and rock it along, anywhere that it lies flat is not bending properly.
Nice bow.
Thanks.
To much fun. I'd love to work on one of these.
I don't bow hunt anymore due to injures :-(
Maybe I better make a Boar spear. 😆
THANK YOU
Well the project is fun even if you don’t end up using it to hunt.
Hi, I'd like to probably suggest an idea for maybe another arrow testing video. Something centered on a topic relating to how effective native american hide shields could withstand arrows and other melee weaponry that was available. Something like a piece of thick hide meant to be used for the sole of a mocassin could work, right? I'm not too keen on the price of rawhide.
I've got a raw cowhide in my freezer (makeshift buffalo) I've been planning to make a shield from it using one of the traditional recipes, I've also got some bits of rawhide kicking around from other projects, so it's just a question of finding the time.
@@MalcolmPL I see. I'm just asking this to get an idea of what the results would be for a speculative armour idea I have for a personal project. I'm not sure if raw-hide for dog treats would compare well since I've found a bag of square cuts which are a fairly thick.
@@jonajo9757 Rawhide dog chews are very tough. They tend to have the epidermis removed, which isn't ideal, but they would work well enough. I met a fellow who used them as a cheap material for shoe soles.
Based on my experience with rawhide, One layer would give some protection but not perfect. Two layers would be proof against most normal blows.
Great video. Are there decorated specimens in museums? Decoration would make a good follow-up video.
Yes. There are some that have been carved, others have leather covers with beading.
@@MalcolmPL Ash is good bow wood. It will be extinct soon.. wide and flat.. mine was about 60lb as well
It’s not going extinct. Two percent of trees survive. It will come back eventually, just probably not in my lifetime.
nice video.
I like the way you did the handle-section.
but I always try to narrow out the outer parts of the limbs and make them narrow but deep. That way you can reduce weight & mass of the tips. Slim tips make the bow faster afaik.
I agree, but I’ve had too many break at the tips, and as I’d never made one of this power, I figured better safe than sorry, especially as I was on camera.
I do not own a bow, I am not a bow enthusiast. But I enjoyed this video.
Cheers.
did you chase a ring on the back since it looked like you removed a good bit from the back which normally you never do and if you do its to chase a ring since if you dont you will pop a splinter without a backing
I don't understand the question.
The front of the bow is all on the same layer of grain. On the back the grain descends from handle to tip.
Wow, that bow has some snap to it; how is the hand shock? I have been curious about this style of bows, but haven't had a chance to try one out yet. Keep up the good work !
There’s a bit of recoil but not too bad. Feel it in the arm more than the hand.
Nice video. Very entertaining. As for your arm, using a precise draw cycle with attention to back tension and proper elbow position can make a big difference on arm strain.
Hey! i was wondering what kind of string you are using.
Fake sinew. Little bit heavy but cheap and strong.
Nice gonna try it , one thing you didn’t mention when picking out a piece of ash is it Dryed out or worked green?
I split the ash into quarters then dry the sections in the basement for at least six months.
I don't work live ash. Any trees that have survived the borers have a good chance of being resistant and need to be preserved. Besides that, there are all sorts of issues with warping when you work green wood.
Malcolm P.L. Gotcha 👌
Great job
I usually shoot a new bow about 10 shots then flip it over and shoot another 10. I compare the shots and let the bow determine what is the top limb and what is the bottom.
That’s a good idea, I’ll try that next time.
Could you do a video about making Iroquois blowguns?
There are no Iroquois blowguns. It’s only down in the amazon that those were used.
Besides, I don’t know how.
Very nice work. But I wonder how they did that before metal? That's a lot of woodwork to do with flints.
Skilful splitting, abrasion and time. It would take a couple full days of work.
Yáh'áh'téh.... Hello from the Navajo reservation coyote canyon NM nice job on making your bow I'm Navajo bower to the only thing is I wish we have hickory do you sell any?
Shé:konh. Hello from Six Nations of the Grand.
No I don’t sell any, but I’m sure you can find somebody.
@@MalcolmPL that would be great a'hé'a
why did you cut through the growth rings on the back of the bow? leaving it intact after removing the bark would create the best result wouldn't it?
The surface was chewed up by ash borers.
Is It possibile to make a bow with walnut wood?
I think it’s too brittle.
I constantly long for the days when everyone knew how to make their own things, or knew the guy to make it for them. Back when people had to be in tune with the natural processes that govern life.
Alienation
This rules thank you.
PROTIP: if your bow shoots consistently to the left, it means your arrows have too much spine and should be thinner or made of a more supple material than they are.
Do you suppose that your injury would start acting up if you tried to shoot left handed?
I don't know, it tends to get set off by repeated heavy impacts or prolonged strain.
Whatever the case it's a bit of a moot point as I don't see properly out of my left eye, which would make left handed shooting difficult.
What kind of wood is this?
I'm just curious - How many bows do you think you've made? I don't have any good trees where I live in Louisiana to do something like that without having to bring in non-native material.
A little more than a dozen.
It wasn’t until the fourth attempt that I got the hang of the process.
@@MalcolmPL That's awesome man. I'm doing the same thing, basically, with hiking sticks that I'm making on my wood lathe. Practice!
Hello😃 I'm in central louisiana, there are a few woods that could be used, black locust, osage orange and hickory can be found all over the state, I've heard some species of oak work well enough.
@@aiden7851 What's funny about your response, is that since I made that initial post, I've collected ALL of those woods in log form!
Would be awesome to create your own bow.
It’s very satisfying.
Dumb question but how dangerous is a bow failure?, I can imagine it’ll mess you up pretty bad if it explodes in ur hands
In my experience, not too dangerous. If a limb breaks it is very jarring on the bow arm and the loose limb can swing back and hit you, which stings, but it isn’t going to do any real damage unless it gets you in the eye.
I’d imagine it could be bad if the bow broke in the middle of the handle, but the handle tends to be the strongest part.
2 things:
1. nice video
2. did the Iroquoia know about the Aztecs/other southern American nations? (pre-colonial)
Yes, there were trade routes all across the continent.
There was interaction, but not familiarity with these distant nations. You can trade with them, you can get news, but they’re too distant to be important in the way that neighbors are. To put it one way, they wouldn’t have been the Aztecs, they would have been “that huge foreign nation on the other side of the world, where the people are short, the houses are made of stone and you can buy cotton in exchange for beads.”
@@MalcolmPL I guess its like the roman and the Chinese knowing about each other but not being able to map each other out.
Yes, that's a fair comparison.
Something i always wondered. If the europeans never arrived,maybe history would have repeated itself like in the bronze age,and a single powerful group would have progressively unified the land. I know that some were simply different villages of the same people,some were "city states",and some like the Iroquoians had already a more formed state.
I don’t know. Down south there were the Aztec, Maya and Inca Empires. Who might have indicated a trend. But there are a number of limiting factors in terms of expansionism. Not the least of which being cultural differences. Take the beaver wars for instance. During which the Five Nations went around the Great Lakes and smashed nearly all of the old rivals. These old rivals weren’t subjugated and made into tributaries, nor were their lands colonized apart from a handful of small outposts and hunting camps. Mostly they were just driven away.
Look at it this way, for empire to form, you need concentrated forms of portable wealth, high social rigidly, a lot of individualism and very high social stratification.Those conditions did not exist throughout most of the Americas.
Gostaria que traduzem em Português
ما نوع خشب القوس ❤❤❤❤❤❤🎉🎉🎉
Ash.
if both limbs are exactly the same length the bow will kick and be uncomfortable to shoot .the bottom limb should be a bit shorter.Tiller the limbs all the way through the handle so you feel the bend in your hand..lighter longer limbs will make it CAST better and shoot faster so you dont have to rely on shear draw weight.Old Iroquoian saying..."Any bow good bow but those arrows are a bitch"
D-section bow design is far from effective ! Either the wood on the tip of the D is overly stressed, or if it is not, then the space left and right to it is simply "wasted space".
A rectangular cross section is always the most efficient shape for a bow. If you want to make it lighter make the rectangel thicker. Another thing is that wood usually could take much more tension than compression - another argument against the D cross section, because it weakens the compression area even more. Possibly a reversed D section would make even more sense (narrow back and wider belly).
About your bow:
I guess the whole limbs but in particular the tips could be much more narrow, that would make the bow even faster. If it doesn't mess up the tiller you could still give it a try.
At the time I needed an overbuilt bow for a test project. I later went over it again and brought the tips into proper points and brought the draw weight down to a more reasonable level.
Es un arco del neolítico tipo Homelrgard Europeo, no existe el american flat bow es un invento de los EEUU, estos arcos ya existian en Europa hace 20000 años.
Tenemos una serie de artefactos que refutan su afirmación. Por ejemplo, el "Sudbury arco." (Sudbury bow.)
collections.peabody.harvard.edu/objects/details/1827?ctx=fa81cc3baa4f74a712926853ff01302106fc92e7&idx=32
Puedes mirar cualquier museo y encontrar ejemplos de arcos planos.
Por ejemplo, este arco de la Royal Ontario Museum.
collections.rom.on.ca/objects/503286/bow?ctx=91443e6f-c6c8-416d-90e1-b02b4ba745f5&idx=9
That there is a warrior's bow, my tribe (S'Klallam) would easily have 100 pounds or more draw weight
I need to measure it properly one of these days.
That bow almost looks 90 pounds or more. I know it's not laminated but that's fiendishly thick.
Cool. Maybe I’ll have to rig up some sort of scale and figure this out.
I think your issue is you’re too opinionated
I agree, but was there one opinion in particular that you found particularly grating?
@@MalcolmPL don’t get me wrong I enjoyed watching your video but you spoke about what’s sets your apart from more experiences. You mentioned ‘You should’ rather than ‘This is how I’ which really shows your stuck in your own ways which might be the reason why you’re still lacking in experience. Your skill level is there 💯
My apologies for my choice of words, That wasn’t intentional, I was simply speaking as though to a beginner, I make no claim to this being the best method, this is very much just my method, it’s idiosyncratic and suboptimal, but it’s the one I can make work, which puts it head and shoulders above the methods of more skilled bowyers in my eyes.
Great video
Cheers