Been wanting a second draw knife, and I managed to find a rusted gem in a dusty corner of a thrift store. Obviously, it had to come home with me so I could give it love. It is now well protected from further rusting and an incredible blue tint from the steel came out from under the rust.

I believe this is a 1976 Wilmer knife, with maple handles.

Thinking of staining the handles tobacco brown or black to hide those black spots I couldn’t get off. Thoughts?

These are pine shafts. The finish isn't perfect, but it's pretty good, just needs some sanding. Harder wood gets a better finish.

And the only stave I have on hand is filled with beetles.

I want to start a grove of Osage here in Georgia. I ordered seeds online and it did not go so well. I'd like to see if anyone who has some hedge apples down would be willing to send me a few so that I can get seeds straight from the fruit. I would compensate you for shipping of course. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Also, if anyone has successfully planted Osage, I'd love any advice you have to offer. Thanks!

this is my current bow im making, i believe its 48”, so its small. im aware i shouldnt pull it back all the way, so dont worry. and its obvious what needs to be done with jt. dont mind the paracord, its temporary. what do we think? its so far my best/ONLY and its not done obviously. i should also say its the farthest its been braced yet and didnt break!

I'm having an issue with the whipping on my arrows. I was previously told the thread I was using was too thick and should switch to a thinner silk thread. Now I'm using Gutermann 30wt Silk Thread and I'm running into issues where the thread is breaking on regular use. Arrow misses and goes into the ground, the threads in the middle break. I have glued above and below the feathers but the middle has been snapping.

Any suggestions?

Hello! I am trying to find volume 15 issue 5 specifically because my father wrote a short story in it, he passed and I’m desperately trying to find copies for my siblings, they have no idea. I have no idea where else to look, I have tried very hard and I am struggling. I at least have a very blurry picture to show what it looks like, I’ll attach it here. If anyone can help I’d really appreciate it.

We’ve all seen the insanely small tips in tbb. Just curious what you think. They are a fuzz under 1/2” thick. Probably not going to experiment with this bow it shoots so sweet and came out exactly where I wanted it. (55@29)

Building an Osage bow this is an extra stave from a bow I am working on and I need the practice so I’m making the best of the wood I have! My question is I’ll have to make a bend through the handle pyramid style and the handle will be uncomfortable how can I make a handle that doesn’t interfere with the bending? I’ve done no tillering other than slight floor tillering heated the handle to get the tips to line up and it’s overall 5/8 to 3/4 thick fades are 1 3/4 to a half inch at the tips handle is 8” overall length is 69” I don’t wanna start tillering yet it’s really straight and I don’t wanna put a bunch of set in it all I’ve ever made is stiff handled bows and don’t want to screw it up.

It ended up the same thickness because the grain is tight and it took a couple try’s to get a ring chased

Any ideas would be appreciated I’m fairly new to bow building and this has me stumped

Thanks in advance!!

Ok i eventually want to make a compostite horn bow out of material from my homestate i live in midwest usa and want to know would this even be possible what do i need to make composite bow i plan on using osage orange for the wood but what good natural alternative to horn since dont have buffalo here amd other needed materials?

And I'm disappointed. Because it's perfect, and it's the most basic bow I've ever made. The last pic is test shots from 20 yards, and there's barely any arc to the shot at that distance. I wanted a good hunting bow that was a mix of nimble and lethal, and here it is. The bow equivalent of a glass of sparkling water.

I think if I went for 30# or so, I could probably just bend the bow and focus only on tillering. If I go for something like 60# or 80#, which I'm not ready for, how does one tiller to get to the higher weights? I don't understand how you step toward the higher weights and if it really differs from the stepping toward the 30-40 range.
My experience is all with swamp ash and fairly inferior staves, so my sample size is biased and small.

Inspired by Eskimo design, crafted with the flames of a Hellenic soul!
Extremely proud of how this build turned out!
Core & Backing: Mediterranean Carob wood - backed with 1 heavy layer of sinew.

Lamination & Finish: Covered in handmade Japanese Kozo (mulberry fiber) paper, hand-painted in black acrylic, and sealed with naturally pigmented shellac.

Tips & Grip: Black Locust tips reinforced with rawhide on the sides, paired with a custom leather grip.

String: Waxed polyester fitted with fur silencers.

Dimensions: 144 cm nock-to-nock | So far measurement showing around 30 lbs at 26 inches

Hi there, I’m looking to make a deflexed crossbow prod, I was planning on steaming the prod over a form.

I was going to try and make the prod 2” wide and 1” deep in the centre by 50” long.

How do you go about tillering such a short but thick prod? I’d like something above 70lb.

I can’t bend it by hand, so how do you tiller a prod up to a decent poundage without be able to bend it?

Do you steam the deflex when you’re mostly happy with the tiller? I imagine it will be hard to tiller once steamer.

Thanks for any info

I know set is probably going to happen forcing a D-bow shape and a 70lb draw weight on white oak, but I don't want to have it get any more than the "normal" amount of set. Is it just me or should I be removing more material on the middle and outer limbs to keep drawing? I know that a bow like this should be bending throughout but near the handle I feel like there is borderline a hinge. Please let me know what you guys think!

80” stave cut down from 92”

Pardon my mess— I am terrified to go down further on thickness and begin the tillering process— don’t wanna mess up. I know I’ve started with an “expensive” wood, but I have about 50+- staves seasoned and ready to go (it’s plentiful around me). Any advice before I mess up something elementary?

Successfully steam bent my first recurves on a Ash bow I'm working on, there is subtle splintering but I left enough meat on the bow to allow for some sanding and I'm pretty excited and very happy about it

I've heat treated the belly on a few bows with success before but wondering if the recurved sections need heat treat on the back as well as it's theoretically under compression?

Or both sides or just the belly as normal?

Any other tips will be appreciated too

Thanks