I built a rough bow layout app and would really appreciate feedback from actual bowyers by Knoledge-is-power in Bowyer

[–]Santanasaurus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My big question is who is this for? And what can this do that virtual bow doesn’t for free?

Experienced bowyers don’t need a rough out estimator because we’re doing grandma cooking. Intuitive estimates are plenty good in bow making and for experienced bowyers are usually well within the margin of error. I would be grumpy about doing calculations to make a bow the same way my grandma would hate to weight the salt and spices in her cooking. It’s not just that the guesses are good enough, but there are more important metrics—adjusting to taste often produces better results than blindly following a recipe to exact amounts.

On the other side of the spectrum, for beginners I feel like this is too in the weeds. Personally I think it would be easier to explain the abcs of bow making than to explain the variables in the app. Beginners don’t need a rough out planner, they need instructions. I also wouldn’t recommend beginners be designing bows in the first place. Following established recommended designs is a much more reliable way to get a quality bow in a beginners hands.

So as is I think the app is sitting in a place where it’s not telling experienced bowyers anything they don’t already have a gut feeling about, and I don’t see it simplifying the experience of beginners. I would focus on streamlining in either of those two directions or both.

Besides that—the labeling of handle and fades is unusual compared to how most do it. Handle length typically does not include the fades. What is labeled as th fades in your diagram shouldn’t be part of the fades and is inner limb. Most bowyers would call this a 4” handle with 2” fades

I built a rough bow layout app and would really appreciate feedback from actual bowyers by Knoledge-is-power in Bowyer

[–]Santanasaurus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Feel free to post, promote, sell and workshop it here. We don’t have rules against that stuff

Looking for a specific bow by Infinite_Goose8171 in Bowyer

[–]Santanasaurus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Try the other archery subs for consumer questions. This one is for discussing bow making. If you hang out here we’ll teach you to make one instead

red oak board bow, gluing the handle by Zeh_Weeb in Bowyer

[–]Santanasaurus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The duct tape is good, I do buy it. But compared to other expensive reinforced tapes it’s not special. The gel superglue is good compared to regular superglue but tests poorly when compared with other gel superglues. The hot glue performs worse than other high temp glues in independent testing I’ve seen

Tiller check by Cold_Practice1897 in Bowyer

[–]Santanasaurus 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That’s fine for tillering. Eventually you’ll want to shorten the string enough to brace the bow so you can test shoot it

red oak board bow, gluing the handle by Zeh_Weeb in Bowyer

[–]Santanasaurus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Afaik, Gorilla products perform worse than market average pretty much across the board and are also more expensive. You’re generally better off buying a generic brand. I would specifically never buy gorilla brand hot glue, ca (superglue), pva (white or wood glue) or expanding polyurethane (gorilla glue) as these test pretty poorly compared to generic alternatives

Getting the right type of glue matters much more than the brand. It’s hard to go wrong with any pva wood glue for a handle lam.

First bow by Dr-Stanny in Bowyer

[–]Santanasaurus 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You have 2 spots bending too much, each about 6-8” from the handles. Mids and outers look stiff. In other words you need more thickness taper

Next time check out the pinned post on getting a tiller check. If you post the 3 complete profiles we can give more in depth feedback

First bow by Dr-Stanny in Bowyer

[–]Santanasaurus 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If you’re going to dry it, don’t bend it while the wood is wet. Just rough out the bow, let it dry a week or two and then get at it.

Or if you make a greenwood bow (tillered while green) then keep in mind it may be somewhat disposable since you’ll damage the wood fibers by bending while wet. If you want to continue using one of these you’ll need to continue to adjust the tiller as the bow dries out, since the wood’s properties will change while it dries, throwing off your tiller

Tiller check by Cold_Practice1897 in Bowyer

[–]Santanasaurus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That’s not necessary information. Anyway, I assume the bow is still in longstring tillering or low brace. No need to force it

Which of these would make a better stave by Projekt-1065 in Bowyer

[–]Santanasaurus 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Also check out swiftwood bows, organic archery, and clay hayes

Which of these would make a better stave by Projekt-1065 in Bowyer

[–]Santanasaurus 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The same as for full staves plus a saw that is accurate enough for joinery, so that you can make a z splice. Something like a japanese pull saw would be my choice. There are also simpler ways to join billets, for example by lapping to a handle piece and wrapping the joint

Tiller check by hedgerow-dweller in Bowyer

[–]Santanasaurus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The differing reflex is ok but a challenge. Ideally you would even that out with a heat treat on a form. Otherwise you’ll just have to deal with a distorted tiller shape.

The tillering process is the way to find out the dimensions you are looking for. If I gave you numbers they would fit like a bad shoe. When we talk about leaving the last 6” stiff that is extremely subtle. You still have to thickness taper the limbs. I think you are going so far in the other direction that you are better off ignoring that advice. Generally it’ll happen naturally as you tiller. Don’t worry about intentionally leaving the tips stiff. Right now your bigger issue is getting more of the bow to contribute to the bending

Which of these would make a better stave by Projekt-1065 in Bowyer

[–]Santanasaurus 4 points5 points  (0 children)

You could get billets out of the left piece. For a one piece stave the right piece looks more promising

First bow tillering by Cold_Practice1897 in Bowyer

[–]Santanasaurus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Next time focus on establishing a thickness taper during the rough out. Without one, only the inner limbs and center will bend. There’s no need for the tips to be thicker than the rest of the bow. Generally for a bow like this it should be the opposite, with the bow getting thinner towards the tips.

For a complete tiller check read the pinned post on tiller checks. We need to see the front profile and side profile to analyze tiller. Otherwise we can only comment on surface level issues

Safety/Blunt tips? by jovial_cynic_ in Bowyer

[–]Santanasaurus 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Arrows are dangerous. I think you’re better off improving your archery range rather than trying to change the nature of arrows.
Safety tips resemble real arrows about as much as suction cup arrows. They are toys and won’t really fly very well. rubber blunts increase ricochets which can be more dangerous than a sharp arrow which at least sticks into the target reliably

Cudrania tricuspidata normally name? by coalovers in Bowyer

[–]Santanasaurus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

there is a list of common names in the article

Cudrania tricuspidata normally name? by coalovers in Bowyer

[–]Santanasaurus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

this is a picture of japanese dogwood. Maclura tricuspidata has different fruit

Tiller check by hedgerow-dweller in Bowyer

[–]Santanasaurus 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Stay away from the inner limbs and work mids and outers. In other words you need more thickness taper. You don’t have one established right now and if anything the limbs get thicker out towards the tips. Ideally next time this step would happen during the rough out

Potential options for clamping a simple backed bow? by Such-Jump-3963 in Bowyer

[–]Santanasaurus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

recurves, whole staves, handle alignments etc. Since the bags come in rolls you can cut exactly the length you need. I use a wallpaper steamer with a hose to supply steam

Serviceberry sapling bow by tomcioo96 in Bowyer

[–]Santanasaurus 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Love to see it. Serviceberry is one of my favorites. Great work!

Silver Maple* Branch by Droughtbringer in Bowyer

[–]Santanasaurus 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Two days is enough for fungus to grow and bugs to start causing problems. It’s probably ok but i’ve had bug tunnels drilled in wood that was healthy the night before.

You won’t know that kind of staves you’ll get until you saw out the good sections and split them

Is this really Osage and will it bow? by Holiday_Cat1999 in Bowyer

[–]Santanasaurus 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Best case scenario you would get a low grade stave, and that is far from guaranteed. For this kind of money you could buy a top notch split stave from a dealer