Sunday 10 October 2010

Tiller shift

I was flaberghasted yesterday, but today I've re-worked the Ash bow a bit and had some input from the guys on Primitive Archer, they've met this sort of thing before, so I'm not going mad.

The bow is down to about 30pounds draw weight now but looking much smoother, I might shorten it or try heat treating it, a process I've not used before and am slightly sceptical about. Native people heat treat wood in the embers of a fire to harden it, and some bowyers swear by it.
A hot air gun is the modern way, I've tried a test on a bit of Hazel and it didn't seem to work, but maybe I'll give it a go. It sounds a bit hit and miss though.
It's discusssed in the Traditional Bowyers Bible Vol 4. Maybe I'll ask Santa to buy it for me.

I've had a look at my Hazel staves and have de-barked one to make a replacement bow... if you fall of the horse, you've just gotta get straight back on.

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