Ozbow

Whatever it is, it's dead soft; you only have to sneeze near it to bruise it.
I'll carve a little bow of it, just to see what it does.

What wood is this?: bunnings hoe handle mk II edited.jpg No, this is not a trick question. I know what it looks like, but I'm having trouble believing that the "hardwood" rake and hoe handles bearing the ubiquitous "made in china" label at bunnings are heavily lacquered lengths o...

Probably only to get one or two staves; have looked at ravenbeak and medicine bow woods so far; the latter seems to sell a bit on ebay. Thanks for the tip on de-barking. It's possibly a complete folly to spend that much money on a bit of wood, but yew is *the* fabled bow timber; I have to have a pla...

I'm considering importing some pacific yew from north America, as it seems nigh on impossible to get locally, and just... because...! While staves themselves aren't cheap, it's the shipping costs that seem eye watering; is there a cheaper way of getting them sent here from North America? And are the...

I'll jump.
'nuther hobby to play with!
PM inbound.

Shooters and hunters have always been their own worst enemies, and I see no different here:
"why do shooters need guns like that"
"recreational hunters don't make a difference" etc.
Archers: they're coming for you, too.

Are you looking for sawn timber or a tree to cut? I know of a few stands of particularly straight saplings with 3-4" diameters on the side of a main road.

I'd certainly be interested if you ever get a workshop happening in Vic... Hmm: might PM you: already have the venue and some of the "reach" into a target audience...

Thanks for the feedback.
It's gratifying that some far more accomplished and experienced bowyers than I might be enjoying, appreciating, and even learning something from what I'm doing.
Sometimes all I'm doing is having a go and trying something, because no one told me it couldn't work!

Bit of an experiment and a learning curve for me here: I had a cypress picket that was just about perfect but for a nasty knot through what would be one mid-limb, so I decided to have a go at laminating/backing with a 4mm strip of tas oak/vic ash on the back, glued with TBIII into about 3/4" of...

perry wrote:I wonder what Peacock tastes like...

It's outstanding stuff...
I'm planning on getting some suitable feathers for fletching in January...

kimall wrote:...I dont care if you call me traditional or not I dont need to fit a pigion hole I just do what I do...

That seems to me a pretty good way to approach things; also apt for another thread that's warming up at the moment.

There are few times, places and species when, where and what birds can be bow hunted locally*; but with that caveat: most birds' eyesight is exceptionally good, and they apparently do see colour in some way, so some birds' alarm calls - cockies, miners etc - may give you away to other things you mig...

Looks like I just have to try it then! I was working on a cypress bow yesterday, from half of a board I ripped in half and which had already made a ripper little self bow from the first half; yesterday's - longer than the other, too, exploded due to a tension failure... should have backed it... I st...

So it's long been established that whatever of the several species sold as vic ash/tas oak are usually not much good for bow making (some exceptions here and there notwithstanding), often, as I understand, suffering compression failure; but while wandering past racks of timber the other day in Bunni...

I'll look forward to learning something from that sort of material!

Hmm... I've only come to archery and bowyering fairly recently, but have been a shooter for many years; I'm guessing that there's some similarities and overlap between shooters and archers. I long ago found that most club shooting - especially competitive, with sometimes petty restrictions and regul...

I'm looking for horn for horn nocks/tips; it's proving harder to find than I'd have thought. Where do people get theirs? I've found goat horn and antler tips in pet shops, but that's not necessarily a cost effective way of doing it, at $10-12 each... abattoirs are not returning my calls yet... and s...

So who's doing the MRM on that and getting it though the CO? I doubt many units would go near such an activity now; nor do I think the F88 and issue F1 ball is the rifle and cartridge combo for that job. Nothing to do with risk, it's about Army's reputation. And I think you'll find the humble .223 ...

So who's doing the MRM on that and getting it though the CO? I doubt many units would go near such an activity now; nor do I think the F88 and issue F1 ball is the rifle and cartridge combo for that job.

I'm no expert, and the stiff-handled, wide-limbed pyramid-ish bows aren't my thing, but I'd agree with working the fades into the actual board, well beyond the handle, and tillering to keep all of that handle area stiff. You may not get the weight you're after, but I'd be less concerned with that th...

They may have been time consuming, but they've come up a treat.

modkin = modified bodkin? Home made, or bought in?

One day I'll get to having a go at arrows...

It's a combination that certainly looks the part; you've done well finding relatively knot-free cypress.

Yes, it is whippy, but I'm not unhappy with that as I see what it - and I - can do, and I knew I had to get the inner limbs doing more. I'm surprised - and pleased - how little set it's taken, and that's all in the outer ends. On PA the suggestion is I could take a couple of inches off the ends and ...

Got a bit of time and space, so took to the tools again: I've just about finished with a slat of spotted gum ripped from a Masters decking plank. It looks delicate - 76" tip-to-tip, only an inch wide at the handle and 3/4" thick, narrowing and thinning to about 3/8" at the tips - but ...

What do I think? I like!
The side-nocks are an interesting feature, and something I want to have a play with. Where do you get your horn from? Must a side-nock be horn etc, or can they be self? Or would that likely split the bow?

Hmm: Brazilian Teak/Cumaru: saw a heap of the stuff on sale as reeded decking boards in Masters the other day... Might have to pick through the racks, grab some, and have a play...

Indeed, there is an ideological war going on, and most people don't even know.

Looks to be an interesting little project. Where do you get cypress boards that thick? Or did you mean a couple of boards glued together with a hickory back? I've seen some numbers that make cypress look pretty good, and there's been a few experimental bows done. I pushed a 3/4" Bunnings fence ...

Interesting article. Lot's of good stuff, but plenty of advertorial and some stuff not really addressed, too. The other part of this is of course is that trying to wring every last bit of performance from a bow isn't necessarily why some of us love it; there's a thrill for some of us in carefully se...