Forum Replies Created
-
AuthorPosts
-
in reply to: Building that EFOC & UEFOC arrow #54736
Mujahid — Welcome to tradbow.com … but in future, could you please keep your posts a bit briefer? :D:P:)
in reply to: How were your Coues' deer hunts,Mr. Petersen? #54461Here you go, Wayne …
in reply to: How were your Coues' deer hunts,Mr. Petersen? #53359Wayne — Just home yesterday with a nice 4×5 buck and massive bruises from falling out a tree on the first day of a 12-day hunt. Too stupid to live, but I’m still kicking. I’ll post a pic or two when I get caught up. Thanks, Dave
in reply to: Trad VS. Compound #40062Mike — Your advice is right on the money. I really don’t know how anyone can climb the short but steep learning curve of tuning without a mentor. After more than 50 years of trad shooting I still struggle with tuning a new setup, though at least now I know the steps. Best guide I’ve seen is by O.L. Adcock. http://www.bowmaker.net/tuning.htm should get you there. Too much info, really, but the important stuff is clear.
in reply to: Arrows for 2012 #38681I have the remains of a dozen lodgepole pine hex shafts and they are hard as granite, straight as Billy Graham, and heavy, way heavy. But then, they’re footed to increase FOC and wouldn’t likely be so weighty otherwise. I’ve gone over to Doug fir (Surewood) but will save the pines in case I ever get the chance to hunt bison or Hogzilla. I’d take ’em any day over cedar. IMHO
in reply to: How Many Over 55 #38486My bows currently are 52# Bear KMag, 53# Shrew Classic Hunter, and #55 Osage selfbow. This year I shot plumb through a nice bull elk with the 53-pounder. With heavy arrows and EFOC I’d take it down to 50# no worries. A shoulder injury several years ago (either weight lifting or whitewater kayaking, or both) prompted me to drop down from 64#, which I’d shot for years. My age (39:P) has nothing to do with draw weight (so far). But since a fast bow in the 50-55 range is plenty for anything I’ll ever hunt, and I can shoot them often without shoulder pain if I’m careful, that’s where I am.
in reply to: sheds allready #37340What a beauty! The thick, dark, heavily pearlated lower main beam is particularly gorgeous. I hope you find the matching drop — once one goes they often make a point of getting rid of the other, as it feels odd, unbalanced. I once found both sides of a nice 6×5 elk rack, each one just a few feet on either side of a game trail. But here in CO we have months yet to go for deer or elk drops.
in reply to: Trad VS. Compound #37334Compound: n. “An unnecessarily complex simple machine composed of sundry cables, wheels, pulleys, and cams, but having neither spirit, beauty, nor soul.”
in reply to: Fletching glue #34382Duco is my glue of choice for wood shafts, and at least one professional arrowsmith I know. For carbon, Fletch Tite Platinum is the “industry standard.” No matter glue or shaft material, it always helps to clean the shafts where the feathers will go with rubbing alcohol. I’m always amazed how much dirt I get off … from handling, machining, etc. Then I try not to touch the clean shafts with my hands where the feathers will go. And don’t forget to put a little dab of glue on the front of each quill, after you remove the finished arrow from the jig, to double-anchor that vulnerable leading edge … I smooth it out a bit with a finger so it won’t dry as a lump. Enjoy, dp
in reply to: Snake skin on a bear recurve #31480Bowman — Welcome to tradbow.com … and Duncan, thanks for the good info. Basically, skins can be applied to any bow, no matter the make or material. My Shrew is skinned, so there goes its collectibility. I tried the tape skins several years ago and while they go on well and look real from a distance, they were shiny and camo–reducing shine–is a big reason for skinning a bow in the first place. So I’m wondering–have the fake skins improved significantly recently, and if so, which are the best and why? I had my fakes, a leading brand, on for about a year and when I peeled them off there was so much glue left on the bow that even with Goo B Gone clean-up was a real chore. But in the end there was no lasting evidence they’d ever been there. Most bowyers and other skinners, I hear, use the same brand of wood glue that I’ve built many bows with, TiteBond2 — yet I never had cause to research if there is a good solvent that will take off the glue without harming the finish on a glass bow. If there is, then skinning is no risk to collectibility. If not, it seems the trick would be to find some sort of adhesive that would hold real skins on for the long run, yet can be removed with standard solvents if collectibility becomes an issue. Rambling thoughts … but I would really like to know if there are any vastly improved fake skins out there today that don’t shine, don’t look like vinyl tape (which they are, or were), don’t cose as much as real skins, and can be removed cleanly after long application. Thanks, dave
in reply to: string silencer placement #31398Mojo — Unlike Mike, I have always heard to position silencers at 1/3 in from the string ends. There’s always more than one way to skin a cat (so long as your knife is sharp.) But just like Mike, I agree that brace height (and arrow weight) have more to do with release noise than do silencers. If I have my Shrew longbow braced right and am shooting elk-weight arrows and have the bow quiver strapped on, I don’t even need string silencers because there is no vibration, no sound at all. Same is largely true with the wood longbows I’ve made. However, I’ve not been able to do that with my own Bear KMag, which, being a radical recurve, is literally a lot more “high strung.”
On a side note, fyi, I’m now shooting SBD Fast Flight string on my KMag (and all my other bows). It makes a definite difference in speed, has done no damage to the limb tips or laminations after a lot of shooting (I had SBD wrap the string ends for padding), and no increase in release noise. One of these days I’ll give the Shrew a break and go kill an elk with the little green beauty (born in 1968). Dave
in reply to: Bow finishes #31056Hi Snit —
I have a lovely osage selfbow made by our own Clay Hayes that’s finished with hand-rubbed tongue oil. It seems bombproof: repels water like wax and otherwise protects the wood without giving it a shiny appearance. Yet it’s a smooth, hard finish. Hang in and others with more oil experience should be along to offer their advice. I’ve made lots of wood bows but never used oil, but much prefer it based on Clay’s bow, to any spray- or paint-on commercial finish I’ve tried. Dave P.
in reply to: Trad VS. Compound #31044WIcanner — I too use TBM as a primary tool of conversion. I get two copies per issue — one is my subscription, the other an author’s copy that goes to anyone who has an article in a given issue — so I always pass along the extra copy to an open-minded training-wheeler. Insecurity is what keeps most compounders shooting compounds — they remain unconvinced that a trad bow will get the job done, and/or that they can master a recurve or longbow sufficiently to be a successful hunter. Therefore, another good way to help ease folks into the trad world and help them answer their many questions and overcome their insecurities, is to turn them onto tradbow.com so that they can “watch” as others successfully make the transition, have their questions answered by more experienced folks, and be assured of a friendly welcome. We’ve all heard this often before, because it’s so true, but “I sure wish I’d had a TBM back when I was first getting into archery.” Now, ditto for tradbow.com. IMHO 😀
DWC — Small world: yesterday, winter solstice, was also my wife’s birthday. My last girlfriend before Caroline, some 33 years ago, had her birthday on the summer solstice. Solstice girls must be “in the stars” for me. Now, if I could only get this one to help me shovel snow today. 😆 It will certainly be a white Christmas here.
in reply to: Brace height for Bear KM? #25994Thanks, Scout. That’s pretty much where I’m playing around, by feel, so your confirmation is helpful. I just went from B50 to a SBD FF string, and the extra bit of speed may be complicating finding a precise sweet spot. Or, the problem could be that I’m trying to tune for arrows that are just barely, with a crisp release, in the spine range. Looks like I need to build another half-dozen. 🙄
-
AuthorPosts
